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We'd been planning a campaign in the Mamores for some time. The fact that we have to come up from England, along with work and school commitments, means that spur of the moment trips into the hills don't really happen for us and we have to plan in advance. As it was we had 27th July marked out as our window of opportunity since June. B&B booked for the night after the climb. All that was to be done was to watch how the weather forecast developed.
We wanted a victory. I have a tendency to be over-ambitious about what I am capable of. That's partly inspired by some of the incredible feats that various people have reported on Walkhighlands. I was thinking that if we got good conditions, good visibility, and if my fitness was up to it then we would love to have a go at the 10 Mamores in a day. What we've learned, particularly with the munros, is that the difficulty of the challenge is defined more by the weather than the hills themselves (we're more used to Alpine hiking where the weather is normally less of a factor).
Our recent work in the munros was a bit of a mixed bag. Characterised recently by hopelessly optimistic attempts at multi-munro days that ended up being curtailed by weather. As the day drew closer and the weather forecast revealed that it would not be kind, it was clear there was a risk our Mamores campaign may also end up being cut down significantly. Here's our campaign history:
Aug 2020:
Ben Nevis via CMD (2x munro). Result:
Memorable VictoryAug 2021:
Macdui bivvy - Breariach (6x munro). Result:
Stunning VictoryMar 2022:
Ben Chonzie (1x munro). Result:
Pre-season friendly (victory)Apr 2022:
Arrochar Alps (1x munro). Result:
Honorable DefeatJun 2022:
Ben Cruachan 4 (1x munro). Result:
Miserable DefeatJul 2023:
Aonach Eagach (2x munro). Result:
Memorable VictoryApr 2023:
Beinn a Ghlo (diverted) (2x munro). Result:
Honorable DefeatWhat would the Mamores bring? Well, the Met Office were determined to have their say. It was clear conditions would not be good but we were determined to see what we could do. It was the likelihood of poor visibility that concerned me most. Neither of us have been to the Mamores before and route-finding in clag could be challenging on a route that needs some navigation of lesser-trodden paths. We had options lined up for bailing out after 2, 4, 6 and 8 munros.
- Weather forecast before our trip. Bugger.
We drove up after work the night before and bivvied at the Lower Falls car park. Driving through Glen Coe at just before midnight was quite special with the silhouettes of the tops on either site just visible in the half-light. The weather front had not yet come in. We had one heart stopping moment when we were trying to identify the source of a point of light high up on the hills on the left hand side (I think it may be the panoramic cafe at the top of the Glen Coe resort chair lift). Suddenly, ahead of us in the headlights was an enormous stag. He was just by the side of the road and didn't even flinch as we flashed by. Scared the bejesus out of me.
We spend the short night waiting for the weather to come and catching bits of sleep here and there. We were fortunate that the rain when it came was fairly light. The morning was chilly, cloudy, with clag on the tops, but it was, in fact, dry. A quick bit of breakfast and we were off to Achriabhach and the line up towards the Mamores. Care needed to get the right route up, the first path on the left goes up towards Stob Ban. The walk up through the forestry works was a nice gentle way to kick things off. Spirits were high because it looked for a while like the Met Office might have got it all wrong.
- Here we go. Pleasant walk through the woods to kick things off from Achriabhach.
- Looking up Glen Nevis. Deceitfully benign conditions.
- Big Ben in the clouds across the glen.
Getting the right line up to Mullach nan Coirean (our first munro) took a bit of working out. For a while I was mis-identifying the shoulder of Glas Chreag as our target and could not work out which way we needed to go at the style at the end of the forest. The OS map is strangely vague about the footpaths in this area. We stuck with the vague path along the fence to the left which eventually bends around to the NE ridge up to Mullach nan Coirean which we could clearly see now was hidden in clag. We took a moment to enjoy what would be our last view for several hours of anything more than 10 metres ahead.
- The route ahead and off to the left. Initially I mistook Glas Chreag for our first munro: Mullach nan Coirean.
- The route to Mullach nan Coirean (off to the left)... a bit of confusion finding the way initially.
