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This weekend was going to be in Glencoe, because Allison was continuing on holiday in Ballachulish after it. So we knew to expect good weather

We both needed Bidean nam Bian and she required some Mamores, so that seemed a sensible use of time - we could fit in a Corbett for a short day on Sunday before parting ways. She'd been to her GP this week, and - like me - has been started on antibiotics for possible LD. We drove up on Thursday afternoon and camped behind the Kingshouse, where there was a veritable village of small tents - presumably WHW walkers.
I reckoned we should start with Bidean - a mountain that for some reason fills me with dread. I don't really know why - it is a complex mountain riven with steep gullies and just looks forboding. And I remember the avalanche that killed four young folk in 2013, when I was just starting off my hills...Anyhow, it's a hill that I tend to associate with premonitions of death. We should really have gone up by the Beinn Fhada ridge and picked up the 2 Munro Tops there - but with neither of us feeling that great, it didn't appeal. I'd been reading about the "bad step" between the second Top and Sgreamhach. When we did it first time round, we could remember a steep grassy rake, but nothing really tricky. But then, that was back in the day when I didn't mind a scramble, and we had other souls with us - it was a WH meet weekend. So we decided to save them for another time. Going up the Stob Coire nan Lochan route would allow us to pick up the Simm of Aonach Dubh. We could also have visited Gearr Aonach, although that would have been another 4k or so onto the route.
Parked at the busy stop in Glencoe, lots of tourists having photos taken and the like. Air thick with perfume. We got geared up and set off. Followed the standard route until the steep rise up by the stream, when we set off for Aonach Dubh. Several stags watched us ascend, not moving a muscle. "What are you doin' up our mountain? We'll perforate you, ya bass" or some such thoughts may have been in their heads. We made the top then set about rejoining the main path up to Stob Coire nan Lochan.
Quite a few other folk around, dogs. Up to the main summit of Bidean then out to the Top of Stob Coire nam Beith. Back to the main summit then along to Sgreamhach. We'd spoken to a lassie at the main summit of Bidean - she had caught up with us at Sgreamhach and we had a good chat - Siobhan was hoping to be a mountain leader and we both reckoned she'd make a great one, plus keep her clients thoroughly entertained with her banter. We came off the hill together and gave her a lift to Achnambeithhach where her car was parked (she'd come up via Collie's Pinnacle).
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We had a look around for a suitable camp spot and found one nearby the car park. Nice light over the Aonach Eagach. Slept a bit, which is an improvement and rose to a sunny morning. Today we'd do some of the hills around Sgurr Eilde Mor - I didn't reckon we had time or energy for the four of them, but we'd see how we got on. Drove along to the Grey Mare's Tail car park, noting with some irritation that it was the annual Motocross weekend where heaps of small engined bikes zip about everywhere. Lots in the first bit of the walk up the An Cumhann but thankfully no more as we walked higher up. We had lunch in Coire an Lochan and decided to go up Sgurr Eilde Mor by the SE route, picking up the path easily enough. A group of guys with a couple of labs came up - one of the dogs very bark/growly. "Covid Anxiety" said her owner and lavished treats upon her, presumably to distract her from the clear and present danger we posed. We were invited to give her treats as well. I've never understood the rationale for using food treats to train dogs - I was a great believer in the giving or withholding of approval, never food, and had a dog that was impeccably behaved. But maybe I was lucky, or maybe that just works with Border Collies.
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We had planned to just head over to Sgurr Eilde Beag and do Binnein Mor and Na Gruagaichean. Maybe pick up Binnein Beag from the Water of Nevis direction at a later date...but then it seemed a bit of a hassle to leave it out. Maybe we'll just do Eilde Mor and Binnein Beag then? Surprisingly we hadn't done these four hills together - I'd done them once on my own. Ach well, lets see how we get on. Steep slippy descent off Eilde Mor then that annoying drop into Coire a'Bhinnein. The path was boggy, worse than I remember it. Up to the summit of Binnein Beag. A look at the clock - just gone half past two and we've only done about 10k...hmm. Time to do Binnein Mor or not? Allison wasn't keen to drop away down into Coire a'Binnein again, so that settled it, we'd head over to Binnein Mor, using the grassy shoulder to the north.
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I was pleased to be feeling a good bit better today - more energy and more like my old self on the hills. Allison was still struggling, but said she was feeling better than she had earlier in the day. Up the grassy shoulder and along the ridge to the summit, where there's a small blocky section with steep drops off to the NE. We'd made the top quicker than I'd anticipated and it seemed entirely reasonable to include Na Gruagaichean. After all, it's just a nip along the ridge crest, with less than 100m of re-ascent to the summit (is that the Munro with least re-ascent of them all?). I recalled walking along the narrow path that hugs the steep slope of the ridge when it was plastered with snow on our first time up it). Once at the summit we wandered over to the NW Top, the path to which has also eroded quite badly. Then we set about the long slow descent back to Kinlochleven. Which is frustrating probably because you can see your end point, but it never seems to get any closer. Eventually we did make it to the car, just as twilight fell. A good, quite tough day.
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Time to get camped for the night - we decided to chance it along the side of Loch Leven, knowing it was a Saturday and quite a nice night. We got to the parking spot just as the darkness deepened. Damn- a couple of small tents were there...but there was still quite a lot of space. The other tent occupants called out a greeting - we were relieved to see they looked like climb-y folk and not up for an all-night party. Unlike some gits across the loch who started bawling after midnight...probably relating to Scotland's unexpected victory against the Irish.
Sleep didn't really happen that night and I wasn't feeling great on getting up - a migraine and heartburn, something I rarely experience. The forecast was for clouds, with rain and strong winds coming in after 4pm. We settled on Meall Lighiche, the Doctor's Hill because it was nearby and relatively quick, although it's one of Allison's more disliked climbs due to the steep and pathless nature it has. Parked by the "bridge of death" (if you've walked along the road here you'll know why I refer to it thus). Walking along Gleann Leac na Muidhe I could tell that I wasn't feeling as fit as the day before - and sure enough, as soon as we crossed the river and started off up the hill I was once again walking through treacle. It didn't help that the rain had begun at 10am rather than the supposed 4pm. I think I'll bring a set of tarot cards to predict the weather next time - could I be any less accurate?
Slowly, oh so slowly, we inched up the hillside. Stopped at 11.30 for an early lunch in the hope that food would help a little - which to be fair it did. Pressed on through rain and clag to the clear path that runs along the fence line on the summit plateau and reached the top. Yea! Back the way we'd come, the rain less in our faces and the clag blown away by an ever strengthening wind. As we dropped down through a gully, a white-tailed eagle swooped down over us, not 20 feet away. As it soared down into the valley we had a great look at the markings on its back, unusual to be above such beautiful creatures. Back at the car we shed wet clothes and I dropped Allison off at her holiday house before heading down the road. Hoping, now that I'm nearly finished my three weeks of Doxy treatment, that I'll be feeling a bit more human by the time I meet up with her again in a fortnight.
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