Corrour - The old favourite

With the first snow on the hills and cheap rail tickets on offer, it was time for an early winter visit to one of my favourite places – Corrour. It’s hard to believe but I’ve been going there for over twenty-five years now. If you don’t know it, it’s a remote stop on the West Highland railway line where it crosses Rannoch Moor. There is no road access, just the train and a number of tracks and trails that radiate out from the station in every direction into wild hill country. 

My friend Graham and I got the morning train and jumped off at Rannoch, the stop before Corrour. Over a few hours we walked north towards Corrour on the old Road to the Isles. It’s a rugged track that passes high above the moor on the flank of Carn Dearg and it was wonderful walking there that day. The low winter sun created a beautiful, soft light that picked out the snow-covered hills all around us and illuminated the russets of the spent summer grasses. 

Because the track is so high, it affords a wonderful, airy view over a landscape of moor and mountain. Our panorama stretched from the Bridge of Orchy hills, over the Black Mount to Glen Coe and then west to the Mamores and Ben Nevis. Scotland is at its most stunning in winter light and a dusting of snow. It looks so much more elemental and I love the elements, the feeling that, even in the modern mechanised world, they are still our master. 

Where the Road to the Isles began its descent towards Loch Ossian, we turned off onto a rougher, more vague path. It felt wilder than the track and cut a lovely line across the moor down to the old ruin. The path was firm and obvious in spots but in other places, there was only a suggestion of where people had walked before. But I know this route. It’s become familiar to me over the years in the same way as I know the old ruin and feel comfortable in its company. In the late afternoon, which at this time of year is closer to night, we pitched our tents on my favourite spot on the east side of the house. I wonder how many more years its walls will withstand the brutal elements.

It’s always wonderful to spend time here. The old ruin sits close to the railway line, just south of Corrour, and is set in a natural amphitheatre of wild hills. I wanted to stay outside of my tent as long as possible to suck it all in but the cold eventually forced me in inside. And what a cold night it was. A night for wrapping up in thick wool layers and our warmest sleeping bags. We did go out again later to watch the southbound, evening train pass. The squares of orange light from its windows were all we could see in the pitch darkness.

A cold, clear day followed after a late-rising sun that bathed the hills in golden, morning light. We had to shake ice off the tents before packing up. Our route continued north on the path towards Corrour. Having stashed our heavier camping kit, we set out up Beinn na Lap, a whaleback of a hill that rises above Loch Ossian. The path that ascended the flank of the mountain was ice-covered and treacherous in places, so we were glad to reach the ridge with its soft, powder snow. As we gained height, the moor was left far below and the station building at Corrour looked like a tiny monopoly house. The mountains now seemed to crowd in around us in layer after layer of snow-kissed ridgeline. 

We had also left below the marginally milder temperatures and continued up into a world of snow and rock, blasted by a fierce, Arctic wind that scoured the top of the hill. We donned our extra layers and ultimately our duvet jackets, all of which enabled us to sit for ten minutes at the top. But that was all the elements allowed us and we began our descent. 

I was enjoying the snow and the wild elements so sauntered down quite slowly while Graham was much faster ahead of me. I watched him as he reached the snowline again and repeated in reverse the process of layering up. And I watched his tiny figure reach the flat ground of the moor at the bottom of the hill. Amazingly, in 2020, Graham and I will celebrate twenty-five years of friendship. Through that time, we’ve enjoyed so many outdoor adventures together, just like this one. Our tents have been pitched side by side in countless places in Scotland and abroad. He’s been my bike buddy and my hillwalking chum. He is my old favourite.

Fact File

More photos on Flickr HERE

Start: Rannoch Station

Finish: Corrour Station

Public transport: Train by the West Highland Line

My route: Out of Rannoch walked east along the road then left onto track signed for Fort William via Corrour. About 1km after the ruin, Old Corrour Lodge, took the path that descended west towards the railway line. A few hundred metres before the ruin, a track branches to the right and continues to Loch Ossian. Turned left on reaching the good track, then right after the hostel, then forked left after the bridge. The path up Beinn na Lap begins here, ascending north onto the ridge then north-east to the top.

