Mist keeps wonders hidden from view; It may need luck to see all the

EASTER Saturday dawned grey and drizzly, but there was a hint of spring in the lively bird song. I drove west to Bridge of Orchy and tackled a couple of Munros that I hadn't set foot on for years, Beinn Dorain and Beinn an Dothaidh, Duncan Ban MacIntyre's hills.

MacIntyre, who was born near Bridge of Orchy in 1724, has been forever associated with Beinn Dorain, whose steep slopes sweep down to where the A82 road and the West Highland railway come together briefly before parting to make their own routes across the wild and watery flats of Rannoch Moor.

MacIntyre, or Donnchadh Ban nan Oran (fair-haired Duncan of the songs) wrote passionately about the hills and corries that surrounded him and no more so than Beinn Dorain, the mountain that was to become his monument. Moladh Beinn Dorain, In Praise of Beinn Dorain, is one of his best-known poems and is significant because of the author's awareness of the aesthetic values of the hill, a rare acknowledgement in those days.

"O gladly in times of old I trod that glorious ground, And the white dawn melted in the sun, and the red deer cried around."

I wonder how many folk since have "trod that glorious ground", initially inspired perhaps by the near-perfect conical symmetry of Beinn Dorain filling the pass ahead of them as they drove over the A82 from Tyndrum. Forming part of the Great Wall of Rannoch, Beinn Dorain, 3,530ft and its near neighbour, Beinn an Dothaidh, 3,294ft, along with Beinn Achaladair and Beinn a' Chreachain, form the ancient boundary between the old Pictish Kingdom of Alba to the east and the Dalriadic Kingdom of the Scots in the west.

Beinn Dorain and Beinn an Dothaidh can be climbed easily together from Bridge of Orchy. I took the well-churned up footpath that runs up the hill from the station and follows the Allt Coire an Dothaidh.The final few hundred metres to the bealach steepen, and here the path shows the worst of the erosion. Another hillwalker commented on how many folk were on the hill. "Too busy," he said. In evangelical mode, I suggested it was Easter and it was good to see so many folk enjoying the hills.

A large group had congregated on the bealach, so I didn't stop. I may have felt charitable about folk enjoying the hills but I didn't want to become caught up in a gaggle of them. The path from the bealach zig-zagged its way south - steeply at first then more gently past a large lochan before steepening again towards what looked like a craggy summit. I knew it wasn't, for I still had a few hundred metres of ridge-walking to the true summit.

All the books tell of the wonderful viewpoint that Beinn Dorain is but I've still to see more than a few feet beyond the cairn and that includes two previous visits. I was aware, though, that Duncan Ban MacIntyre lived for a while at Ais-an t-Sidhean in the Auch Gleann below, although I couldn't see it. It's ironic his old house is now used as a sheep fank. MacIntyre hated the sheep which caused so many people to be cleared from their homes, a feeling explained in his poem, Oran Nam Balgairean, the Song of the Foxes: "My blessing be upon the foxes, because that they hunt the sheep, The sheep with the brockit faces that have made confusion in all the world."

I jogged back to the bealach down patches of old snow and took a steeper line up the grassy flank of Beinn an Dothaidh to the summit ridge that boasts at least three separate cairns.

Most guides suggest the summit is represented by the middle cairn but if you have doubts, like me, just visit them all. I hope you have better views than I did though - all I had was a brief clearing in the mist that showed steep cornice-lined cliffs dropping down to the vastness of Rannoch Moor. Curiously, that one glimpse made a good day into a grand one.

Map: OS Sheet 50 Distance: About 8 miles Approx time: 5-7 hours Start/Finish: Bridge of Orchy station Route: Take the underpass below the railway line, go through a gate and follow the footpath to the left of the mobile phone mast.

Follow this path to the Bealach Dothaidh, the obvious notch between the two hills. Climb due S, steeply at first then in a meandering line as the path passes a lochan and continues S, past a craggy outcrop on the left and onwards on a narrowing ridge to the large summit cairn.

Retrace your steps to the bealach and follow another path that initially slants across steep rocky slopes in a NE direction before fading out on the grassy slopes below Beinn an Dothaidh's summit ridge. The actual summit is the central of three tops.

FACTFILE

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