Beinn an Lochain

Like all easy snow covered scrambly bits on mountains, it always looks worse than it is when you actually start climbing. I didn't wear crampons as the snow was still soft and deep but I did take out my ice axe in case the surface started to harden. It could also be a life saver if I needed it to stop myself falling during a slip.



Once my companion saw that the snow didn't avalanche under my weight, he happily followed in my footsetps. Looking downwards and past him, I could see it was a long drop if the snow did give way and we went over the edge.



Nearer the top of the snow diagonal, the surface snow hardened, which gave better foot holds when we kicked into it and also gave a firmer support for the ice axe hand holds. I was glad of this, as the slope became steeper and a slip could mean a long fast downward slide.



Moments later, the ridge leveled out again. We paused to catch our breath and admire the views. The cloud was still high and thankfully the forecasted snow storm had not started yet.

Looking northwards back towards Glen Kinglas. The hump in the centre of the photo is part of the ridge that we had just walked.



Looking north east along the cliffs that flank the part of the ridge that we had just walked.



Looking west towards Loch Fyne and beyond the loch lies the coastline south of Oban



But it was the view to the south that held our attention the most. The summit of Beinn an Lochain was getting closer and was still cloud free. One more scrambly bit to go and we would be there.