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Leum Uilleim from Corrour

By Dave Roberts   

on September 11, 2011    No ratings yet.

Posted as a walk in – Europe, Fort William and Lochaber, Scotland

Leum Uilleim from Corrour

Route Essentials

Route Summary

See the end of the article for local information about parking, public transport facilities, pubs and cafes.

Distance

13.71 km

Ascent

567 m

Time

Calculate the time using Naismith’s Rule and factor in your own pace.

Start Location

Difficulty

Hard Walk

Hazards

Weather Forecast:

Check out our Best Mountain Weather Forecast?
Remember that we cannot outline every single hazard on a walk – it’s up to you to be safe and competent. Read up on Mountain Safety , Navigation and what equipment you’ll need. 

Leum Uilleim from Corrour Ordnance Survey Map and GPX File Download

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Leum Uilleim from Corrour

Originally posted on the Walk Eryri Blog a few years back and the images are rather poor as taken with a mobile. This was my second day in Loch Ossian YH with an ascent of Leum Uilleim.

The next day saw much the same sort of weather as yesterday. Rain and wind, with very little sun forecast. Had i been home, I’d have stayed in bed. So I waited in the hostel till I was thrown out, and had a cup of tea with one of the guys who’d camped in the wood last night. His mates were on Beinn nan Lap and he really couldn’t be arsed running up there before the train.

Route Start Loch Ossian YH OS Map Required Public Transport Train only
Route End Loch Ossian YH Difficulties? BOGS! Facilities Cafe in station and YH.

 

So I set off, not expecting much. It was generally windy and wet, and I was a bit rough from the brandy the previous night (which really didn’t help). Had the station house been open, I’d probably have found my way into there, but fortunately it wasn’t open for another couple of hours. So across the railway and straight into knee deep mud.

The landrover track was all churned up, and apparently the path that follows the ralway line to Loch Treig is impassable for the last 500m at the station end. Beware, the stories I heard during my stay of people being pulled out of the bog were legion. From men up to their armpits, blokes getting pulled out in their St Andrews boxers with their trousers and boots remaining in the bog, to muddy dog stories. So I really didn’t fancy that.

I followed a very faint path once off the landrover track and this was pleasant walking. Bit soggy, but that was more down to the weather than anything else. Soon I was at the river, and had to find a crossing point, which wasn’t easy – but there was a ‘ford’ of some description a bit downstream of where it shows on the map. Then the path disappears!

Fortunately, it did lead me first past the worst of the valley base bogs and to the slopes of Beinn a Bhric, which was then just a case of slogging up. And I really don’t like slogging up. Had I known there was such a clear path on the ridge, I’d have been much more positive, which I was once I reached it.

Now I’ve complained about the weather enough. But, it was clearing. I could see to Loch Treig and down Loch Ossian from the ridge and i started to think it was worth it. Great, endless mountains to one side and the flat expanse of Rannoch Moor with it’s numerous glistening lochans to the other. This was why I came up here, for the views were much larger than back home. More remote, closer to nature. Then I cursed as I could only send texts on my mobile.

The walking was much easier now. The hangover was clearing, but I still wanted to be in front of a fire with a hot coffee. So instead of following the main track to the summit of Beinn a Bhric, I contoured around with a faint landrover track and hit the col directly. This is one of the few high cols i can think of that has a stream to cross, look on the map and it does look unusual. Probably a testament to the rainfall they have around here.

Finally though, the ascent of Leum Uilleim started to reveal some proper mountain terrain. It was stonier and the ground undferfoot drier. To the right I now had the unexpected view of Blackwater Reservoir. A vast, strangely shaped loch, with a backdrop of what I later found out to be the Glencoe peaks. Then, just before the summit, I came across a long line of red stone that I thought was brick at first glance.

Finally I was on top. It was bitterly cold now, and I knew I wasn’t to stay up here too long. I spotted the distinctive summit cairn. Walked to it and yet another pleasant surprise was to be found. There’s a sheltered seat inside the cairn. Fortunately, the wind was blowing in the right direction or it may not have been so sheltered. So I was able to rest a short while and look at the summit mist.

When I looked up again, the mist had gone and i was looking down at Loch Ossian bathed in passing sunlight. This was to be the view i enjoyed most of the way down, and the phone i was using as a camera (never again!) really didn’t do justice to what i could see. It was a steep descent. The mud again slippery. But the steep bit was the easy part compared to crossing 2km of serious bog back to the Station House.

Today I realised that tracking skills are much more important than map and compass skills on occasions. I managed to follow a very faint pair of tyre tracks, though it took a rather wetter route than i’d like. It even included the obligatory large, impassable bog when in view of the walk’s end. A precarious leap saw that out of the way, but not without some loss of grip and a momentary fear that I was to go arse first into the bog i thought i’d so cleverly avoided. The greatest fear was that at this point, such an event would render me too dirty to go into the Station House and i’d miss out on my food. That shouldn’t have been much of a problem as i heard later that their dress code includes boxers for those who fall foul of the bogs.

http://www.corrour.co.uk/  for info on the Corrour Estate.

The Station House has now closed but has reopened as the Corrour Station House

 

Local Information and Recommended Maps and Guidebooks

Route Summary:

This walk includes the Corbett of Leum Uilleim

Route Start Location:

Distance
 Ascent
 Time
13.71 km 567 m

Calculate the time using Naismith’s Rule and factor in your own pace.

Activivity Type: Hard Walk

Summits and Places on this Route

Facilities

Check out the businesses nearby for more places to stay and drink.

Hazards

Remember that we cannot outline every single hazard on a walk – it’s up to you to be safe and competent. Read up on Mountain Safety , Navigation and what equipment you’ll need.

Parking :

Public Transport:

Traveline for UK Public Transport

Weather Forecast:

Check out our Best Mountain Weather Forecast?

Recommended Maps: 

Guidebooks:

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Dave Roberts

Dave Roberts founded Walk Eryri in 2004, with the aim of providing routes that are off the beaten track. Walk Eryri is now part of Mud and Routes which continues to provide more off beat routes and walks in Snowdonia and beyond. Dave has been exploring the hills of Eryri for over thirty years, and is a qualified Mountain Leader. Dave also established Walk up Snowdon, Walk up Scafell Pike and Walk up Ben Nevis just to mention a few.

More Posts by Dave Roberts

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