Beinn Dorain 10 February 2010

The MWIS forecast and Avalanche reports showed that another good day was to be had.

We drove to the car park by the Bridge of Orchy Hotel.  Soon we suited and boots for the winter hills.  A walk up the road to the station. through an underpass and we were on our way up to Coire an Dothaidh.  The path was completely frozen which made for easy going.

It wasn't long before we hit the lower snow line.  The combination of snow and ice was such that crampons were required very soon in the day.  I stood on a big patch of ice to take the photograph below.

We gradually made our way through the steeper ground to arrive at the bealach.  My friend arrived before myself and was somewhat disappointed that a male walker advised that we should climb Beinn a' Dothaidh because it was easier.  She managed not to tell him where to go and ultimately it strengthened our resolve.

We headed for Beinn Dorain.  My friend wasn't too sure of the route that we saw others taking over the rocks so we stayed a little to the east of the ridge.  At one point the snow changed from wind scoured to soft powder at the drop of a head.  I ended up having to break trail up hill with crampons with the snow deeper than my knees.  To start with 10 - 12 steps at a time with a stop of 30 seconds, the number of steps before the stop was increased but it proved very tiring.

We reached Carn Sasunaich and started for the true summit.  We met the person who doubted our abilities about quarter of the way across which proved that we were made of sterner stuff than first appearance.  We arrived at the summit of Beinn Dorain and the views were spectacular.  I had set a turn around time of 1:30pm and we had done it with 15 minutes to spare.  The sun beating down on the snow meant it was warm enough for a couple of bites out of the sandwiches in the tops pockets of our rucksacks.

There were snow capped mountains in every direction.

Its always amazing how the weather crafts the snow.

All too soon it was time to turn back.  Somehow we seemed to cover the distance to Carn Sasunaich in surprisingly quick time.  Also we could use the softer snow to our advantage as we continued to the bealach.

We stopped at the bealach before our final descent.  Two gentlemen chatted with us briefly and were delighted to find 2 ladies on the hill braving the snow.

We descended the steepest slope of the day.  The ground was still well and truly frozen.  When the ground evened out we took opportunity to stop and raid our rucksacks for more food whilst looking back at where we had been.

Eventually we arrived back at the A82 with a stark reminder about fast moving vehicles.  A celebratory cappuccino and drinking chocolate were had in the Bridge of Orchy Hotel.