Beinn a' Chaorainn, Glen Spean

Beinn a' Chaorainn
Inverness-shire
The southern flank of the mountain seen from Roughburn on the A86.
Range:	Monadhliath Mountains
Summit:	3,451 feet NN386850 56°55’41"N, 4°39’13"W

Beinn a' Chaorainn is a mountain in Inverness-shire which stands on the north side of Glen Spean amongst the Loch Laggan Hills, the south-western end part of the long Monadhliath range, north of Loch Laggan. It is to be found 19 miles east of Fort William. At 3,451 feet, it qualifies as a Munro.

Its name, Beinn a' Chaorainn, means "Mountain of the Rowan Tree" and is shared with several mountains, not least another Munro, Beinn a' Chaorainn in the Cairngorms, outwith Inverness-shire.

Tops

The mountain has subsidiary summits of which the following, at over 3,000 feet, are listed as Munro tops:

• Beinn a’ Chaorainn South Top, NN386845, 3,441 feet
• Beinn a’ Chaorainn North Top, NN383857, 3,425 feet

Overview

At 3,451 feet, Beinn a' Chaorainn qualifies as both a Munro and a "Marilyn". It stands in a section of the Grampian Mountains often known as the Loch Laggan Hills, which include the Creag Meagaidh range 3 miles to the north-east and the adjoining Munro, Beinn Teallach which is a mile and a half to the west. Beinn a’ Chaorainn is usually climbed in conjunction with Beinn Teallach in an 8-mile horseshoe walk around the Allt a’ Chaorainn, starting at Roughburn on the A86 road.

Geography

The view south from the summit towards Loch Treig

Beinn a' Chaorainn is basically a north-south orientated ridge which looks quite an undistinguished bulk when viewed from Roughburn. The best view of the mountain is from the east where the crags of Coire na h-Uamha give the mountain some character.

Coire na h-Uamha is a craggy corrie cut into the east side of Beinn a' Chaorainn. Its name translates as the "Corrie of the Cave" - no significant cave is known in its environs although there are several small lochans within its higher recesses. It is drained by the Allt na h-Uamha whose valley separates the mountain from Creag Meagaidh massif to the east. Part of these eastern flanks of the mountain are clothed in coniferous woodland below 1,800 feet. Coire na h-Uamha is split into two distinctive parts by an eastern ridge which gives a feasible route of ascent from the foot of the coire directly to the main summit, however some care is needed and in Winter conditions it is ranked as a Grade I Winter route.

Coire Buidhe ("Yellow Corrie") stands at the northern end of the mountain, this corrie is drained by the Burn of Algie, part of the headwaters of the River Roy. Two routes down the ridges on either side of this corrie connects to the adjoining Munros: one goes north-west and links to Beinn Teallach at a col with a height of 2,014 feet, while the other goes north-east down to the Bealach a’ Bharnish (2,703 feet) before ascending onto the Creag Meagaidh plateau.

The southern flank of the mountain descends to Glen Spean with more coniferous plantations below 1,300 ft, while the western flanks are very steep as they fall to the valley of the Allt a’ Chaorainn. All drainage from the mountain finds its way to the west coast of Scotland via the River Spean, going either south directly to Glen Spean or north and going via Glen Roy before joining the Spean at Roybridge.

Summit ridge

Beinn a' Chaorainn’s summit ridge is approximately a mile in length and made up of three high points; the true summit and two subsidiary tops listed as "Munro tops".

The middle of the three tops is now regarded as the highest point and so the summit, at 3,451 feet. The South Top (3,441 feet) was regarded as the highest point until 1974 when re-surveying downgraded it to a "Top" in the Munros Tables and elevated the middle of the pinnacles to the recognised summit. The North Top (3,425 feet) is also a "Top" in the tables and has been so ever since they were first published in 1891.

The summit ridge of Beinn a’ Chaorainn has the reputation as a potentially dangerous place for walkers under winter conditions with at least one fatality, in 1994. The problem arises with certain sections of the eastern corrie which bite far back into the ridge and can be snow covered in winter forming cornices, onto which the unwary walker may tread unaware that it is unsupported snow. Walkers taking direct compass bearings between the high points on the summit ridge have fallen through the cornices by underestimating the distance that the corrie bites into the ridge.

Ascents

The most popular route of ascent starts at Roughburn on the A86 at grid reference NN377813, there is parking at the Loch Laggan Dam, 800 yards to the south-west. Forest roads and fire breaks take the walker through the forest to emerge onto the open hillside at a height of 1,300 ft. The route then goes north-east up a broad ridge on the west side of the shallow Coire Clachaig. The view from the summit gives an excellent perspective of the Munros around Loch Treig.

References

• The Munros, Scottish Mountaineering Trust, 1986, Donald Bennett (Editor) ISBN 0-907521-13-4
• In the Hills of Breadalbane, V.A. Firsoff, no ISBN
• The Munros, Scotland's Highest Mountains, Cameron McNeish, ISBN 1-84204-082-0
• The Magic Of The Munros, Irvine Butterfield, ISBN 0-7153-2168-4
• Hamish's Mountain Walk, Hamish Brown, ISBN 1-898573-08-5