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With the forecast looking next to perfect for the Glencoe area I loaded up the tent on Friday and headed off to Glen Etive. Having made the mistake of camping at the Red Squirrel on my previous trip at the end of May I thought I would find a nice quite place along the the River Etive and I fully expected to enjoy a bit of peace and quiet. There wasn't too many people around at this point so I found a nice spot and enjoyed a small fire for a few hours before calling it a night. 7am and I'm up staring out the tent window at some thick fog. At this point I had high hopes of heading up Ben Starav and getting above the fog. By 8:30 I was off through the fog, across the River Etive and down the boggy path that takes you up the Allt nam Meirleach which branches off the Allt Mheuran. After crossing a wooden bridge the path turns left and follows the stream until a very nice waterfall is reached. Just after the waterfall the path forks and I took a right turn up lower slopes of Ben Starav.
The SMC Munro book describes the climb as unrelenting, yet I found it fairly easy mainly because it levels out in a few places along the way and the path is actually quite good. I guess I got an added boost of energy when my head all of a sudden poked through the clouds. I've been looking at a lot of other people's photos of cloud inversions and was a bit jealous. But on this day I got to see a pretty magnificent sight for the first time.
What an amazing sight! So with renewed vigor I trudged ahead up the slopes of Ben Starav, looking back every so often to look at the inversion.
The climb to Ben Starav gives you a great view of two of its coires and a nice view down to where the River Etive empties into the loch. The going becomes a bit tougher on the last push to the top as you have to climb boulders until the summit is reached. I would be a bit worried here in poor visibility as the path often creeps too close to the deep crags for my taste. At the summit I stopped for lunch and took in the excellent 360 degree views. Most impressive was Ben Cruachan to the south.
After about 30 mins at the top I headed over to the north summit and made my way down to Stob Coire Dheirg. At this point I decided to conserve my energy and possibly add Beinn nan Aighenan in my walk so I traversed around Stob Coire Dheirg leaving the windy easy scramble for another occasion. Walking around the top was fairly easy and I reached Bealachan Lochain Ghaineamhaich (say that 5 times in a row) and gave the addition of a third munro about 5 minutes thought. Beinn nan Aighenan is not the most impressive munro in the area and in the end I decided that two munros on this day would be enough. So off to Glas Bheinn Mhor.
The walk up to Glas Bheinn Mhor was fairly easy going and it wasn't long before I was rewarded with more amazing views, especially to the east toward Ben More and down to Loch Tulla. Ben Nevis was poking its head over Bidean from this top as well.
Now for the descent, though I was reluctant to give up the splendid views. Myself and two walkers who had driven up from Cumbria descended together and I found the path easy going, though steep in a few spots before you make the left turn down the Allt Mheuran. There are plenty of water slides down the burn before you reach the Robber's Waterfall which in itself is very attractive. From here down, however, the descent turned into Bogfest 2009. Hardly a dry stretch the rest of the way. At one point before reaching the bridge you cross on the way to Ben Starav it goes through ferns and felt more like a walk through the Amazon. You reach the path back to the car with some relief and very muddy boots.
With the exception of the descent, this has to be one of my favorite walks to date. Ben Starav is a class mountain. I'll probably never forget seeing the fog covering Glen Etive and the view toward Ben Cruachan has certainly put the munro on my to-do list. The addition of Beinn nan Aighenan would be easy for those of you in great shape, but I'm glad I skipped out on it based on how I felt the next morning. I had every intention of returning to camp, cleaning up a bit and going to the Clachaig for dinner and a pint and then returning to my tent to do Buachaille Etive Mor the next morning. Sadly, upon returning to the tent I found a gaggle of 15 or so merry makers had set up a tent city within yards of my once peaceful and quiet spot. I lost all interest in camping at that point and I packed up and returend to St. Andrews. Next time I'll find a spot that isn't big enough for anyone but myself.