Pass of Brander

5:50am: Alarm wakes me up, so I get up and get dressed, have breakfast, make sandwiches and fill flask with hot water.
6:45am: Throw rucksack, boots, etc in boot of car and hit the road, heading west.
8:25am: Arrive at the layby below the Falls of Cruachan railway stop and think maybe I've made a mistake because the rain is pouring down! I decide to sit it out for a while and sure enough, 15 minutes later the sky is brightening and the rain seems to have stopped.
8:45am: Set off up the steep path through the woods past the Falls of Cruachan to the dam and the Cruachan reservoir. My objective today is Beinn a'Bhuiridh, a Corbett, and possibly also a walk round the Ben Cruachan ridge if I'm feeling up to it.

I have a look at the map and a look at the hill and decide on an ascent route. I head due east from the dam straight up the western face of the hill. It's steep. It's a tough old slog and my body, feeble through weeks of inactivity, is complaining.

~10:45am: I reach the summit but don't hang about because the wind is blowing, and it's cold, so I wander along to the lowest point on the summit ridge looking for a descent route to the bealach between Beinn a'Bhuiridh and Ben Cruachan. I could see from the map that it was going to be a steep descent but it actually looked worse standing there, staring down into the mist, trying to decide where to start my descent on this rocky, wet, slippery looking slope.

The mist cleared for a moment so I could see that the way down was indeed steep, but also there was no clear route or path, so I would just need to pick my way down, gingerly, being careful not to slip.

It was at this point that I realised tackling the Cruachan ridge would be a bit daft - wet slippery underfoot conditions and my lack of fitness would not go well together so I found a sheltered spot at the bealach and had an early lunch. I then headed down the path back to the reservoir, and eventually back to the car.

The photo above shows the Pass of Brander and the Cruachan dam (just - could maybe have framed the shot a bit better...) and reservoir.