249, 250. Ben Cruachan (31, P600 55), Stob Diamh (143). 22/09/2022

The cloudy weather was due to lift through the morning from the NW, so we gambled on this applying more to Ben Cruachan than some of the other options.

Starting at 8.30am, the first part of the walk was up a steep wooded path still damp from the overnight rain. Gradually this levelled off and the Cruachan dam appeared and we climbed some metal stairs to get onto the top. There was then a flat track-walk around the reservoir for a quarter of an hour (past one of the many hydroelectric tunnels that bores through the mountain) before the 700m pull up to the summit. By the time we reached the small summit, the clouds had managed to lift off and we had clear views.

The descent along the ridge had a couple of short scrambles, but they looked harder than they were (in particular a traverse of some slabs which was quite exciting. There were several small extra bits of ascent, which added time to the ridge walk, but there was a lot to recommend about the ridge. 

Despite a small shower at the start, the descent was a fairly comfortable one back to the dam and then retracing our steps through the woods. All in all, a classic circuit and a great ridge. The 15km and 1500m of ascent took us 5h45.

The reservoir from near the summit of Ben Cruachan.

At the summit, with the ridge beyond.

Approaching Stob Diamh (on the left)

Halfway down with Ben Cruachan in sunshine

Dam and summit from below.