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Stob Dearg is a hill that is instantly recognisable and with a promising weather forecast, three of us decided to go for it on Saturday. We were away from the car park just after 9 and we could see a good few people ahead of us. The climb ahead looked like it would make us work and from the car park, it almost looked vertical near the top.
We were off at a good pace and once we reached the scree, the sun came out and it was good to feel it beating down on to us. As we all know it's rare to get weather like this so we were certainly enjoying it
Although the climb was steep, it was enjoyable as the views behind us were getting better and we would stop for a breather to try and identify the mountains behind us with some of them having a fair covering of snow. The group ahead of us were making good progress and we could see others on the path behind us. After the small scramble at the top, which I really enjoyed, the bealach was a welcome sight and the views were excellent.
Within about 20 minutes we had arrived at the summit and we could see for miles in every direction. The soup and sandwiches were inhaled with gusto as we basked in the sun and the fantastic landscape.
As difficult as it was, we packed our stuff up and headed for the second Munro, Stob Na Broige with the wind making a very brief appearance. As we dropped to the bealach, it dawned on us that the peak in front was actually Stob na Doire and we would have to go over this to reach our second Munro of the day
It wasn't too bad a climb to the top of the peak and once again, we stopped to enjoy the terrific views of Glencoe and beyond.
As we surveyed the path ahead, we spied the descent path which looked a bit steep and with snow covering the top of it, we knew that it would be fun once we started to head down. In what felt like no time at all we had went past it and were closing in on the summit of Stob Na Broige. We passed a group of four and within a few minutes, we were standing on the top looking down Glen Etive as the sun continued to provided a much welcomed heat.
Again, we left the summit without really wanting to and now it was time to face the descent down to the track. I strode down fairly easy (a benefit of long legs
) and my two companions found it a wee bit more tricky. The track was reached with much relief and I set a fairly brisk pace back to the car which saw us do the whole trip in just under 7 hours. A very enjoyable day on the hills and I'm sure it won't be long until I'm back in Glencoe.