About fifteen years ago I climbed a little hill above Tyndrum called Fiarach with my friends Andrew and Graham. We had been enjoying a lovely wintry weekend in the area, staying at the wigwams in Strathfillan.
I'd always meant to return to the hill, fancying a high camp near the top and eventually got round to doing that a couple of weeks ago. It was another wintry weekend.
Minus Andrew this time around, Graham and I walked south from Lower Tyndrum train station on the West Highland Way. It was a pretty section of the route, passing through mixed woodland before opening up a view along the valley of the River Cononish. The snow-covered flanks of the high mountains teased us with glimpses but the only hill that was reasonably clear was Beinn Chuirn. The edges of its dramatic rocky corrie were picked out in snow.
We crossed the river on an old bridge and passed into the ancient pine forest, Coille Coire Chuilc, looking beautiful with its backdrop of winter mountains. We soon left the track here to begin a steep ascent up the grassy slopes of Fiarach. We'd decided to follow one of the mountain streams uphill so that we could gather water for camping as high as possible. It provided a pretty start as we picked our way up through sparse birch woods, before emerging on the open hillside. But my goodness it was steep and I'm sure there must have been groans fifteen years ago as we ascended.
Today we pulled onto the plateau at the top of the climb just as snow showers piled through. Here icicles clung to overhangs in the stream and exposed hands got cold quickly collecting water. A little further on we found ourselves beside the waters of Lochan Fiarach. When Graham, Andrew and I had passed here, the lochan was frozen solid but we stopped to listen to it cracking and creaking as the wind shifted the ice around. On this occasion, it was free of ice and there was barely a breeze to ruffle the surface. A grassy shelf just above the lochan provided a perfect spot for the tents and a good view down to Tyndrum and the railway line far below. After dark, we watched the lights of the trains as they passed north and south between Tyndrum and Crianlarich.
We woke next day to a beautiful morning. A light dusting of snow had passed overnight and everything was white with frost. The view was clearer initially such that our camp spot was framed by the snow-capped Bridge of Orchy hills to the north. To the west Ben Lui, the highest and most beautiful hill in the area, shone with Alpenglow as the sun rose before disappearing again into the cloud.
After breakfast we made the short walk to the top of the hill. This is where Fiarach gets really fascinating. The top sits at the far end of a dolerite escarpment so that the final section is a pleasant walk along the top of its ridge. It's a surprise to come upon it because from most angles Fiarach looks like a grassy lump but the escarpment adds real character and interest to the hill. It also opens up a wider view of the surrounding peaks and of the alarming drop to the bottom of the escarpment's south facing cliffs. Hundreds of millions of years ago, dolerite was molten rock and when the tectonic plates were moving in this area, the molten magma was thrust out. The escarpment was exposed by softer rock and soils eroding over subsequent millenia.
We couldn't linger long to ponder these aeons of time or the passage of our own lives since we last stood on this spot. Although it had been calm at camp, the top of the hill which was only 52 metres higher, was blasted by a bitter wind that must have dropped the windchill close to minus ten. We grabbed some quick photos then retraced our steps to the tents, packed up and headed back down to Tyndrum.
The return walk along the West Highland Way afforded good views back to Fiarach and we could just pick out where our little camp spot would have been. It had been a short and simple trip but it had been fun to revisit Fiarach and memories of days gone by.
Fact File
My route: Headed south on the West Highland Way which can be joined just outside the station. Just after Dalrigh crossed the bridge over the River Cononish and took the track heading west. Struck up the hillside at Coille Coire Chuilc, heading southeast, eventually reaching Lochan Fiarach from where it's a straightforward walk south to the top. Returned the same way.
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