Home
Beinn Dorain
This is a Munro I have a lot of pictures of, basically because we have spent quite some time in the area and it is a fantastic ben to look at. It is one of the five Bridge of Orchy Munros. 
When you look up Beinn Dorain online, the view from the south is the picture you will mostly get: the pointy, triangularly shaped Munro that comes into full view when you drive from Tyndrum to Bridge of Orchy (or Glencoe if you continue further north). 
But that's not the way to climb it. You climb it from the west, where it has a profoundly different shape. Beinn Dorain has a long shape and is glued to its slightly smaller, northern neighbour: Beinn an Dothaidh. You climb it by starting at the bottom of the bealach - narrow mountain-pass - which you can see very well on the large picture.
You can see it even better on this one. In fact, this bit was what we thought looked pretty daunting. (It still does look kind of daunting, I think.)
But if we can manage, nearly everybody can. What's more, the day we climbed Beinn Dorain, a mountain runner passed us on the way down... and again when we were not quite down. We also encountered a "senior citizen" who happily managed to tackle it all by himself. Be warned: there are fit people on these bens.
So you start at the Bridge of Orchy train station and follow the path up the ben. You can't miss that bit. When you plodded your way up the bealach, you basically have a choice. Either you continue on top of the ben and make out your own way to the summit, but please, be sure to stand at the right summit cairn, because some do mistake the Sassenach's cairn for the true summit cairn.
Or you can walk along the ben, which has the advantage that you have a rather clear path, but the disadvantage that you have no idea where you are and - as said earlier- it is a pretty long ben. Once you've reached the end of the ben, you arrive at a wee platform, from which you tackle the final few metres to the summit. Easy-peasy. Sort of.
If you're lucky - like we were - you get the most stunning scenery. Stun-ning! Feast your eyes on some examples below.
The view towards the Glen Etive hills and including Ben Nevis
Towards Ben Cruachan
Ben Lui
Views all around. I took dozens of pictures. But the best ones are those stored in my mind. Go and check it out yourself, I'd say.
Done 10 June 2015.