- Enjoying the view whilst we had one! Looking back down on Fort William.
- North East ridge up to Mullach nan Coirean ahead.
- Last look back before clag time. Goodbye to Ben Nevis and the rest of the world...
The wind whipping the clag up and over the ridge was quite spectacular. The drizzly raindrops were like little bullets taking the same trajectory. On the crest the wind was fierce and loud, just off the crest it was still. We made the wise decision to go for full on waterproofs at this stage, and to make sure we were always within sight of each other. If this had been a Japanese anime movie then the spirit of the mountain was giving a warning that he didn't want any visitors on the tops that day. We continued respectfully nevertheless.
- Here we go. Into the abyss...
We reached Mullach nan Coirean before long and congratulated ourselves with a protein bar and summit photos. Thus began a pattern we would see repeated several times during the day - 5 minutes later we reached the actual summit of Mullach nan Coirean. There are many cairns of non-summit tops on the route round. The route around to Stob Ban was ok in the bad visibility because it is straightfoward to stick to the path by the ridge safe in the knowledge that so long as there is a large drop into a void of unknown depth just to the left, you are going the right way. We took photos at a Stob Ban that turned out not to be Stob Ban just before we reached the real Stob Ban. We imagined what the views across to Glen Coe and Ben Nevis must be like. We also mused that in normal conditions you would probably have a nice view (at least in glimpses) of the ridge ahead, the detour across to Devils's Ridge and Sgurr a Mhaimm and perhaps all the way across to munro 8 at Beinn Mor.
- Munro number 1 in the bag. Wonderful views of Glen Coe to the right and Ben Nevis to the left (behind the clag).
- Which way to go? Just keep sticking to the ridge!
- Stob Ban at last. Or is it? (No, it's not).
From Stob Ban we had our first bit of delicate map and compass work to find the ridge we needed to take down towards the Lochan that lies beneath Sgurr an Iubhair. Never being 100% confident of exactly where you are does funny things to the mind and can make you doubt what seems obvious... like this
has to be Stob Ban, we can't still be at the 917 m cairn. Just a sneak of a glimpse through the crag would have been enough to spy a ridge ahead and get us our bearings. But it was ok, there was a ridge leading due east from Stob Ban and that was what we needed. Mood was still high at this stage. It was pretty clear we wouldn't make all 10 Mamores. But I checked a sheet of paper I'd bought of approximate Naismith timings around the peaks and we were not far behind. So it seemed like we could probably do 8.
- Stob Ban at last. The real one this time.
- Summer in the Highlands. Welcome.
Reaching Lochan Coire nam Miseach was quite a moment. We'd been saying to ourselves... if we're going the right way then we should come across the loch pretty soon. We were almost in it by the time we saw it glimmering like a big green penny right in front of us. What joy! A thing we can see that is indisputably what we see marked on the map! I imagine this must be what Vasco da Gama felt like after he had rounded the Cape and spied India after how ever many weeks at sea. A quick snack and a refill of water and we left behind our little Lochan and trudged off towards the blank patch of clag that we believed was concealing Sgurr an Iubhair.
- Is that the loch? It is the loch! Lochan Coire nam Miseach (Lochan nam Misery to us). That means we're actually going the right way!
This was one of my least favourite sections of the journey. We'd sacrificed a lot of altitude in the descent from Stob Ban and, psychologically, climbing a steep slope with no visual on the end point was something I found quite tough. My calves were also feeling the strain. Luca probably could have ran up to the bealach. We amused ourselves with the incredibly nerdy problem of how many cubic litres of water does Lochan Coire nam Miseach hold? Based on approximation of a circular geometry with known radius and estimated average depth. It actually kept us going in the moment.
At the bealach we surmised that we were at the right place where a detour to the north was required to take the ridge over Stob Choire a Mhail and the Devil's Ridge to munro number 3 at Sgurr a Mhaim. So off we went and what a great couple of ridges they were. The views either side must be spectacular if you get a good day. We were a bit surprised that some of the scrambling needed use of the hands in places. We had no idea what the exposure was like surrounded as we were by all consuming cloud.
