Beinn Iutharn Mhor

Climbed by year and month

Climbed by year and month

A looong walk-in to a remote hill, surrounded by peat bog, rivers on each side, very steep in places? Oh, okay then! I'd failed at this hill before. I'd marched along the track through Glen Ey into a head wind to get the long walk in done and over with. By the time I'd reached the ruins of Altanour Lodge I was spent, burst and utterly finished. So this time with a light breeze and much longer day length I took my time.

Beinn Iutharn Mhor, spelt with an 'i', means hill of the sharp ridged mountain. Or maybe some say "the big hill of hell". It's hidden down the long 'L' shaped Glen Ey south of the Linn of Dee, and west of the Glenshee ski centre. I'd already done the nearby munros of Carn Bhac and An Socach in separate trips and joining up with Carn an Righ or Glas Tulaichean seemed a walk too far. So this was a simple out and back.

As we were getting ready in the car park a lady in the cottage opposite came out. I though "uh oh!" as I'd closed the blinds of the campervan. People jump to the conclusion I'm going to stay overnight, rather than simply keeping the sun out from roasting the inside. She actually wanted to say hello to Skye, and to warn us that the previous day was too hot for her German Shepherd. The forecast was for lower temperatures and the low cloud to burn off a bit later, more like late morning. So I wasn't really concerned. Eventually we got away around 8:30am.

Strolling along I felt pretty good. The track immediately climbs a little past some estate buildings, one of which is a holiday cottage, and beside some fields. Amusingly, one had a teepee tent and a horse box 'haar sauna'. I didn't take many photos as the glen was pretty familiar.

We soon found ourselves bearing right into the other leg of the glen where it turns south west. In the distance I spotted a cyclist with a dog coming towards us. It was a lady and her lovely 10 year old border collie who had cycled in on the friday night after work, set up a base camp near Altanour Lodge, and walked the 2 days since. Awesome!

At Altanour Lodge I called to Skye for a 10 minute break. Bourbon creams, and steak lorne is the current fuel of choice. Skye got some lorne too, of course. If there was early low cloud around Beinn Iutharn Mhor it had cleared already. Wisps still lay around other hills but the sun was shining and I was still feeling surprisingly good.

Leaving the Lodge I remembered to keep left on the track and find the bridge that was one of the keys to get to the bottom of the hill. Found that, and also one of the many paths through the heather above the boggy banks of the Allt Beinn Iutharn. However, I really wasn't sure when precisely to branch away from the river to start climbing the onto the steep nose. From the GPX track I sort of got it right but missed the path. Actually I crossed it, but thought it just a sheep track contouring around, like they do. D'oh. After some steep heather bashing, cursing, and thinking "just don't slip", I got out my phone and fired up the mobile app to see where the path was relative to where I was. Luckily I could see the mobile tower on Morrone and got the maps and a good GPS fix. I contoured l left and found the path, clear as day! It's not fair on Skye to compare her path finding and following to Jessie, but I'm pretty sure the latter would have found it and led me up the nose much easier. Now making much easier and rapid progress I breathed a sigh of relief. We'd get this done after all.

The rest of the hill to the summit was still over 2km away along a meandering wide ridge. With views all around, sun shining and a good breeze it was wonderful to be up high. At the summit cairn I faffed taking some photos and scoffed some more food. I didn't hang around long as I wanted to start the long way back out, being mindful I still had the nose to descend and cross the pathless bogs just to get to the Lodge again.

I actually enjoyed the walkout and especially the steep section of nose off. The top of the path was easy to find and the descent slow and steady but straightforward. Crossing the boggy bits wasn't too bad even though Skye was trying, and failing, to insist we should go in random directions when I could see a clear, and suitable path ahead. We soon reached the Lodge for another fuel up and rest session. Getting back up though cramp in my thighs made me wince out loud.

Another long but cracking day out.