The April walk for 2007, full details below.

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An Caisteal and Beinn a Chroin were the mountains of choice for the April climb. These two mountains lie at the head of Loch Lomond just south of the village of Crianlarich .

            When the group set off from the car park at the head of Glen Falloch the weather, which had been extremely sunny over the previous few days, was now misty and a cool breeze was blowing. Nevertheless, for the few optimists in the seven strong party, shorts were the order of the day.

            A well used drovers track was followed by the small group for about a kilometre before breaking off and winding their way up and around very boggy ground before reaching rockier terrain where a faint path was followed leading over the aptly named Twisting Hill ridge to reach the steep ascent up to An Caisteal (The Castle) which stands at a height of 995m at the junction of two distinct ridges.

            A short break was taken in the shelter of some large boulders which kept the biting wind at bay. At this point the mist, which had enveloped the group for most of the climb, now drifted back and forth giving glimpses of the spectacular grandeur of the surrounding mountains of Cruach Ardrain and Beinn Chabhair

            The next part of the walk involved a tricky descent of around 200m through rocky crags before reaching the col separating the two mountains. The ascent up onto Beinn a Chroin also involved an element of scrambling before they found themselves on the summit edge where a further kilometere led them to their final destination. A look back to the previous peak of An Caisteal from this view revealed exactly why this peak was so named with seemingly impenetrable crags giving the impression of a fortress.

            Following a further short pit stop the group then set of on the return journey heading down into Coire Earb and the seven kilometre walk back to the car park. By this time the weather had improved enough to allow the walkers to shed their wet weather gear and finish the days exercise in shorts and tee shirts.

            The refreshment stop at Strathyre was a very welcome end to an excellent days climbing