- Climbing through the void along the ridge across Stob Choire a Mhail towards Sgurr a Mhaim.
- The Devil's Ridge. Wonderful panoramic views. Keep slogging it up to Sgurr a Mhaim (then all the way back again)
Time to break open the midget gems on the summit. They were good, too good. My jaw became fatigued with the quantities I was consuming and I needed a rest. Then back along the ridge, picking up where we'd left our bags, and back to the bealach. Things still going well. We decided we'd take in the next 3 munros, which would represent an extended Ring of Steall, then make a call on whether we'd push on for 7 and 8.
- Loving life atop Sgurr a Mhaim.
- Back along Devil's Ridge again. This was the way we came, wasn't it?
The push up to Am Bodach was a bit of a slog. But we felt like we had our eye in with getting the navigation right. Naismith was pulling ahead of us by this point - but he presumably had good conditions and didn't need to stop for midget gems every half an hour. Somewhere below the summit the drizzle got turned up a couple of notches and conditions were decidedly miserable. Our moods moved that way too. The only thing that was dry was our conversation.
- God it's a baron featureless desert out there. Onwards to Am Bodach.
- Am Bodach. Munro number 4. Is it? (Yes it is).
We reached the summit, took photos (which by now was quite an operation involving the need to unseal the phones from their plastic pouches we were carrying them in), then spied another summit just further on that looked a little bit higher after all. We looked back on the one we'd just been at and decided, no - actually that one was higher. It was a bit of an issue because we knew there was a steep scramble down off the top we would need to find and we wanted to make sure we start from the right summit. It took a bit of courage to commit to the descent. Everything looks vertical in the clag!
- Not Am Bodach but we briefly thought it was. No, the one back the other way was Am Bodach. Probably the lowest point in the walk this (spiritually).
- Confident map and compass work needed. Hmm... we think we need to scramble down that way. Really? (We do. And we did).
This was probably Luca's least favourite part of the route - the uncertain scramble down Am Bodach in near nil visibility towards a featureless Bealach. We took to using altitude readings by phone to add a bit of confidence to our approximation of where on the map we were. It was pretty successful, taking into account the +/- variability on the reading. Next was the gentle ridge up to Stob Coire a Chairn. We cheered ourselves along with some political football chants we made up: 'Hello, hello, we are the Lib Dem boys' etc.. which we found to be amusing.
- SCC. Munro number 5. In the bag. These views are literally incredible. We can't contain our awe.
At Stob Choire a Chairn there is another detour to the north to take in An Gearanach. There was an obvious route off the summit in that direction. I imagine that in good conditions you can probably see all 10 Munros from Stob Choire a Chairn. As it was, we had not had a single break of clag since before Mullach nan Coirean.
- More ridgework through the abyss needed to detour up to An Gearanach.
- An Gearanach is 'the complainer'. We'd been singing a complaining song for quite some time already.
The ridge along to An Gearanach was again a surprisingly committed scramble. It was a lot of fun. It was here we passed the only other humans we saw that were daft enough to be on the Mamores that day. It was a couple coming the other way probably doing the Ring of Steall. We said our hellos but it was not conditions for standing around for a chat so we each disappeared off into the pallid nothingness. At An Gearanach summit we had a bail out option. Six munros climbed. But we were hungry for more and decided to push on for 7 and 8.
Back at the bealach I made a mistake. There is a long distance to Na Gruigaichean and the best way to go is probably to go back over the summit of Stob Choire a Chairn. I decided we'd instead take the lower route that bypasses the summit and rejoins the ridge further along. It was not a good section of ground. There are water features marked on the OS map and we found the ground appallingly boggy and what semblance of a path there had been further up quickly petered out. We navigated as best we could, estimating how far we needed to go before traversing along to pick up the ridge again. We lost a lot of altitude in that manoeuvre.
Next was to find the line up to Na Gruigaichean. There is no path marked on the OS map. But, thankfully, on the ground the path is obvious and takes a fairly direct line up the western nose. We slogged it up there, knowing that there would first be a lower summit at 1041 m before the real deal further along at 1056 m. It was here that things went awry.
