aburden on Bencollaghduff

Left car at [B (L820 562)] and walked up thru Gleann Eidhneach until I reached a distinct moraine. This in turn leads you to a sheep track on east side of Bin Bhan. I followed the track up to the 3-way mountain pass, Mam Eidhneach. From the gap between (B Dubh and B Bhraoin) I headed East along Binn Dubhs rocky shoulder, scrambling past a cairn at 563m [C (L791 529)] to a 2nd cairn at summit. I took the photo of the 3-way pass about 5 min from summit on way down. If you see mist coming whilst on way up/down, be sure that you take bearing(s). Trip Time 3h 25min incl. 15min stops. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/115/comment/2198/

Read Less

weedavie on Bencollaghduff

Don’t believe the Connemara hillwalk booklet that says the Glen Chochan circuit is 6 to 7 hours. I think it's a meaningless application of Naismith’s rule. It took us 8.5 without the access walk and we weren’t hanging round much.

The eastern half of the circuit is straightforward, even in a heavy April snowfall. We went up the south butt of the ridge then followed the slope up to Derryclare. We carried on just west of north without much descent and ascent to Binn Corr. Between its tops was an excellent place for the snow to stop and the cloud to roll back. From the North West top we’d a tremendous view of the rocky slopes of Binn Dubh to the west. We were now approaching the trickiest moment in this half of the round, the pronunciation of Mam na bhFonsai. Nothing in our experience of Scots Gaelic prepared us for this.
The ascent of Binn Dubh is easy on good rock, up to the shattered approach to the summit.

Picture is looking back to Derryclare from near the summit of Binn Dubh. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/115/comment/945/

Read Less

weedavie on Bencollaghduff

After Binn Dubh we found the trickier western leg of the Chochan circuit. The climb south to Binn Bhraoin was straightforward although the grain of the rock tended to encourage us to the left. This might want watching in mist. Similarly the ridge wanders west, south then south east between some ill-defined tops so a bit of attention would be in order.

The next descent’s the easiest of the day if you don’t feel too guilty about repaying Galway’s hospitality by slipping a few cubic metres of scree down the slopes. On the other hand the ascent to Binn Gabhar’s positively tricky. A developing path took us up among crags over the first half of the slope. It disappeared but trending to the right worked all right after that, scrambling up some fairly obvious ledges and gullies. The summit has too many cairns but we visited them all to make sure.

Binn Lettery’s next and must seem no distance going north in the morning. Seemed a long way at the end of the round. It’s a fantastic viewpoint. I don’t know the best descent to the Youth Hostel but a straight line cost us 15 minutes getting round crags on the upper slopes.

This is an amazing circuit. Getting something of this sort to ourselves on an April Sunday in Scotland would be unthinkable. But we saw no people and no marks in the snow. A ripple of applause is due to the fearless fliers of Aer Arran whose direct Edinburgh Galway flight makes this a workable weekend trip.

The photo shows the view onward from Binn Dubh with Binn Bhraoin to the right and Binn Gabhar to the left Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/115/comment/946/

Read Less

aburden on Bencollaghduff

Mam Eidhneach is about half way on the Chochan circuit and from here it is a 40min haul/scramble to the top of Binn Dubh. From the top I followed a bearing of 130 degrees to meet a cairn before dropping down to Mam na BhFonsai. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/115/comment/2208/

Read Less

eflanaga on Bencollaghduff

After descending to Maumina (Maumnageeragh) Col D (L78882 52805) from the eastern slope of Binn Bhraoín, (having delayed on its Northern Top to take some pictures) I managed to catch up with the other eight members of the Mid-Ulster Walking Club who were in the process of completing a west to east crossing of the Glencoaghan Horseshoe walk. The group had been about to start their ascent of Bin Dubh the next peak in the circuit, when they stopped to chat with another group of walkers who were doing the walk from the opposite direction. Both groups met just above Maumnageeragh Col to swap pleasantries. It transpired that the other group was also from the North (Belfast Civil Service Walking Club). The two gentlemen from Galway we had met earlier on Ben Gabhar (first part of walk) and later on Binn Bhraoin summit were also there and they accompanied our party to the summit of Binn Dubh (Bencollaghduff). Buoyed by the camaraderie engendered by our meeting and the unplanned rest break, we bade our fellow walkers fair wind and began our ascent of Binn Dubh. Surprisingly, this was not as difficult as it first appeared although after turning south past the second spot height the final climb to the summit cairn required a little more care and the use of hands in one or two places. The broad rocky summit provided fantastic views to the west such as those described in reports of the previous stages but also provided the first relatively unimpeded views across the northern edge of Lough Inagh over to the northern Mamturks. The views north over Binn Bhán’s eastern spur & Knockpasheemore towards Kylemore Lough & Killary Harbour were awesome in the late afternoon sunlight. To the south the final legs of the Horseshoe, Binn Chorr & Binn Doire Chláir awaited. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/115/comment/2328/

Read Less