I set off at 6:45am and drove via M6, M74, Erskin Bridge, Tarbet to Inveraray where I stopped briefly to photograph the town across the bay. The A819 right turn in the town is interesting because it goes through a stone arch and at first appears to be the entrance to some grand property. I continued to the A85 to near Dalmally. Cloud and heavy rain didn't improve my expectations of a good walk. I turned left and followed the road to the Cruachan Power Station car park. I had a quick look in the visitor centre but the tour was £5 and I didn't have time to go on it anyway. My objective was to climb Ben Cruachan if the weather is suitable. The website walkhighlands.co.uk had a very good guide to the walk and I followed its recomendations to park near the railway station. The path it describes isn't shown on the OS map and I'd never have found a better way up to the Cruachan Reservoir.

Inverary from the River Aray

The path firstly heads towards the tiny railway station platform then ducks under a small underpass then up a narrow muddy path climbing steeply up to the Reservoir access road. A path and metal ladder then continues to the top of the dam. The overcast weather had now turned to rain and by the time I'd reached the western end of the dam the rain was torrential. I followed a track along the west shore of the reservoir and stopped briefly to look at one of 3 tunnels emerging from the mountainside.

Cruachan Dam

Ben Cruachan summit trig point

Water was gushing from this one into the reservoir and it looks as though the tunnels bring water from the other side of the mountain. At the head of the reservoir, where the track stops, I turned left up Coire Dearg. It was wet underfoot at first then got steeper as I climbed to the top of the pass. The weather continued bad with rain and cloud. There was hardly any wind so I decided to continue. I came to a small lochain mentioned in the notes and turned right. The indistinct path wound through boulders and the rain continued. I had no visibility but still there was no wind so I pressed on.

Eventually I reached the small summit cairn and damaged cylindrical trig point on the summit at 1127m. It was still cloudy but the rain had stopped. It felt brighter and above I briefly saw some blue sky, but it soon vanished. I set off east along the misty ridge. With little visibility it was quite imposing. I could see a sheer drop down to my left and had no idea what lay ahead. I picked my way down carefully until I came to a slab mentioned in the notes.

Ben Cruachan summit

Cruachan Reservoir

I took the recommended descent to bypass it but as I descended the weather cleared enough to reveal the valley below and the path I'd used to climb the mountain. I decided to continue my descent as continuing along the ridge didn't make sense in the cloudy conditions. It was steep for most of the way until I reached the path then it just became slippery and muddy. Eventually I got back on the reservoir track and followed it to the embankment. I walked the full length of the dam this time then down the track to the muddy path descending back to the railway station.

I reached my car about 17:45 as the clouds began to clear and the sun came out. I drove west along the A85, through the Pass of Brander, to Connel where I stopped for a while in the sunshine and watch the tide running under the bridge.
 

Connel Bridge

wide view of the Connel Bridge

I continued north on the A828 to Castle Stalker Appin where I stopped again, this time to photograph the very picturesque castle. I continued to Ballachulish and drove along the south side of Lock Leven to a lay-by near Kinlochleven where I stopped for the night.

Castle Stalker Appin