Bonnie Prince Charlie - My Part in his Downfall

[snodland]

Friday through to Sunday last was the weekend of the Hillhead (sports club) Gentlemen’s Annual Walking Outing to Kinlochleven.

Mam na Gualainn from Kinlochleven

Now I should add a rider to that. There are precious few who go that can still go walking....for several prefer to venture not up the hills, but into the Hills (William of the Turf Accountant variety) and discuss philosophical issues in the Volunteers Arms in Fort William. In addition the moniker “Gentlemen” is a little stretched by the end of the weekend but to be fair we do all come from Hillhead.
Drink had indeed taken an awful toll of victims on the Friday night but that did not stop a number going up Stob Coire a Chairn on the Saturday. Five in total and a good day out it was too. Cheating a little bit we dragged the minibus driver from his slumber and got him to drive us up to the Mamore Lodge. Walked along the path – at that point 4 of out of the 5 of us were under the impression that we were supposed to be going up Na Grugaichean as the well devised, discussed and prepared plan was to “go up that big hill at the back of Kinlochleven” – till we saw the one other opinion turning left at the sheep pens and pointing to the summit way up the end of the Big Coire. The early path was OK, a nice gradual rise, when it turns to double back away from the mountain it starts to get a bit harder and when we decided to go off the path and opt for Route One to get atop the ridge it was flipping’ hard work (again less than half of the party thought our bodies were up to this but since we were lagging behind had no choice but to follow the mountain goats)

Opting for Route One to get up Stob Choire a Cairn

As we gained height quickly we got above the clouds and got some fine views of Am Bodach.

Am Bodach (Mamores) from Stob Choire a Cairn

Am Bodach above a cloud inversion from Stob Choire a Cairn (7

A big dense bank of cloud was coming in from the west.

Stob Ban with Am Bodach (l) from ridge from Stob Choire a Chairn

Sgurr a Mhaim and the Devils Ridge from Stob Choire a Chairn

Eventually it overtook us, though by that time we were nearly at the bealach between Stob Choire and Na Grugaichean and so it was below us. We could see the cloud stretching all the way over to Glencoe, around to Rannoch, with the Buchaillle and Creise and Bheinn Chrulaiste standing out above the clouds.

Buchaille Etive Mor from Stob Coire a Cairn

South West from Stob Choire a Chairn with Meall a Bhuiruidh and Creise, Buchaille Etive More (l - r)

South West from Stob Choire a Chairn, Cheinn Chrulaiste in centre, Black Mount in the background

Stob a Choire Chairn and Mamore Lodge from Kinlochleven

Not as spectacular an inversion as when only the tallest peaks are like small islands above the cloud line but still worth some photos.
At the summit ridge we got a view into Glen Nevis with one of my favourites (and a great landmark for spotting mountains) Binnein Beag quite prominent. The Grey Corries not quite the series of wave tops which they appear to me from North and South of them. The cloud bank stretched into Glen Nevis as well.

Aonach Beag and the Grey Corries from Stob Choire a Chairn

Glen Nevis from Stob Choire a Chairn, Aonach Beag (l) and Grey Corries in background

Glen Nevis from Stob Choire a Chairn, Binnein Beag and Binnein Mor prominent

An Gearanach looked fabulous. Wouldn’t half like to go along that.

An Gearanach from Stob Choire a Chairn, Carn Mor Dearg and Aonach Beag in background - if you zoom in to a quarter of the way in from the right, halfway down look for the cartoon shape of a man who has hit the mountain at speed

The snow was quite mushy, little ice about and quite patchy. The last climb to the summit had a certain hairy aspect to it as there was some obvious cornicing to the eastern side of the last climb, though by that time we were clambering over a series of boulders so it was never dangerous.

Colleague walking ridge of Stob Choire a Chairn, Na Gruaighcan in background

Na Gruagaichean from Stob Choire a Chairn

Na Gruagaichean from Stob Choire a Chairn

Coming down we opted to put the crampons on for the first bit as it was through the ice and snow around the rocks. Most had de-cramped by the time we got back to the bealach. I had actually walked out of one crampon and not noticed for a couple hundred metres (my fault as I had had some cramp up the top of the mountain and rather half heartedly secured it – not being able to reach down that far) so I lost a bit of time going back for that.
Lunch was taken at the bealach – several others had started to come up the mountain behind us. In fact some of them were catching us up on the route down

Stob Choire a Chairn looking NW-ish along the summit ridge

Had a nice long chat with a geezer who was camping back down the route, but today was going up Stob Coire and Am Bodach then coming down and back along the Mamore Path from the WHW (I couldn’t help wondering if at 2 o’clock and still approaching Stob Coire he was cutting it a bit fine for time and daylight but I suppose he had another 3 hours to go).
We took the path near enough all the way down on the descent and I suspect wished we had taken it on the way up. Uneventful return trip and then it was into the Macdonald Hotel. Every year when we turn up in Kinlochleven it is the anniversary of the Glencoe Massacre. The Macdonald Hotel (fittingly I suppose) is the scene for a load of (well think up your own description but I find them both funny but also quite sad deluded people) to dress up as Extras from Braveheart, Flora Macdonald and Bonnie Prince Charles (yes I know they had nothing to do with the Glencoe Massacre but then such is the grasp on the reality of history that most of these people have that they think anything involving British troops even under the order of a Scot, ratified by a Dutchman under the exceptional pressure and great insistence of a Scot is worth having a pop at). Later on in the evening we did pop back to hear a duo singing rousing songs of Scottish victimhood and martyrdom and “Oh Woe is Us”. I managed to get a sip out of the Quaich that “Bonnie Prince Charlie” was offering around the whole pub, just so that I could thank him in my Estuary English “Ta very much me Old Mucker!”, Hoping to see his face go red and explode before I made a sharp pair of heels out of the place. The duo were actually quite good, though they missed the point about one of their songs “Ye Jacobites by Name” being a warning about Jacobinism as much as Politicians betraying their conscience. And I think some of my colleagues were a bit embarrassed that Little Johnny England, I knew more of the words than they did.
Bill Bailey used to say in his act “The Past is a foreign country. Some people visit a bit too often” and these people do give us a good laugh each year.

[ciderpeter]

Wow impressive pictures Wouldn't mind if we get a couple of days like that when we come up soon! I still struggle to recognise any of the hills in the pictures so thanks for the descriptions... even though I have done Anoch Beag I can't recognise it!!

[snodland]

Hope you have a good time Ciderpete. The only pointers I can recommend are to look out for Ben Nevis - it domintes the skyline for miles around being so appreciably bigger than anything around it (furthest south from which it has been so clearly visible for me is Meall nan Tarmachan at Killin or Ben Achallader at the other side of Rannoch. and Binnein Beag which if you are in the Kinlochleven, Ring of Steall or Corrour area is much much smaller but is a lovely almost perfect conical shape. Just bluff the rest - sometimes your colleagues won't know Happy walking