Glen Loin and Coiregrograin, Arrochar Saturday 17th March

Arrochar Glen Loin and Allt Coiregrograin via Loch Sloy Dam.

Distance: 16 miles

Ascent : 355m

Time : 6.5 hrs

Phone call on Friday from The Follower “I found us a magic wee walk for Saturday check out the Walking Highlands link for Glen Loin Loop” , so I had a look and had to agree it did look good, and with the return of the official photographer John (nae disrespect Charlie you’ve been a great stand-in) we were assured of some quality snaps along the way.. a selection attached.

Get you at 09:00am sharp, however punctuality isn’t one of John,s strong points and true to form he was 20 mins late..(and with no sandwiches).

Turns-out this was one of the best training walks we have done by far, and it had a wee bit of everything especially underfoot which was typical WHW terrain, this coupled with the  added miles made for sore legs Sunday a.m.

The views of the Arrochar Alps on this Walk are incredible, Bem Ime, Ben Vane, Ben Vorlich and Ben Narnain, are all in view throughout this walk, with a particularly good pinnacle/angle view of Ben Lomond on the return leg descent.(stunning)

The first section of the Walk along Glen loin is the easier part so you can pace yourself in nice and gentle on the way up. As per normal we were sauntering along gently when we where caught up by Lorraine who was motoring along at a fair wee pace and putting us to shame, Lorraine too is in practice for the WHW 2012  (along with 15 buddies) raising money for CHAS along the way ( The Slackers will donate a few quid via Lorraine,s Just Giving link)

So if you are reading Lorraine thanks for the company along the first part.. we enjoyed “yir patter”

After parting company with our walking buddy (we had intended in only doing the Glen Loin loop), we felt that we had to go an visit the Loch Sloy Dam which could be seen in the distance the history of its construction made it a must see (this added about 5 miles and 1hr 20 mins walking to the trip)

                                                             Loch Sloy Dam Wall

Dam Wall Walkway

Small Tunnel Access to Sloy Resevoir

Ben Lomond from Dam Wall

We stopped here for lunch only to discover that “The Followers” Petrol Station procured bacon and egg sannies where still lying on the back seat of his car.

However as always BLT was prepared for all eventualities, and The Follower was furnished with an emergency  bag of “mystery flavour” walkers crisps and a slab of Galaxy chocolate forthwith to help  re-energise The follower.

The return Journey to Arrochar via Allt Coiregrograin in my opinion was the most beautiful section of the walk but it is also the most arduous, as the climb is pretty constant, (about two miles) before flattening out at the sluice gates beneath Ben Vane,

(This was enough to push The Followers heart rate monitor to BPM  154 ) but on a sunny day like Saturday the effort was well worth it, with some great views of Ben Lomond on the descent into Arrochar

Allt Coiregrograin footpath towards Arrochar Ben Vane (background)

Small river crossing on return Journey

                                            Arrochar and Glen Loin Water form footpath