We initially went up Beinn Bhreac from Talisker in September 1997. We followed the sea cliffs, with waterfalls being blown back inland and soaking us, then visited the top of Preshal Beg on our way up to the trig on Beinn Bhreac, descending Sleadale to Talisker. In September 2002 we bought Explorer map 411 and noted the two spot heights of 448m, with the trig marked as 445m (see Marhofn 93).
We decided to revisit Beinn Bhreac to confirm we had been to the summit. We started from NG371296 on the Carbost to Eynort road and headed straight uphill to the top of Stockval (416m), descended to Loch Sleadale and across to the bealach. At this point the weather changed dramatically but we continued toward the top. After much effort in torrential horizontal rain, we gave up trying to find the top and trig and found our way back to the bealach. I made a note to buy a GPS.
So, last September we decided to make another effort at confirming we had been to the top of Beinn Bhreac. We started at the same point on the Carbost to Eynort road and took the track to the shielings at 362286. We then followed the fence used on our previous descent and headed south past the lochan up to the trig on Beinn Bhreac.
The three prominent points at the top are the trig at 343267 (415m on map), an unmarked point at 344267 (418m on map) and a cairn at 345269 (418m on map). My GPS and watch altimeter both gave the trig and unmarked top exactly the same height. The cairn gave the same height on the watch but a slightly lower height on the GPS. My opinion based on these readings and views from different directions would give the trig as slightly the higher point. Has the OS just transferred data from an old map?
We descended alongside the gorge on the Kearra burn (the weather had again deteriorated), and followed the burn back to the sheilings and the boggy path to the car. In our opinion the ascent of Beinn Bhreac is best done from Talisker, as we did on our initial ascent, and I am convinced we did visit the summit on that occasion.
Alan Dawson: In poor visibility on Christmas Day Brent and I visited the trig point and the unmarked summit but not the cairn, so I entirely agree with your conclusions.
