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Ring of Steall - A fool falls in

Ring of Steall - A fool falls in


Postby Verylatestarter » Sun Jan 03, 2021 6:02 pm

Route description: The Ring of Steall, Mamores

Munros included on this walk: Am Bodach, An Gearanach, Sgùrr a' Mhàim, Stob Coire a' Chàirn

Date walked: 05/09/2020

Time taken: 10 hours

Distance: 16 km

Ascent: 1676m

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This being one of the great set-piece walks, we had added it to our to-do list last year. Having driven down from Torridon on the 4th and stopping at the Glen Nevis Hostel we could get a full days walking in. As we took almost exactly the WH routes I will only stick to a few notes.
1 - man on a wire 2005.jpg

2 - i think we should cross here in 2020.jpg

3 - fool on a wire 2020.JPG

5 - ben crosses in 2020.JPG


The weather dry and cool with cloud base at about 1100m. We parked at lower falls and walked along road to upper car park. There were a lot of wild campers in the Glen, just waking up. Up the Nevis gorge, into flat open valley which always comes as a surprise and over the wire bridge; past the hut and then approach to the Steall falls. The whole area around the falls was wet and we picked our way across the boggy area. The falls were not is spate but just enough water to wet the rocks. Ben got across fine but I went in up to my knees sliding off a rounded rock. My boots eventually dried out about 2;00 o’clock.
6 - Steall falls just as i was about to fall in.JPG

7 - the dark geen areas to the left of the river are bog.JPG


The area beyond the falls was even more of a quagmire so I decided to run for it, being soaked already, it certainly didn't make me any wetter. In retrospect we should have waded the river beyond the wire bridge as two scramblers on our route did (one had previously fallen in so knew better this time). I usually carry beach shoes for such a necessity, but the bridge seemed so tempting, having crossed it on trips in the 90’s and 00’s but gone no further than the falls, this time it would be different.
8 - path up An Gearanach.JPG

9 - looking back from An Gearanach.JPG


The zig zag route up the North side of A Gearanach was on a poor quality eroded path, one of the most difficult stretches of the walk. Given the popularity of the walk and the fact we make a voluntary contribution to the car parking I would have hoped some money could be found to improve the paths at both ends of this walk. Still the rest of the walk was superb; the scramble over An Garbhanach was straightforward, the Munro’s we walked up without incident, the Devil’s Ridge exposed but comfortable (clearly the Devil was having an off day), the worst bit an obstructive vertical slab that could be climbed or bypassed, depending on your capability . A lot of ascent but nicely spread out over the six hills. Stob ban looked magnificent (one more for the list). The long slope down Sron Gurr a Mhain was gruelling the upper sections quartzite rubble and the lower section boggy but we got back to the car in time for dinner (always our main priority) and were in a fit enough state to drive home the next day.
10 - looking forward to An Garbhanach.JPG

11 - Start of scrambling.JPG

12 - scrambling.JPG

13 - Stob Coire a Chairn.JPG

14 An Gearanach.JPG

15 - Sgurr a Mhain, Devils ridge, Sgorr an Lubhair.JPG

16 - Devils ridge.JPG

17 - Sgorr an Lubhair - not quiet a Munro.JPG

18 - Am Bodach, the steep bit.JPG

19 - Old man on the Old Man.JPG

20 - young man on the Old man.JPG

21 - Stob Ban - the steep bit.JPG

22 - The Devils Ridge from Lubhair.JPG

24 - starting up the Devils ridge.JPG

25 - along the top.JPG

26 - a bit of scrambling.JPG

27 - bypass on West side of the tricky bit.JPG

28 - more bypass.JPG

29 - Ben takes the direct route.JPG

30 - over the top.JPG

31 - looking back to the tricky bit.JPG

32 - last part of Devils.JPG

34 - Devils Ridge veiwed from North.JPG

35 - South spur of Sgurr a Mhaim, belach to Stob ban on right.JPG

36 - Northwest spur of Sgurr a Mhaim.JPG

37 - Quartzite.JPG

38 - Sgurr a Mhaim from NW.JPG

39 - The long way dwon.JPG

40 - The path.JPG



For the whole week we had totalled 9 Munros and ascended 5546m; my 2 year old boots were wrecked but, all in all, it was a great week. We’ll be back for more, and have now added the rest of the Mamores to our list.

Has anyone tried the route from Waters of Nevis to Binnien Bearg as an approach to the Eastern round 4?
Verylatestarter
Mountain Walker
 
Posts: 195
Munros:35   Corbetts:11
Fionas:3   
Islands:5
Joined: Oct 14, 2020
Location: East Anglia (South Norfolk)

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