- What we thought was munro number 7 - Na Gruagaichean. Pretty sure this is actually the western top at 1041 m. We did go to the true summit at 1056 m but incorrectly identified it as the unnamed top at 1062 m. Bloody clag.
We reached the actual summit then pushed on to the north east towards the unnamed top at 1062 m. The weather was getting up again with an unpleasant drizzle that saturated absolutely everything. It was heavy going to get up to the top where we were buffeted by the wind. Getting the map and compass out was quite a task by this point, but we knew we needed to simply take the ridge off the top to the north and it was a straight line to Binnein Mor - the highest Mamore at 1130 m. With any kind of visibility it would have been easy to spot the ridge we needed. As it was we were on the unnamed top with no view of any of the ridges. So out came the compass and, disaster! It told us that North was back the way we'd just come. How can that be? We checked bearings with a compass on the phone and it gave the same answer. Had we gone too far? Were we somehow at Sgor Eilde Beag? We checked altitude and it gave us an approximate 1060 m which would have been about right.
Just the smallest bit of visibility would have fixed things immediately. But, nope, we were't happy with the situation and decided we'd take the ridge roughly north even though, confusingly, it was back the way we'd come. We'd get back to the bealach and make a call on where to go. No longer having confidence of knowing where we were we resorted to continuing on a pathless line northwards - gingerly descending into a Coire we knew would eventually lead all the way to the Water of Nevis. We took our time and zig-zagged down carefully because we knew there were crags about. It wasn't too long before we saw a little lochan ahead in a flatter section. Here we were able to continue on easier, but very boggy, terrain in a northerly direction.
- Descending from the clag. Let's try and get our bearings. Keep going north and eventually we'll hit the Water of Nevis.
Much later I was able to work out the error. I'd failed to appreciate how much distance and up and down there is between the 1041 m and 1056 m peaks of Na Gruigaichean. What I'd taken to be the 1062 m top much further on was actually the 1056 m true summit of Na Gruigaichean. We needed to take a NE ridge from there, not N. The altitude check on the phone can't distinguish between 1062 m and 1056 m. I should have realised the mistake but the clag, wind and rain do funny things to the mind.
Further down it became a bit more obvious where we were and were Binnein Mor was. It was too late to go back. We'd given away too much altitude and we were already starting to think about fast food outlets in Fort William. We had our entire order mapped out. Luca was adamant he would dunk chips in a milkshake. Luckily they were out of milkshakes so I did not have to witness.
Before that there was a long way to go. It is a heck of a long way from Na Gruigaichean to the Water of Nevis and not a single path. We kept asking each other where our depression levels were at. For the most part we hovered around a 7 or 8 out of 10 apart from a few dark moments lower down when we had to traverse along some trees to avoid some crags above Allt Coire na Gabhalach and the midgies came out to devour us. That was depression level 9. Even down at the Water of Nevis it is still a long walk back to the Lower Falls car park. At this point there were a few cruel gaps in the clouds above us. Even a brief patch of blue sky. Why couldn't that have presented itself two hours ago when we needed it?
- Blue skies. We are not amused.
Between the Steall waterfall and the Upper Falls car park there were suddenly a lot of people around, enjoying a stroll up Glen Nevis. Our depression levels were back up to 8 out of 10. At the Upper Falls car park we came across the couple we had seen near An Gearanach. We were very jealous of them getting into their car already. Asking for a lift was out of the question - the only things more severe than our depression levels were our wetness and odour levels.
- Water of Nevis. A long long slog back from here.
- Binnean Mor now visible. Shall we go back for it? Not a chance!
It was a truly miserable slog down to the Lower Falls car park but we made it. By far the biggest walk I've done. Mighty respect to those who have managed to do all 10 Mamores in a day. We were happy with what we'd managed to do - pretty sure that 7 (that should have been 8 ) was a good return for the day. We'll put this one down as a
Hard Fought Victory.