Glen Fruin

Loop round a few Fruin hills, The Stone up to a'Mhanaich, then Chaorach and Tharsuin, a wee add on running round to Balcnock, then a tussocky drop to cross the Ballevoulin burn and up over Auchengaich hill. Runnable to a'Mhainaich and down to the start of the climb up Chaorach, walk up here then an undulating run round to Balcnock, dropped off the ridge too early and had a tussocky traverse to get along to where I wanted to descend, slow run down to cross the burn then another walk up to the quad bike track that runs up to the top of Auchengaich. Picked my way down more tussocky ground to finish at the bottom of the reservoir access road.

 

Fruin reservoir loop

Back running, heel appears to be recovering, went for a shortish run on the hills surrounding Auchengaich reservoir in Glen Fruin, same route from 6 weeks ago except in reverse. Snowy on top with low cloud which cleared as I went round so got a few good views. Auchengaich hill first, walked up this steep tussocky hillside to the sound of gunfire from the nearby military firing range, ran the quad bike track from the ridge to Beinn Tharsuin and jog/walk to Chaorach beyond. Ran on the path beside the fence into the glen, drops steeply, slowly, at first in the snow, then lower down soggy from meltwater. Another fence to walk beside to the top of A'Mhanaich, from there an easy down hill run to Maol am Fheidh and The Strone, gunfire again ringing out from the now much closer range, didn't hang about to look at the views.  

Reservoir with A Mhanaich behind

Deer at the top of Auchengaich Hill

Rime Ice on Chaorach

A Mhanaich ascent beside the gulley on the left

View from A Mhanaich to Chaorach and reservoir, Ardmore point in the distance

Path from A Mhanaich towards the Strone

Fruin Rerservoir Loop

Weather window forecast for Saturday morning, and with my local hills clear of snow decided to try a hill run round the Fruin reservoir (Auchengaich), started up The Strone, soon into the clouds, good paths to follow so no  navigation required, detour out to MAF then A'Mhanaich, from here a fenceline into the glen then up Chaorach, pathless to start took a rising traverse in the general direction of a fence and trod which I met about a third of the way up. A wee bit of snow nearer the top but easily avoided or crossed. Along the ridge to the trig, now running into the wind, gloves on, didn't hang about, not long until I reached Tharsuin a short climb to the stoney cairn, cold drizzly rain blowing through and decided to give Balcnoc a miss, left the fenceline now on a quad bike track, took my time a few icy patches to negotiate on the way to Auchengaich hilll, turn right at the top down pathless tussocky hillside to finish just as the rain started.

Maoll Am Fheidh

Rock on the way to Beinn A'Mhanaich

Beinn A'Mhanaich

Stream on the way up Beinn Chaorach

Beinn Chaorach trig

Beinn Chaorach cairn

Beinn Tharsuinn

Glen Fruin , easy

Short run this weekend, two race tired , late afternoon start up The Strone, trotted out to Maol am Fheidh and on up to a'Mhanaich, on the way back dropped straight into the glen from a'Mhanaich, following the fence into the glen, found a walkers path/quad bike track back to the reservoir and along the road to the car, an easy couple of hours.   

Glen Fruin

A loop on the hills overlooking Auchengaich reservoir. Parked on the access road to the reservoir, straight up Auchengaich hill, just a steady walk, onto the ridge and the argo track, ran up Tharsuinn and over to Chaorach, good day for a run, a bit of sun and a breeze. Along the top of Chaorach followed the fence line into the glen, retrieved a couple of plastic bottles I left during LDFF then chased some deer up A'Mhanaich, they got away. Easy run down to the glen over Maol Am Fheidh and The Strone.

LDFF

Planned this run for a few years, first time was in 2022 when I was 60, injured myself in the lead up to the run, similarly in '23 & '24, this year I altered my training load, reducing my longest runs from 7 or 8 hours to 6 hours. Picked a couple of dates at the beginning of June with a three or 4 week taper and watched the weather forecast, Fri 6th June looked good, a couple of showers at worst. Would liked to have got round under 12 hours but my stats said otherwise, based on walking the ups, running the flats and downs, anything from 14 to 17 hours, (70% to 85% of Naismiths walking metrics). To make use of the daylight I planned a 6 am start. (Headtorch in bag!). 

First section Luss to Glen Douglas, two of the biggest climbs to start, about 11 miles, target 4.5 hours, made it in 4 hours 10, hardest part was walking and relatively slowly, I usually run these climbs. Caught a shower off the top of Doune Hill, hard work at the bottom of the hill, bracken much longer than last time, took a 10 minute refuel stop.

Beinn Dubh and Beinn Eich from Beinn Dubh

Second section Glen Douglas, target 3.5  hours, made it in 3 hours 20, rougher section, particularly between Beinn Reoch and Tullich Hill, not many paths, sheep/deer tracks and tussocks. 15 minute refuel, raining again while I refuelled. 

