December 2020 Activity: Ben Vorlich, Stuc a Chroin, Corlick hill, Ben Lui

…for a change we had some cold snowy weather in December - and some of us were fortunately well placed to get some in!

First up was DY, 07/12, on our favourite traverse of Ben Vorlich and Stuc a Chroin - very nice conditions. Towards the end of the year, 28/12, MMcE & RP swept themselves up Corlick Hill with some fine views to the North. And on 30/12, the year was ended in style by DY & JG ascending Ben Lui.

On the approach to Ben Vorlich summit, DY does some camera tweaking and reveals a rainbow not noticed at the time!

Starting to clear.

Heading to Stuc a Chroin. Lots of footprints left from the weekend.

Looking north.

...and a final backwards look at Ben Vorlich.

This time it's MMcE & RP, heading along Gryfe reservoir no2, up onto Corlick hill past new wind farm. Lovely views offering a glimpse of Ben Lomond.

Hills to the north.

...a fine day oot! MMcE & RP with Gryfe reservoir no 1 & 2 behind.

At the tail end of the year DY & JG arrived at the Dalrigh car park just after 8am. As usual these days, it was almost full. Not with hill goers but with the cars of workers who get ferried along the track to the gold mine at Cononish. This also means that the track is kept in good condition, constantly being repaired.

The idea was to cycle in to the foot of the hill but the icy nature of the track after Cononish Farm meant we left the bikes there, leaving a couple of miles to walk to the end of the track. This is Ben Lui from near Cononish Farm.

Beinn Chuirn.

Heading up into Coire Gaothach. The snow was deep and soft and very hard going. Quite a few bare patches where deer had been grazing. DY & JG then decided to take the sunlit ridge on the left, which is sort of grade 2ish on a good day. Steeper and more exposed than it looks in the picture. They were joined by two others, possibly and father and son. The younger one carried a rope all the way up but it was not used. Eventually they descended the ridge on the right, with heavy going downhill.

For the statisticians out there - 19.8km (including the cycle bit), total ascent 1,146m, average speed 2.2km/hour including breaks and climbing (not bad considering the conditions), maximum speed 28.6km/hour on the bike return journey. 9 hours returning to the cars about 5.15pm