Hill: Cruach Tairbeirt
Date: Wednesday 29th December 2010
Company: Just me
Dog friendly: Yes

On the 23rd May 2010, while holidaying in Ullapool, I ascended my 500th Marilyn.

500th Marilyn - Meall an Fheadain:


I had already ascended 70 Marilyns in 2010 in order to reach 500.
I then came up with the crazy idea of attempting to ascend a further 100 Marilyns by the end of 2010 in order to reach 600.
600 is required for entry into the Marilyn Hall of Fame.

A trip to the Uists helped boost my numbers and during the ascent of Simon's final Munro, a wee chat with Will got a little bit of healthy competition going .

Today, I ascended my 170th Marilyn of 2010 (600th in total).

The weather was somewhat disappointing – scotch mist and “gloom”, as the weather forecast described it this morning. I had hoped to ascend Beinn Trilleachan but opted to leave it for better weather – I would like to get some nice views from it. Instead I headed for Tarbet, near Arrochar, to ascend Cruach Tairbeirt.

I parked at the Arrochar and Tarbet station where there is limited permissible parking and several signs advising “No Parking”. I crossed the railway line via the underpass and then had a wee stop to read the information board about the woodland walks.

Start from Arrochar and Tarbet station:


Information about woodland walks:


I followed the red route track until reaching its' high point, where a burn crosses the track.

Following the red route track:


I then ascended quite steeply via a firebreak.

Ascending steeply through the trees:


Ascending a firebreak above the red route track:


I'm not sure if the route I took was the normal route up the hill, as the firebreak stopped short of the end of the forest. The final 100m was through a much darker, more enclosed section of forest. Some of the trees did have orange ribbons tied to them (I assume orienteering markers?)

Final section of woodland:


It was nice to escape the enclosed wood and get going up the open hillside. The ascent from here was quite straight-forward. I followed a snow-covered path towards the summit.

Out of the trees:


Cruach Tairbeirt:


Cruach Tairbeirt:


Looking back:


Approaching summit of Cruach Tairbeirt:


As I approached the summit, I was quite tempted to follow the bird tracks instead of going to the summit .

Who's feet made these - Ptarmigan?


I stopped to take a few photos at the summit before heading back the same way.

Trig point on Cruach Tairbeirt:


Note that according to the Database of British Hills, the summit is the rock 6m West of the Trig Point .

Summit (6m West of Trig Point):


As I descended back towards the car, I caught a few fleeting glimpses of hills and Loch Lomond.

Glimpse of Loch Lomond:


Descending back towards the forest:


I now intend putting my feet up for most, if not all, of January 2011 . Although, I might complete my 600th Scottish Marilyn tomorrow.

Thanks to Beinn for keeping me company up 75 Marilyns in 2010 . I missed his company today.