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THE GREY CORRIES AND THE AONACHS
Looking across from An Gearanach a couple of weeks ago I was struck by the possibility of doing the Grey Corries from Glen Nevis. The ridge looked magnificent, all the way from Sgurr Choinnich Beag to Stob Claurigh and then across to Stob Ban.
And by camping at Steall I would be in a good position to do Aonach Mor and Aonach Beag the next day.
Arriving late on Thursday afternoon I found a good camping spot near the ruins at Steall.
A stiff breeze kept the midgies at bay and I enjoyed a pleasant evening stroll along the glen.
The next day I was away from the tent at about 7am. I kept to the higher path going east up the glen and just opposite the point where the Water of Nevis does a sharp turn to the right up into the Mamores I set off across the grassy hillside aiming for the bealach between Stob Coire Bhealaich and Sgurr Choinnich Beag. I couldn’t resist taking a few shots of the Ring of Steall.
Higher up you go beneath some rocky outcrops and then get a first glimpse of the ridge itself, looking a bit like camel’s humps.
Once on the ridge you can see the plateau of Aonach Mor across a huge corrie. Going up the steep slopes of Sgurr Choinnich Beag there were masses of wild flowers including the ones shown below which I later identified as a dwarf cornel.
I’ve never seen so many different species of flowers in one small area before. A short steep drop leads to the ascent of Sgurr Choinnich Mor, the first Munro of the day.
The ridge is rocky and quite narrow and the east face of Aonach Beag with its fringe of snow looms up behind.
A rocky descent down the north east ridge reaches level ground briefly before you begin the scrambly climb over slabby rocks to the summit of Stob Coire Easain.
A ptarmigan peaked out from behind a rock as I went past.
Then there is a 90 degree change of direction towards the second Munro, Stob Coire an Laoigh. Stob Ban looks very small from this vantage point – it is difficult to believe it is a Munro it looks such a long way down.
From here there is still a long way to go, over An Castail, where the ridge becomes very narrow, to Stob a Coire Leith and the finally Stob Choire Claurigh, the third of the day’s Munros.
The quartzite screes were dazzling in the bright sun and I could see Ben Lomond in the south, all the way to the huge sandy beach at the far end of Loch Laggan,
Ben Nevis behind me,
a panorama of mountains to the north and the Mamores to the south west. Unfortunately it is then necessary to lose about 300 metres of height down to a small lochan
and then to climb an unpleasant slope of loose rock and scree to the summit of Stob Ban, which all of sudden didn’t seem quite as small as it had earlier on. Here I met the only person I encountered the whole day, struggling down the scree. Walking down the broad grassy slope towards Meall a Bhuirich gave me plenty of time to look across to the splendid ridge that I had traversed. It had been a brilliant walk, one of the best I have ever done. Looking back from the cairn on Meall a Bhuirich I had one last glimpse of Stob Ban and Stob Choire Claurigh before dropping down to the glen, crossing the burn and following the track all the way back to the tent.
The walk took me about 9 hours altogether.
As I settled down for the night it started to rain.
It rained all night.
It was still raining when I woke up at about 6.30am.
But not quite so hard. I decided to have a wander up into the corrie towards the Aonachs and see if the weather improved. And I had to try out my new jacket as well. So I set off beside the waterfalls of the Allt Coire Giubhsachan and as I reached the lip of the corrie the rain stopped.
The cloud was still low over Aonach Beag
but in the distance I could make out the bealach between Aonach Mor and Carn Mor Dearg.
So I carried on across boggy ground, crossed the burn and soon found myself at the bealach. It rained on and off but having come so far I decided I might as well at least do Aonach Mor. So I set off up the very steep slope to the plateau, unable to see much at all, either above or below. After gaining the plateau it was an easy stroll up to the summit cairn.
Retracing my steps I headed through the clouds to Aonach Beag. The wide plateau narrows and grass gives way to rocks as you approach the climb up to the summit of Aonach Beag. There was an impressive amount of snow on the east side of the ridge.
I followed the edge of the corrie south and then the path headed south east and then east to Stob Coire Bhealaich. From there I decided to go down into the corrie rather than carry on to Sgurr a Bhuic. On reflection I don’t think this was a good idea as the going was rather boggy, but I was fed up with clouds.
But I eventually made it back to the tent after about 6 hours. And then the sun came out!
I hadn’t seen a soul all day. As I drove home down Glen Nevis I pulled in to the visitor centre to use their facilities. There was nowhere to park. I have never seen so many minibuses and coaches. There must have been a queue of people all the way up Ben Nevis and back down again. Where is the pleasure in that?
