ACTIVE OUTDOORS: Soggy stroll up an easy Munro, as Beinn na Lap proves too tempting

It would have been wiser to cut my losses and head for home, but I knew I would regret missing the opportunity to bag another quick Munro before leaving this beautiful place.

For anybody staying at Loch Ossian Youth Hostel, the short climb up Beinn na Lap must surely count as one of the easiest of the 3000ft mountains to tick off.

Starting at 400 metres above sea level, there’s a fairly gentle gradient up a grassy slope to reach the ridge, which you then follow to the high point at 935m. Even with the added mile or so each way from the railway station, it’s still a pretty straightforward hill walk.

However, having climbed Sgor Gaibhre and Carn Dearg the previous day in pretty grim weather, the forecast for today was even worse – essentially all-day rain and more wind.

Having packed up my overnight kit on the bike trailer, I got geared up in full waterproofs for a bit of a trudge. First, I cycled round the head of the loch to the start of the path that leads up the slope, leaving the bike and trailer in what looked like an old quarry used for materials for some of the many tracks around the Corrour estate.

The estate here is undergoing something of a transformation. When it was bought in 1995 by historian and philanthropist Dr Lisbet Rausing, co-founder of the Arcadia Fund, there were only 39 hectares of natural woodland on the estate’s 23,000 hectares.

Deer numbers have been reduced from around 20 per kilometre to under five, allowing young trees to grow and flourish and regenerating much of the land. There are also ongoing projects to re-wet damaged peatland to boost biodiversity and the natural environment.

It is also a most welcoming place, with approximately 12,000 walkers a year exploring various parts of the estate.

The youth hostel itself opened in 1931 in a building that was once a loch-side waiting room for the gentry brought by horse and carriage from the railway station. They would then board the steamer Calleach to reach the lodge – the only way to get there before the tracks that loop round the loch were available.

The building was loaned to the Youth Hostel Association, as it was known at the time, by the then owner of Corrour, Sir John Stirling-Maxwell, who was an honorary president of the association.

Back to the start of the walk, I stepped off the track onto what I thought was a very boggy start to the path. It turned out to be more of the same as it headed north from just above a junction of tracks at the north-western end of Loch Ossian.

The route is badly eroded and after a few days of heavy rainfall was difficult to negotiate at times. Dry feet were almost impossible as I waded through what was more of a fast-flowing burn than a path.

It gains height quickly, though, and looking west there must be a fine view through to the Mamores range from here on a better day than this. I glanced back to see the youth hostel at the head of the loch gradually fade out of sight as I climbed into the cloud.

As you approach the ridge, the now clear path bends right to cut across the slope before it meets the ridge proper, marked by a couple of small cairns which I noted for my return journey.

The gradient eases but by now I was cold and my gloves were so wet through I was wringing them out every few minutes.

With my spirits somewhat subdued, my attention was caught by a large mountain hare – already mostly white in its winter coat – hopping across the ridge as it heard me approach. A little spark of life came into me, sharing this place with such a beautiful wild creature, and one which has to deal with these elements throughout the year.

I continued with a more purposeful stride along the ridge, which is largely grassy in places but then interspersed with rocky outcrops. Many of the loose rocks have been built into small shelters along the way, and I made use of one of them to grab a warm drink and shelter from the cold wind.

Now it was just a short way until I reached the lochan just before the summit. I skirted round one side then up to the prominent cairn, which adjoins another shelter, but didn’t hang about as there wasn’t much of a view to admire today.

As I began my descent, the driving rain turned to sleety snow, but at least it was now at my back instead of in my face! I headed down quickly, glad to have reached the summit but now soaked and cold, with a long cycle ahead of me to reach the car at a roadside layby south of Loch Laggan.

Care was needed as the path turned away from the ridge and I headed down that eroded, boggy route back to where my bike was stashed. It was a relief to get back there, although I’d only spent a little over two hours on the walk.

I decided there and then to cycle as fast as I could back to the car, so I could hopefully warm up a bit. At first, my hands were so cold it was difficult to change gear as I headed east along Loch Ossian towards Corrour and Strath Ossian, but fuelled by sweets I pedalled through the rain and the relief at reaching the car a couple of hours later – when I could finally change into dry clothes – was sublime.

Route details

Beinn na Lap

Distance 4 miles / 7km plus 15 miles / 24km cycle out

Terrain Boggy path followed by rock and grass summit ridge; good estate tracks on cycle

Start/finish Loch Ossian Youth Hostel

Map OS Landranger 41 & 42 / OS Explorer 385 & OL50

A wet and cold climb up a straightforward Munro followed by a soggy cycle back to the road