Luss and a double Dumgoyne

Set off on Saturday for a run round and over Beinn Dubh, Mid Hill and Coille Eughain Hill, 9 miles and 3700' of ascent. Didn't quite turn out that way. Beinn Dubh first, climbing up, jog walk for the first half, then mainly walk, into the clouds and then snow with a cold wind whistling around. Stopped in a wee sheltered spot just short of the summit to put on a second jacket, head scarf and fleecy gloves.

On past the summit cairn snow a bit deeper now, not easy to run in places, slow plod round towards Mid Hill, dropping below cloud base level then back up through drifting snow a couple of feet deep in places. The wind whipping snow off the ground, good for the complexion.

Reached the cairn at the top of Mid Hill and turned back retracing my tracks, by the time I started up Beinn Dubh wind blown snow had covered them up.

As I ran down towards Luss all change within a couple of hundred yards, I dropped out the clouds with patches of sunshine around. Finished just over two hours, 8 miles and 2500' of ascent. Pictures here.

Sunday, sunny but cold and a run over Dumgoyne to the Earls seat and back was planned. A bit sluggish on the initial climb but it was a good day to be out.

From the top of Dumgoyne views to Loch Lomond and snow capped mountains all around. A lot of the boggy ground was frozen, combined with Sealskinz meant reasonably warm  (not frozen) feet. Slow jog walk up Garloch Hill before a breezy run to the Earls Seat. Although only a couple of hundred feet lower than Luss there was no snow only a freezing wind so didn't stop long at the trig. Managed to run all the way back until the last steep wee climb.

Over Dumgoyne again, an easy walk on the short steep climb up the back and a run down the front for the first time, usually take the easy way round instead of over. Loads of walkers out now. Finished in about 2 hours 20, 7 miles and 2700' of ascent. Pictures here.

The Dukes Path

This weeks long run, the 20 mile Ardgarten loop. Down Loch Long side to start, the trail is covered with a few inches of snow, blue skies overhead, pleasant running, stopping for a few photos of the surrounding hills along the way. The Brack.....

Tullich and Doune Hills.....

 Tullich Hill and Ben Reoch behind....

Its good fun for five or six miles with a height gain of about 500'. The next mile and a half to Corran Lochan was where the fun started, climbing uphill another 250' was enough for the snow to increase from 3 or 4 inches to about a foot deep and a slow energy sapping trudge.

The views over an icy Corran Lochan to Clach Bheinn behind were looking good in the snow and I set off across to Loch Goil, its only a couple of miles!

No running here either but another 150' of ascent and a few more inches of snow made for a long walk, luckily a snowy squall blew through to help me along.

By the time I reached the Loch Goil track, the sky was clearing with great views to the hills across the loch. I was ready for a run to thaw out the blocks of ice that were my toes. 4 miles from here and a mile and a half past Lochgoilhead is Pole Farm and I turned on to the forest trails again for a steady 3 mile 1000' climb up to the top of the Rest and Be Thankful. Somehow the snow got deeper again and its another mile or two of walking to get to the top. I turned into Glen Crow, downhill at last, the snow didn't seem to get this and stayed about a foot deep, another couple of miles of walking towards the Cat Crag Loop turnoff where at last the snow began to release its grip and I managed a steady run for the last mile or so finishing in just over 5 hours 40 instead of the usual 4 hours.

Snowy Luss

Glorious sunrise when I got up today, a bit late as a powercut stopped my noisy backup alarm from forcing me out. I had planned a new route, Beinn Eich to start then along the ridge cutting off left for an anti clockwise run over Cruach an t-Sidhein, Beinn a'Mhanaich, Beinn Chaorach and Beinn Tarsuinn before picking up the Finlas circuit returning via Coille-eughain hill.

Ran up the glen road in the cool clear still morning. Pleased to find frozen ground as I left the road at Edentaggart Farm. Soon reached the snowline, perfect at first, two or three inches on a frozen base keeping my feet reasonably dry and warm. The top third not so good, drifting snow meant a bit of a fence posting trudge, hard work and slow. By the time I reached the top I had given up on the days route and after a few pictures turned back through the deep snow. As I decended into shallower snow the enjoyment returned and by the time I reached the glen I was ready for more. Crossed the road and trudged up Coille-eughain Hill at 1200' some 800' lower than Beinn Eich the snow should be ok to run through.

Good run  down to the foot of the Glen via the Paps, finding a nice path to the left of the trees and bog, an easier exit from the hill than usual. Finished in just over 3 1/2 hours for what turned out to be 3800' of ascent and 9 miles. More pictures here.

Beinn Eich

After a couple of 4 milers I was enticed back out today for a run up Beinn Eich at the top of Glen Luss. Apprehensive at my hardest run for a couple of months, we set off just before lunch time, the parking space at the top of the glen was taken so drove back to the bottom and started from there. Jogged up the glen taking in views of the surrounding tops dusted with snow. Left the road just before Edentaggart farm, feet soaking straight away through the swampy ground. The ground got firmer as we climbed, then the first squall hit, a mixture of hail and sleet, jacket on and we plodded up into a bit of a gale. The slope starts to ease about 2/3 of the way up and the snow got a bit thicker, the wind stronger, another squall, getting very cold now with the slow pace and the wind chill, so on with wooly hat and ski mitts to try and stay comfortable. Met some walkers on their way down muttering something about very windy at the top, and so it was, I tried to run the last few yards, going sideways rather than forwards, walked to the trig, a couple of pictures and offski running down through the snow. Good run down the snowy slopes at the top then a bit slippy towards the bottom. The usual trudge back down the road. We finished the 8 miles and 2700 of ascent in just over 2 1/2 hours. A few more pictures here.