Let's face it, the prospect of a scramble is enough to send a frisson of excitement/dread through the average walker -- well, me at least. Even the slog up from sea-level to a Munro summit seems like just the prelude if there's some hands-on bits to be tackled later in the day.
There are (at least) 3 recognised scrambles in the Loch Tay region, 2 of which form part of normal Munro routes, while the other is also frequently tackled along with a Munro. Having done all 3 within a few days earlier this month, and as a relative newcomer to this sort of thing, I thought I'd share some of my experiences. All seem to be graded 1 in various guides, yet there are big differences between them.
Scramble 1: west 'face' of Meall Garbh on the Tarmachan Ridge
Scramble 2: east face of An Stuc
Scramble 3: north face of Stuc a' Chroin
My experiences would suggest the grading 0.5 (Meall Garbh), 1.0 (An Stuc) and 1.5 (Stuc a Chroin). However, I (perhaps foolishly) did them in the order 3, 1, 2 and this probably influenced how difficult I found them.
While many of the popular Munro books devote only a few lines to these scrambles by saying: there are no real technical problems here, my opinion is that while it is undoubtably true that (in summer) there are no
technical difficulties, for many walkers the real issue is a lack of confidence mixed with some uncertainty about what lies ahead. The writers of these guides may well have forgotten (or never experienced) the lack of confidence. I find it helpful to at least try to overcome the what lies ahead point before setting out and hope that the confidence comes with exposure, as it were...
Starting with
Meall Garbh (which is a great little mountain with a strange deeply-grooved path running along a surprisingly narrow ridge), this is the part requiring some hand contact. This is a zoom taken from part way up the slope to Beinn nan Eachan. Note the two walkers about to descend (I also descended, because it seems natural to start this circuit with the Munro Meall nan Tarmachan). You can probably make out an alternative path which starts some metres before the top of the scramble to the left (north) which rejoins the scramble just at its base. The photo doesn't really give a good impression of steepness, but suffice to say that at the top looking down even the alternative path seems quite steep. The photo makes it seem all very gentle. Actually, the scramble is quite easy although the rocks are large slabs and I can imagine would be slippy in the wet.
Here's a long-range shot from the north, from the single-track road linking Loch Tay and Glen Lyon, just to give an idea of the slope.
Here's the view looking back up from the base (sorry about the sun...)
In summary, this would be a great little scramble to limber up for ...
An Stuc. A lot has been written about this, and I benefited a lot from reading various lists including this one before setting off. I ascended it on a wet (well, variously sun, rain, snow, hail -- the usual mix) Saturday, so there were plenty of people to watch, which is what I did to get some idea of the line. The path is a little difficult to make out in this shot, but you should be able to follow it from the base of the photo, about 25% away from the left edge, snaking up the steep grassy slope until it gets lost in a rocky cleft for some tens of metres before emerging on the slightly less steep grassy bit near the top (but always to the left of the main body of rocks).
This is the line most people were taking (there may be others...)
Here's a close-up of the scrambly part with some walkers to give a sense of scale. Here the problem is one of erosion underfoot and some loose rock at hand level. The stiff bit doesn't last long -- perhaps 10 minutes if you're taking it very carefully. The route is very obvious as is the point at which to join the grass at the top (not visible on this photo). At no point did it feel too difficult to back-track, which is an important consideration I think. I imagine this route would be equally-difficult/easy ascending or descending because the line is so clear and the hill is not so convex that you can't see where to head. Still, definitely a step up from Meall Garbh.
This shot, taken from some distance away in the south-east half way up to Meall Greigh, gives an idea of the steepness.
and with a rough tracing of the path
Finally, we come to the prow of
Stuc a Chroin, which seems to have been a bit of jinxed mountain for some on this list. This was Munro #2 for me after Ben Vorlich, and perhaps I was trying to get this one out of the way early on. This is the view that greets you from Ben Vorlich on a good day. From here, the path across the bealach gets lost in the boulder field but then is quite clear rising up right of centre.
Here's a closeup of the same shot and the path is pretty obvious ...
![stuc_detail.jpg]()
... although on the ground I managed to lose it on exiting the boulder field (too much time watching the hares and gazing up at the scramble). This shot is from the base of the rocks and gives a realistic impression of the slope. Having lost the path, I suppose I followed the principle of least ascent without actually descending, doubting whether I was doing the right thing, until I fortunately happened upon a path about half way up. The thing which made this scramble trickier than An Stuc, for me at least, was the absence of other walkers, the length of the hands-on part (by my reckoning, at least half as much again that of An Stuc), not being able to see the top until just past those vertical bits about 2/3rds of the way up and the steepness and exposure seemed a little worse than An Stuc. I suppose it is all relative, and had I done these scrambles in a different order than perhaps I'd rate them a bit differently. Perhaps I'll tackle Stuc a Chroin again one day and see things in another light.
![stuc_base.jpg]()
Later in the day, descending to the west, you get this view of the prow, which probably would have put me off climbing it so early on in my Munro days had I seen it first from this angle rather than the somewhat flat end on view from Vorlich.
Here's a detail of that shot. I find it difficult to trace out the path from this angle.
Finally, the view from the top of the scramble over to Ben Vorlich makes it worthwhile.
Well, I hope I haven't put anybody off -- quite the reverse. There's nothing like scrambling for gaining confidence and at the same time respect for the hills.
Martin
