TheRealLurlock wrote:Thanks so much for the suggestions. Part of the reason we're sticking with grade 1 at the moment is that we want to do multi-day walks with heavy packs, and I'm not sure how advisable it is to attempt a higher grade or a particularly exposed route with more than a few lbs on your back. Any thoughts on this? Or are the more difficult scrambles always best reserved for day trips based from a car?
A purely personal view, but if you have a big pack, I would start with very easy, escapable scrambles. Back when I was doing more scrambling, I did the Black Carls on Beinn Eighe as part of a multi-day route with big pack, and I didn't enjoy it as much as I would have done without the pack.
Maybe test it out by trying an easy scramble with a big pack, to see how it feels. If you are in Scotland then I think Stuc a'Chroin from the Loch Earn side might be good for this - not done that route but it does have a non-scramble alternative further west, if it starts feeling hairy. If in England or Wales then Daear Ddu on Moel Siabod or Striding Edge would be good. Both can be scrambled along the crest or (mostly) walked below it. Moel Siabod NE ridge, or Swirral Edge, then gives a taste of a rocky descent with a couple of scrambly moves.
I've not done a multi-day route in the area you're going to, but I think the Black Mount / Ben Starav area would be ideal for it, if you had a spell of good weather. You could start near the Glen Etive road turn off, climb Creise by the Stob a' Ghlas Coire ridge (mentioned by jmarkb), then it's hillwalking all the way over the Black Mount hills to Ben Starav, climbed via the east ridge that I mentioned.
The last day you could "walk out" via Glen Etive, or do the whole Buachaille Etive Mor ridge, as a fitting climax to the circuit. In fact I'm getting quite jealous just thinking about it. The sort of thing I should have done more when I was younger!
Tim