Lynn had decided that being stuck on 63
Munros was getting tedious so a short visit to Glen Coe would be just the trip
to get things moving. Two Munros a day
over 4 days would soon banish the staid 60s and make a serious start towards
achieving the 100 mark!
Buachaille Etive Beag
Stob Coire Raineach
A 2hr drive from Edinburgh and we were on our
way up the excellent new path that leaves the A82 just E of The Study. The path heads towards the glacial U-shaped
trough of the Lairig Eilde for ½Km where you fork left at a junction and start the climb. The path ascends the grassy hillside to the
bealach that splits the 2 Munros on the Buachaille Etive Beag ridge. Here we entered cloud and rain which ensured
we saw little of the subsequent ‘out-and-back’ traverse of the ridge to Stob
Dubh (958m; black peak).
Stob Coire Raineach
Returning to the bealach, the cloud lifted
and we started to get sporadic views of the surrounding mountains during the
short climb to our 2nd peak: Stob Coire Raineach (925m; peak of the bracken corrie).
The return to the bealach and thence back
down to the car was mercifully quick given the pretty average weather but we
had at least moved Lynn off No 63 and achieved 2 summits in less than 4hrs!
Aonach Eagach
Aonach Eagach
The most challenging hill day in Glen Coe -
by some margin - is the traverse of the Aonach Eagach. This notched
ridge is a serious undertaking in any weather and demands respect and
caution by all who venture along it.
Leaving the car in a lay-by opposite Loch
Achtriochtan, we walked up the glen to the parking area just west of
Allt-na-reigh where a twisting path strikes steeply up the SE ridge of Am
Bodach (943m; the old man). You may well feel like the eponymous
gentleman by the time you reach the summit but at least you will be rewarded
with great views in every direction!
Uppermost in your mind though is likely to be
the view W towards the impending ridge.
It doesn’t look too troublesome from this point but the fun soon begins
and just after leaving the summit of Am Bodach, the first of the problems is
encountered - a sudden 20m drop. This is
negotiated via a snaking descent on steep ledges and ramps with a deal of
exposure, particularly on the N side of the ridge. Generally though, I find folk are too
engrossed on locating the (ample) holds to worry about the view!
The problems then ease temporarily and an
easy ascent leads to the first Munro of the day - Meall Dearg (953m; red hill). From here you get your first full view of the
meat of the ridge although much of the detail is hidden by the intervening
pinnacles.
Suffice to say, there now follows up to 90
mins of, at times, intensive scrambling across no end of gullies, slabs and
chimneys over numerous pinnacles. Just
before reaching the relative security of the final bealach, the ‘crazy pinnacles’
pose one last difficulty. Some may opt -
as we did, and I usually do - for a diversionary path on the N side of the
ridge. Whilst this by-passes the
pinnacles themselves, it is very steep and requires great care. It is not a place to be in the wet!
Lynn - and me for that matter - coped
admirably, however, and we were eventually spat out on that final col from
where a steep but mercifully uncomplicated climb took us to the intervening
summit of Stob Coire Leith (940m; peak of the grey corrie).
From here, a fairly easy level walk leads to
the 2nd Munro on the ridge: Sgorr nam Fiannaidh (967m; peak of the Fingalians). Whilst the steep sides of Glen Coe contribute
greatly to its rugged splendour, they also contribute greatly to the
difficulties of descending from its summits!
Our descent to the car was anything but
straightforward - 3000’ in a little over one Km! Bouldery at first, grassy lower down with
waist-deep bracken and always, always steep, it’s a real knee-breaker! The accompanying fabulous views along and
across the glen in late afternoon sunshine provided some compensation. But the best reward of all was to reach the
car.
That was one quality mountain day!
The Lost Valley
The very agreeable weather
deserted us on Day 3 and we left early to get as much done as possible before
the rain arrived. We did well, but it
still caught us late in the morning as we climbed out of Coire Gabhail - the
Lost Valley - en route to our highest peak of the trip: Bidean nam Bian (1150m; pinnacle of the hills).
From there onwards, there
was precious little to see other than the occasional snow patch and steep
plunging abyss back down into a hidden Coire Gabhail as we traversed down to
the intervening bealach and up to our 2nd peak: Stob Coire Sgreamhach
(1072m; peak of the dreadful corrie).
Returning to the bealach,
the path down into the corrie is very eroded and can be treacherous in wet
conditions. Today a lingering frozen
snow field added to our difficulties and we spent a lot of time carefully picking
our way down to easier ground.
Eventually though, we
intercepted our inward route and followed the path back down the Lost Valley
arriving like drowned rats back at the car.
The rain continued for most of the night!
Buachaille Etive Mor
Buachaille Etive Mor
The weather returned to
its earlier form on our last day and we were not troubled further by cloud or
rain. Parking at Altnafeadh, we climbed
up the well-constructed path that now leads all the way to the skyline above
the headwall of Coire an Tulaich. The
path remains on the W side of the corrie’s burn and avoids all the scree higher
up. Once on the corrie rim, it’s a
straightforward and modest climb over the pink boulders to one of the most
iconic peaks in Scotland: Stob Dearg (1021m;
red peak).
Coire an Tulaich
Today, we were rewarded with a great view across Rannoch Moor towards a distant Schiehallion as well as back along the full length of this impressive ridge.
Retracing our steps to the
corrie rim, we continued on over the intervening tops of Stob na Doire and Stob
Coire Altruim before reaching the end of the ridge and our final Munro of the
trip: Stob na Broige (956m; peak of the
shoe). The view from here down Glen
Etive is particularly fine and everywhere you look there are mountains!
Stob na Broige
We returned to the bealach
just E of Stob Coire Altruim before descending down another much-improved path
that leads into the corrie and down into the Lairig Gartain. An excellent path now leads NE through the
Lairig and back to the A82 where a perilous ¾Km of road walking leads back to
the start point - easily the most dangerous part of the day!
So, a great few days in good
company with a tidy haul of Munros and one of the Scottish Highlands’ finest
ridge traverses. What’s not to like?
This blog entry is dedicated to the memory of Hugo Crawford, brother, father and husband. Although I never knew him, he loved the mountains as I do. RIP.
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