Black Mount - The Way

In the last blog, I used a fledgling section of the West Highland Way long distance path as it started its journey out of Milngavie. Soon after, I found myself on it again. Much farther north this time, where it had matured into a rugged route that traversed mountain terrain. I used it to walk from the train at Bridge of Orchy into the Black Mount hills for a few days of camping and hillwalking. 

I'd maybe two hours of daylight left as I stepped off the afternoon train and used them to walk over the high pass, Mam Carraig, then to detour alongside the waters of the Abhainn Shira to a camp spot I'd used before. As I pitched the tent, the last rays from the sinking sun cast an Alpenglow on the snow-capped peaks that rose above. A cold night followed which left the winter's first frost on the tent next morning. 

I packed up and started the steep climb up Stob a Choire Odhair, a Munro in the Black Mount range that rises above the wooded shorelines of Loch Tulla. 

Higher up it was good to feel boots on snow and enjoy the wintry panoramas from the top. The snow picked out the coires and ridgelines, and contrasted with the lingering, rich tones of autumn. It was bitterly cold on the top so I didn't linger long before descending and rejoining the West Highland Way.

I wanted to wander the section of the Way that headed north across the moor here. And I'd a hankering for the moor's big, boreal, barren-ness. The stony track under my feet as I walked north was one of Telford's Parliamentary roads. These were built in the early 19th century as the old military roads had fallen into disrepair and were not suitable for the increasing amounts of commercial traffic. It served as the main road north until 1933. 

Today it carries the West Highland Way from Inveroran through to Kingshouse and it's a lovely section. On your right as you walk north, the flat bog of Rannoch Moor stretches eastwards, its emptiness and simplicity beautiful in their own way. On your left, the rocky peaks of the Black Mount rise sharply above, a medley of foreboding, rock ridges and snow. These hills spawn the River Ba which crosses under the Way at the old Ba Bridge. It's a pleasant spot with a rocky gorge and a cluster of golden birch trees. I pitched the tent here on one of the few non-boggy spots for miles and watched the light fade beyond the hills.

My third day was a walk back south along the Way to catch a homeward train with a detour up a little hill called Ben Inverveigh. It's only 639m high but I loved walking there. Its summit is set far back at the west end of its ridge which penetrates into wild country. Its pathless, little visited slopes felt wilder and more rugged than the well-trodden Munro I was on the day before. Also these small, isolated hills can often afford wonderful views of their bigger neighbours. So it was with Ben Inverveigh which overlooked the Black Mount hills and the Ben Starav group. They appeared to the north as a snow-dusted, sweeping wave of high ground.

There was one more detour from the Way before the train and that was into the Bridge of Orchy Hotel for a quick supper. The hotel is a bit of a legend in hillwalking circles and, despite it being gentrified over recent years, it's still largely populated by grubby walkers with muddy boots and noses sniffly from the cold. It was just as well. Knowing I was having my tea out, I'd kept myself pristine for the three days in the hills but somehow managed to step into a peat bog about 50 metres from the hotel. I arrived for dinner as black as the Black Mount hills.

Fact File

More photos on Flickr: click HERE

Start/finish: Bridge of Orchy

Public transport: Citylink bus or train to Bridge of Orchy from Glasgow

My route: Followed the WHW path out of the station (turn left on exiting) and to Forest Lodge. Turned left here (signed Loch Etive) to camp first night a little way up the river and pick up the path up Stob a Choire Odhair just after the old school house tin hut. After the hill returned to Forest Lodge then took the WHW north, camping at Ba Bridge where there are a few good grassy spots for tents. There wasn't much before that. On the way back to Bridge of Orchy on the WHW, a grassy track leaves to the right at Mam Carraig, the high point between Inveroran and Bridge of Orchy. It peters out where it gains the ridge but it's pleasant walking along the ridge to the top of Ben Inverveigh.