Stob Ghabhar and Meall nan Eun from Glen Etive

[Gareth M]

As I’d used so many user reports planning trips, I thought I’d give it a go in case my report is useful to someone as so many other reports were useful to me.

My last backpacking trip to the Highlands was way back in 2005. Back then it was a complete traverse of the main Mamore ridge. Unfortunately, while camping on the Stob Bàn, unforecasted thunderstorms rolled through in the night, including one directly above. Zero sleep happened but I emerged from the tent above the clouds in a wonderland, happy to have survived and able to complete my traverse to Binnein Mòr.

16 years later I'm not really sure why I hadn't planned another trip to the Highlands. Turning 40 I thought it's perhaps time to change that. Luckily my wife kindly gave me a birthday present of time and petrol for a trip when the weather and life allowed.

The forecast for the weekend was excellent, warm and sunny. The only drawback was that I was at my in-law’s golden wedding anniversary party in mid Wales on Friday night. So, I left the house at 6am on Saturday to walk the three miles to the train station, an hour and a half on the train and a 30-minute bus ride I was home in northwest Shropshire frantically packing my camping stuff. Then I was on the road, stopping at the supermarket to get supplies. Walking out of the shop I realised that I'd forgotten to pack my camera, I considered just using my phone, but I love taking photos and knew I'd regret not having my proper camera so a 20-minute drive back to get my camera and 20 minutes back to where I was, and I was once again on my way. All was going well until the M74 was closed and the sat nav took my on a detour with the rest of traffic heading north. After a 2-hour delay, I finally arrived in Glen Etive at 8pm excited by what lay ahead.

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Leaving behind the busy roadside, full of people camping, I paddled across the river and headed into the hills past cascading waterfalls. The temperature was a warm 25 and my heavy pack was feeling all the more heavy in the heat. My target for the night was Aonach Mòr, and, given the time, it was simply a case of getting as high as I could as quick as I could before sunset. The climb was torturous with steep grassy slopes threading through the crags. I managed to get to a sort of summit at 575m and called it a night there. I set the tent up and watched the sunset behind Bidean nam Bian. To the east dark clouds were gathering and I was having flashbacks to the thunderstorms of 2005, my complete exhaustion meant I soon got to sleep and didn't worry too much about the weather.

In the morning I awoke to clear skies and packed the tent up while providing the midges with a nice breakfast. Tent packed up I got moving. As I climbed Aonach Mòr cloud started forming below me and the view gradually became more and more spectacular. Soon enough I was on top of the broad, rocky, undulating ridge above the clouds heading for Stob Ghabhar.

The summit of Stob Ghabhar was sensational, every direction presented amazing views of mountains emerging from a layer of cloud. After taking it all in for a while I headed off on the easy walk to the west across a few tops until I got to the steep descent into Lairig Dhochard. By now the low cloud had lifted slightly and made visibility poor once I started to descend into the gloom. As there was no path and many crags, I decided to play it safe and sit around in the sun waiting for the visibility lower down to improve.

After about an hour the cloud pushed back to the east slightly and I could see a safe route down. Safely down I collected some water and contemplated my plan. I had planned to complete a route all the way to Ben Starav, but the heat and my waning energy levels convinced me to abandon another night in the tent and cut the route short. First though I would climb Meall nan Eun. Initially the climb was tough up steep grassy slopes but the gradient eventually reduced significantly making a pleasant walk to the summit. The cloud had now lifted a bit obscuring the views slightly in some directions. It was here I met the only person of the trip, a paraglider waiting patiently for the cloud to lift. I thought about how quick it would be to glide back to my car before I also thought about how scary I would find it, personally I'd rather walk.

Now it was mostly downhill to the car, how hard can that be? As it turned out it could be quite a slog in the afternoon heat! First stop was a bit more climbing over Meall Tarsuinn before descending to the northeast over large rocky slabs. This part was good fun and easy going, then I reached the bottom of the slabs. Here the going was harder with long grass and hummocky ground, but I was optimistic there was a good track through the pass to the east of Stob Dubh as I'd seen one ascending from the opposite side from my camp the previous night. A seemingly endless trudge ensued through the pathless terrain spurred on by the thought of the easy track and the bottle of Coke that I'd left in the car. I eventually reached the track I'd seen the night before which was welcome relief even though it was far shorter than I'd hoped. A quick dip in Allt a' Chaorainn to wash the layers of sweat off and then back down to the relative hustle and bustle of Glen Etive. The bottle of Coke I'd cleverly left in my car to perk me up for the long drive home was now the temperature of the sun and undrinkable. Never mind, it wasn't too much of a disappointment after a brilliant, albeit exhausting, time in the hills. I was glad I'd made the effort (and returned for my camera) and it definitely won’t be another 16 years before I return.

[HalfManHalfTitanium]

Stunning photos and an interesting way to approach this hill!

tim

[Grisu]

Just as Tim said: stunning pictures and a real pleasure to watch!