Beinn Bhreac is a distant
Corbett hidden away in the remote Perthshire countryside to the north
of Blair Atholl. I’ve set myself a goal of doing all the Corbetts,
so it had to be done! Three friends are in the same position so we
decided to go en masse. We did think about a fast, lightweight ascent
using mountain bikes, but when I read ‘rough, steep track, it does
tend to put me off. A combined age of 251 also mitigated against a
fast trip!
We decided to do this hill
over two days in May - one afternoon to walk in and the second day to
do the hill and then walk back out. All the logistics were based on
two parties – Claire (Young) and I, plus Pete and Eileen
(non-members but long-term friends of mine). It’s been a long time
since I did any back-packing and I so enjoyed hunting the gear out,
weighing it and deciding who was going to carry what. Pete, Eileen
and I were starting our walk-in during the afternoon, but work
commitments meant that Claire wouldn’t arrive in Blair until 4.00pm
at the earliest. So it was decided that I would carry our tent in and
pitch it, and that Claire would carry all the food, the stove and the
fuel. Most of you will spot the inherent flaw in this plan!
We decided to walk in from
Calvine, rather than Bruar, as it is a much more direct route and no
need for a river crossing at Cuilltemhuc. There’s good parking
opposite the derelict garage and a Rights of Way signpost for the
Minigaig Pass pointed us in the right direction. You can avoid
playing chicken on the crossing of the A9 by using the wee pipe
tunnel instead.
We set off just before
2.00pm and started walking along an estate road. It is a pretty steep
start, so the three of us were glad that we were walking and not
using bikes. We’d been walking for about five minutes when we had
our first nature sighting of the day – a slow worm. First time in
ages that I’ve seen one of these. It was sunny when we started but,
true to forecast, the rain started within an hour of us leaving the
car, and we walked in full waterproofs for the rest of the day.
Truth be told, it was a
relatively dull walk - estate road, rain, mist, trees, no bird song
and no views to speak of. So we plodded along for about 8km, having
our first break at Cuilltemhuc - the whole of the glen opens up at
this point and it is incredibly impressive. We’d walked about
another 2km when we heard a Land Rover coming up the track. Never one
to miss a trick, I thumbed a lift and the driver stopped – great
joy! He was the head stalker and, when we told him of our plans, he
took us beyond Bruar Lodge to the second hydro-scheme and offered us
the use of his hut for the night – even greater joy!! It was
raining heavily at this point so not having to pitch tents was a huge
bonus. It rained all night, so we were very lucky indeed.
Too wet to go for a
wander, so we tidied the hut up, found a pack of cards and spent the
next hour or so playing ‘Happy Families’ and I-Spy. Started
feeling peckish about 7.30pm and that’s when I noticed the flaw
mentioned above!! Fortunately, Pete and Eileen had a spare
freeze-dried meal – their lunch for the next day. Claire broke the
land speed record by walking-in in 3hrs 15 mins – she was beginning
to wonder why she couldn’t see any tents!
We
set off at 8.00am the next morning, in rain and mist. Travelled with
light sacs as the stalker was happy for us to leave our gear in the
hut while we walked. There’s an excellent stalker’s path by the
Allt Beinn Losgairnich so we gained height very quickly. The burn has
curved an impressive gorge, with a couple of lovely waterfalls on the
way up. Once we got to head of the gorge, the bleakness of the area
really hit home – peat hags, bogs, dull mono-coloured ground and
still no sight of our hill. For the next couple of hours we plodded
along, walking on stretches of path, avoiding the worst of the bogs.
We were walking after a week of dry weather, so how soggy this
terrain would be after a spell of wet weather I can only imagine –
maybe you come in by canoe!
We stayed on the NW side
at the first watershed, found the faint path around the deepest peat
hags and then the heathery slopes of our hill came into sight – and
it still looked miles away!! We finally reached the second watershed,
over the River Tarf, about 11.00 and decided to leave all the rucsacs
there in order that we could enjoy the last part of the ascent. Very
pleasant walking, but rain and mist put paid to any views on the way
up. We reached the summit at 11.45 and felt rather pleased to be
there. The mist did lift for a few minutes and we got views down both
Glens Taft and Feshie – fabulous remote and we did get a sense of
utter wildness and isolation.
We didn’t linger long on
the summit, but had a lovely lunch when we got back to the Tarf and
our sacs. And yes, the walk out was exactly the same as the walk-in!
We collected our gear from the hut, then started the long walkout at
3.15pm. We had hoped for a lift out from the guys working at the
hydro scheme, but all they managed was a sarcastic wave – no
comment! We did meet our generous host on the way out, so good to be
able to tell him how much we appreciated the hut and how we’d
enjoyed the walk.
The walkout did seem
interminable (I did think longingly of my bike!), but at 7.30pm we
reached Calvine and the car. A great couple of days – a remote
Corbett done with good friends and lots of laughs.
Distance – 41.25km
Ascent – 1,054m
Book Time – 10 to 12
hours
Our Time – 14 hours 15
minutes (split over two days)
It was a time to reflect and celebrate 40 glorious years of the club.