Glen Douglas Hills from Mid Hill

3rd section, Glen Douglas to Glen Fruin, target 3.5 hours, made it in 3 hours 20. Longest climb about 2.5 miles to Cruach an t Sidhein, A tough climb quickly followed by a shorter but steeper climb up a' Mhanaich, glad to see those two done. 10 minute refuel in Glen Fruin.

Climb to Cruach an t Sidhein

4th Section Glen Fruin to the finish, target 4 hours, made it in 3.5 hours, last big climb to start to Beinn Chaorach, after that the route undulates down hill over half a dozen hills, the route between the last two hills Creaghan hill & Cruach Dubh crosses a lot of ferns and tussocks to balance distance with ease of running on paths. The tussocks usually win.

View from Tharsuinn to Balcnock & Creag an Leinibh

Overall target was 15.5 hours plus stops, happy to finish just under 15 hours. Low point of the day was the ankle trashing traverse up the glen from Glen Douglas towards Cruach an t Sidhein. Photos from the day here. Phone gave out at the top of Creag an Leinbh, none after that. For more info see my LDFF page. 

Fruin reservoir loop

Short long run this week, a run round the hills surrounding Auchengaich reservoir. Parked in the access road to the reservoir and ran along to the Strone, walked until I got onto the ridge then an easy run to Maol Am Fheidh. Dropped down into the glen aT the watershed between Luss and Fruin then another walk up Chaorach, ran and walked from Chaorach to Tharsuin then down to Auchengaich and the steep drop to the foot of the glen. Most of the run spent in clouds/mist, a bit damp and visibility down to 50 to 100 yards makes navigation a wee bit trickier and slower on the pathless sections.

Auchengaich reservoir from the Strone

Chaorach

Ardmore from Chaorach

Auchengaich reservoir from Auchengaich hill

Glen Fruin

Set off mid morning for a run over a few Fruin hills. Parked in Glen Fruin ran up the old road towards the reservoir along the Haul road and up The Strone to Maol Am Fheidh, left the ridge and crossed the glen at the watershed between Fruin and Luss for the steepish trudge up to Beinn Chaorach, return was over a few undulations following the ridge to Tharsuin and on to Balcnoc overlooking Glen Finlas, ran down the ridge for a few hundred yards before dropping into the glen to cross the Bayvoulin burn and one last short climb to Auchengaich hill, easy run down to the Fruin access road picking out the least tussocky ground. Nice breeze on the ridges, a bit warm in the glens.

Ardmore Point from Beinn Chaorach

Arrochar Alps from Chaorach

Loch Lomond and Finlas reservoir from Balcnoc

Bayvoulin burn

 

Auchengaich Circuit

Short long hill run, the hills around Auchengaich reservoir just off Glen Fruin. Trudge across tussocks and bog to a steep climb up Auchengaich hill, started after 3pm so likely to be dark before I finish. Cold wind on the ridge up to Beinn Tharsuin glad of my triple thermal layers and windproof jacket, ground partially frozen meant dryer and warmer feet than usual, Chaorachs top, cairn and trig point separated by a rime covered fence, not a place to hang around despite the good views, ran along the undulating ridge to the steep drop back into the glen crossing over for the fenceline path up to A Mhanaich, still light and I push on down towards Maol am Fheidh and then the Strone,my eyes adjust to the fading  light, headtorch only switched on for the last couple of hundred yards and the run along the road busy with evening traffic.

Auchengaich reservoir loop

Run over the hills surrounding Auchengaich reservoir, tough climb to start up the side of Auchengaich hill, on the top a quad bike track leads over more runnable ground to Tharsuin and Chaorach, steep drop into the glen then a trudge up A'Mhainach, chased a few deer in the mist, never close enough to get a picture. From A'Mhainach it's a steady run down over Maol am Fheidh and The Strone, low cloud all morning meant all I could see were the wee cairns on each hill top, easy navigation on paths, quad bike tracks or along side fences.

Auchengaich Horseshoe run

Sunday afternoon run over the hills that surround Auchengaich reservoir off Glen Fruin. There's a few car spaces at the bottom of the access road to the dam. It's warm with a threat of thunder, these hills provide easy escape routes should it turn nasty, set off through the gate and straight up Auchengaich hills steep flanks, tussocky run then trudge as the gradient increases. From the top its an enjoyable run with a cooling breeze, there's a quad bike track, paths and fence lines to follow in poor weather, over Tharsuin and Chaorach and back down into a warm and windless glen. The climb to A Mahanaich follows another fence shielding a deep gully, mostly walking up here. From the top gentle grassy slopes lead down over Maol am Fheidh and The Strone.

Tharsuin to Chaorach

Chaorachs cairn and trig

A Mhainachs cairn looking over the reservoir to Ardmore point