The three Munros of Beinn a' Ghlo.

Day 2.  Bheinn a' Ghlo.  Carn Liath (Grey Hill) 975m/3127', 175, Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain (Height of the Corrie of Round Blisters) 1070m/3432', 63, Carn nan Gabhar (hill of the Goats) 1121m/3596', 29

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/193396314

Parked up at the small lay-by at Loch Moraig and set off for the trio of the day.  Four boisterous University lads parked next to me and were in high spirits for the efforts to come.

The day was gloomy and grey but remained dry until I got back to the car!

This is a mysterious mountain of numerous, remote peaks and many corries.  It is regarded as the finest in the area competing only with Lochnagar for the appreciations of mountain lovers.

The first peak, Carn Liath is easly identified by a huge white scar near the summit ridge.  The climb begins after some boggy ground is navigated and height is gained fairly quickly.  I was familiar with this terrain as I'd climbed Carn Liath once before when the kids were young.  I'd promised them we'd climb Scheihallion that afternoon so that morning, I came out with the intention of doing the entire Beinn a' Ghlo round but when I saw the distances involved from its summit and knew the efforts still to come in the afternoon, I touched the trig point and ran straight off!

The views were restricted at the summit cairn but it started to improve

A Misty summit

With the mists down, navigation became more difficult.  It was also cold now and great care had to be taken to avoid getting lost.

Careful compass work pointed the way to the second peak, Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain which doesn't refer to blisters on the feet but it's a descriptive words for small white-ish stones which the mountain contains a profusion of.  A steep descent down to a col is immediately followed by a climb up the broad ridge to the summit of this middle peak.

Summit Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain

Looking to day's last peak

From this top, a short ridge walk leads to another descent to the next col and a steepening climb is made to the col between the summit and Airgiod Bheinn, an outlier it seemed necessary to climb.  At the foot of this outlier though, there were several tracks leading down to Glen Girnaig and to me, these seemed preferable to take rather than the climb and severe descent off Airgiod Bheinn.  

Summit, Carn nan Gabhar

Third top

This is a broad, stony ridge with three possible summit points, the highest being the final one at the north-east end about 200 yards beyond the biggest trig point which may be taken to be the top.  The one thing I wanted to see but was denied me was the mists to the east blocking out a view of the imaginatively named Loch Loch! 

I noticed the four students coming up past a trio of descending walkers way down the col below the obvious track up to Airgiod so I suspected this was worth looking at.  I didn't want to go back and reverse the outward route, re-tracing the steps I'd taken, so was apprehensive the descenders would go that way.  But they clearly hadn't and must also have seen the paths off the mountains I'd seen but which aren't mentioned in any book.  It is well worth taking if only to avoid the brutal descent off Airgiod Bhienn and gets you a quicker descent down to Glen Girnaig.

The lower slopes were boggy and cloying, heather and brambles scraping and scratching at legs and boots and was the most dreary part of the whole day.  It's a long, wearying treck back to the road and the sanctuary of your car.  But I got there just in time as I'd managed to change out of my wet clothes seconds before the first big fat raindrops began to explode on the windscreen!