Beinn Heasgarnich

Beinn Heasgarnich, at 1,078 metres, is a sprawling mountain protected by a moat of peat bogs, standing at the head of Glen Lochay and usually climbed together with neighbouring Creag Mhòr.

Most walkers reach Beinn Heasgarnich from Creag Mhòr, descending north-west towards the col with the subsidiary top of Meall Tionail before heading east across the boggy Bealach na Baintighearna to the base of the mountain's western ridge. A steep but relatively straightforward climb of around 400 metres leads onto a long, broad ridge with stunning views back to Creag Mhòr and Ben Challum, continuing over the minor top of Stob an Fhir-Bhogha before an easy stroll on good ground reaches the summit cairn — a superb viewpoint stretching as far as Ben Nevis on a clear day.

The descent is where this mountain's reputation for difficulty is earned: broken slopes lead east down into Coire Bàn Mòr, passing just north of a small lochan, with numerous steep burns carving ravines down the hillside that are best crossed on their south side. After flatter middle ground, a further steep descent reaches the vast peat bog of the Moine Achlarich, where the driest going follows the north bank of the Allt Tarsuinn — though in spate, crossing to the south side of both this burn and an adjacent one before they become uncrossable is essential. The private tarmac road linking Glen Lochay and Glen Lyon is a welcome relief underfoot before it's followed back down to the start.

The combined round taking in both Munros from Glen Lochay is around 28 kilometres with roughly 1,460 metres of ascent, typically nine to eleven hours.

The descent from Beinn Heasgarnich has a well-earned reputation among regular hillwalkers as one of the most tedious and demanding in the Southern Highlands — vast, featureless peat bog stretching for kilometres, combined with burns that can become genuinely dangerous to cross after heavy rain, makes this section far more serious than the modest height of the mountain suggests.

Parking in Glen Lochay is free but some distance from the mountain; there is no public transport to the start.