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Two days after our snowy venture into Glencoe we were in Fort William. With the snow melting away we decided that Stob Ban and Mullach nan Coirean would be our conquest. We arrived in Glen Nevis in somewhat cloudy conditions and with waterproofs at the ready we set off up the track from Polldubh.
- Into the Corrie towards Stob Ban
We soon gained height and left the relatively dry ground behind for the boggier and icier ground higher up the hill. The route followed the burn high into the Corrie, which looked quite stunning, waking from it’s frozen slumber:
- Frozen Burn
- Frozen Burn
- Frozen Burn
- Frozen Burn
- Frozen Burn
There were fantastic views back down into Glen Nevis:
- Glen Nevis
- Glen Nevis
The higher we climbed the more clag we encountered and were soon mooching around with nothing to look at but the route immediately in front of us.
- Watching the hanging ice crash from Stob Ban's east rock face
- pausing for thought in the Clag
With dense cloud reducing visibility to no more than 100 feet or so it was impossible to know how far from the summit we were, so we kept plodding onward and upward hoping that the clag would lift to reward us with the stunning views we had been hoping for:
- Towards Stob Ban
Upon reaching the first Munro summit of the day, Stob Ban the visibility was very poor, so much so that it was impossible to see the route from there to Mullach. So out came the trusted map and compass to point us in the right direction.
- Summit cairn - Stob Ban
- looking back to Stob Ban from the Mullach ridge
As we trudged along the route towards Mullach, all of a sudden the Clag lifted and we got a view of what we had been missing
, along the ridge towards Mullach, down into the Corrie towards Glen Nevis, and back along our route towards Stob Ban. Alas, it was only a temporary reprieve, lasting just a few minutes, allowing a quick photo opportunity or two before plunging us back into the land of zero views
:
- The clag finally clears from the Stob Ban - Mullach ridge
- Into the Corrie towards Glen Nevis
- Back towards Stob Ban
The ridge was completely covered by snow as we trudged through the drifts towards the second Munro, Mullach. By the time we reached the summit the clag was all around, so we paused momentarily for the summit photo and to check the descent route, heading for the forest just west of Polldubh.
- Route finding, summit cairn - Mullach nan Coirean
The route down was snow and ice covered and a little lower down following the line of the deer fence, very boggy. This caused problems for the pair of us, as we slipped our way to the bottom in fair regularity. Claire proved to be the worst victim slipping in the middle of a large bog, introducing her backside to the sodden Peat. We both had a laugh as I hauled her to her feet and she blessed her Goretex trousers!
- Snowy & icy descent from Mullach
We arrived back at the car, which we had cunningly left at the forest track instead of further east at Polldubh and changed into some warm, dry clothes before leaving for home – Ballachulish.
A great walk, but we were disappointed not to catch the views, and that coupled with the boggy descent caused Claire to dub it ‘a cow of a walk!’ in a phone text to the in-laws, and so it has become known to us!
Looking forward to climbing it again, next time in better conditions!