free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
My itinerary Caught the earliest bus from Glasgow to Fort William on the 16th. I walked to the official start of the ring of steall from fort William bus station via Glen Nevis. Then I continued to the summit of An Gearanach past Steall falls and over the wire bridge, Where I camped for the night, I think I got there around 6pm. I set off at 6am the next morning and hit the other Munros and walked back through Glen Nevis. I was back in Fort William town centre around 1pm.
No car? No problem, the ring of steall is still accessible to you!Glen Nevis was a beautiful way to start and finish the ring of steall, also a good way to warm up and wind down. Especially if you don't have a car and have no other way of getting to the start! (even if I did have a car, I would still do it this way tbh). Just look up the glen nevis circular walk on this website
https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/fortwilliam/glennevis.shtml and follow that route, you'll see it connects seamlessly to the start of the ring of steall.
Wild Camping on the ring of steallI camped near the summit of An Gearanach, just before the map marker for the official highest point. It was stunning and isolated, I got to watch the golden sun set before bed and eat my breakfast watching the sunrise break through the fog and clouds. I managed to find a little dip which shielded my tent from the wind and that had flatish ground. Lets be honest if you're going to camp on a mountain expect to be sliding around in your tent a little. There was also a few ponds/ glorified puddles up there that I could filter water from. An Gearanach was good for camping on and I've heard of people camping on or near Am Bodach (all though I wasnt really keeping an eye out for good camping places up there). I would say do not plan to camp at the summit of Sgurr a mhaim, its way to rocky.
The Munros Themselves Decending Sgurr a mhaim was probably the hardest part of the whole trip for me, it feels never ending, especially if you're carrying a big heavy pack. My knee caps were mince by the time I got down. The steepest climb or what felt steepest was surprisingly Am Bodach, every time I thought I was near the top, more of the mountain would appear out of the mist.
The ring of steall does involve some scrambling and climbing and sketchy parts, which felt a bit trickier with my pack on, I felt that it was restricting my movements and affecting my balance, something to bare in mind if you plan on camping up there. The Devils ridge was my favourite part, it felt the most exciting and adventurous because you're so exposed, it was easy in the sense that it wasn't as physically demanding as other parts of this walk, but it was hard in the sense that you need to be careful and watch your footing.
In conclusion10/10 I loved it and I'd do it again. Its the most fun I've had on a hike so far, its also probably the most unsafe I've ever felt of hike. So take from that what you will. For reference, I'm in my late 20's and relatively fit, however I'm not an experienced Munro bagger. Before the ring of steall I had only done 3 Munros and was more into trails rather than hills.
I hope this report was helpful to someone out there xx
