Beinn Odhar

Peak: Beinn Odhar (901m/2956ft)
Area: Tyndrum, Southern Highlands
An ideal way to break the journey north, this Corbett rises above Tyndrum and lends itself to a short, sharp run. After a night in Dumbarton, we had breakfast at the Real Food cafe, then I set off from the A82 in perfect sunny conditions, ploughing diagonally up the steep slopes (too steep to be runnable) above the road to eventually pick up the broad south ridge much higher up. There is a semblance of a path up this, but this hill is another illustration of the pull that Munros exert. It is only just below the mark, extremely accessible, but I had it to myself in stunning weather. After a short narrowing of the now runnable ridge, a lochan is gained, before steeper boulder fields lead to the summit. Great views over Beinn Dorain, its more illustrious neighbour (which I ran up in torrential rain this time last year). Indeed, the views across the entire Southern Highlands were excellent: Ben Lui, Cruach Ardrain and Ben Cruachan were particularly notable. I had one hour (in total) at my disposal, so ran flat out down the south ridge to the West Highland Way, treating the subsequent run back to Tyndrum and the family as a mini speed session.