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Stob Coire Sgriodain and Chno Dearg had been on my mind ever since I’d climbed the two Munros on the other – west – side of Loch Treig on a glorious June day in 2022. I’m not quite sure why I’d thought it was a good idea to attack the northern slopes of Sgriodain when there was still snow and ice around, but it was too late to worry about that now as I headed out along the track that heads south east from Fersit. The route takes a sharp right once you get past the farm buildings, and soon after that you’re pretty much on your own. Bits of path, a lot of clambering over tussocky mounds, and occasional pauses to admire the view of Stob a'Choire Mheadhoin across the valley.
The recommendation from the Walkhighlands route description is to ‘generally just keep heading up until the rocky nose is gained.’ The ‘rocky nose’ is Sròn na Garbh-bheinne, and it turned out to be a
beast of a nose. For me, anyway. I mean, I know I’m a bit of a scaredy-cat when it comes to steep, rocky – and sometimes icy - slopes, but I think I must’ve tried to take too direct a route up Sròn na Garbh-bheinne, because I soon found myself at a point where my options for continuing upwards were running out. I stopped, took a deep breath, and then ventured out leftwards to a sort of ledge to find – phew! - a route that looked safe enough to continue.
I put crampons on after that: there were some icy bits to get across as I reached the top of Sròn na Garbh-bheinne. And then the going got easier – a lot less steep – as I headed up to the summit of Stob Coire Sgriodain. From there the views across Loch Treig to the south and west were just stunning.
The journey from Sgriodain to Chno Dearg starts off over rough ground. But it was easy to follow the path via footsteps in the snow. Things got a bit less rough as the route neared Chno Dearg, but then the wind got stronger, so it felt pretty wintry on that final climb. But the view back to Sgriodain with the Grey Corries in the distance was a highlight of the walk.
The descent from Chno Dearg was easy enough. Just one or two bits of steep snow that needed a bit of care. Once I got back onto the track from Corrour, I spent most of my time looking back at Sgriodain, trying to work out what my route up the nose
should’ve been. I couldn’t work out if it would’ve been better to keep left or keep right. But what I do know is that straight up the middle of it in winter was not one of my best ever life choices!
I’d left the car at 8:45, I got back at 15:15, so it was six-and-a-half hours for the round trip. The wintry views over Loch Treig were this walk’s USP.
