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(NB: as is it’s wont, my prehistoric GPS didn’t start recording until well into the walk)
Bidean nam Bian has been my last piece of unfinished business in Glencoe for a while now (from the 3000' plus viewpoint anyway). A combination of wanting to save it for a good day, along with the perception that it's a 'big day', requiring fully fit hill legs meant it had been 8 years, since my new last new Munro in the Glen.
We got to the car park decently early, in order to avoid the chaos of buses and confused tourists that invariably seem to haunt it during the day. The initial ascent was not as brutal as perhaps I had expected for Glencoe and we were soon on the East ridge of Coire nan Lochan.
We stopped to get photos on top of one to the pinnacles, after and extremely careful climb out, then trotted on to the summit of Bidean without any issues. Visibility was decent, but not really enabling too see much beyond the mainland.
Continuing onto Bealach Deag we were soon a the summit of Stob Coire Sgreamhach. I actually felt this was the more interesting of the two peaks, with great views back towards Bidean and Coire nan Lochan. I have always found Bidean a strange mountain, in that I didn't really have an idea of the shape of it, despite looking at many maps and driving past countless times over the years. You don't really get a clear idea of what it is from the road, unlike say the Buchaille, which pretty much does what is says on the tin.
Backtracking down to the bealach, we began the descent down the eroded path, which was for me the toughest bit of the walk. However, regardless of how it feels, these bits never last for ever and soon the lost valley was reached. The next part through the trees to car, was a full on 'midge fest', which motivated a quick descent.
Back at the car park, the crowds confirmed that an early start was indeed the correct choice.
