UFO`S in Glen Etive
Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 12:36 amUFO`s or otherwise known as Utterly Frying Objects
That was me & Jim on sunday. After studying weather forecasts that the West Highlands was to be warm but overcast, and arriving at our campsite at the head of Loch Etive on saturday night in the rain, forgetting sun screen and my hat wasn`t such a big concern. Fastforward 24 hours later and we were like two lobsters left out in Death Valley in the mid day sun ! 
We arrived at the head of Loch Etive, after Jim done his good deed for the day and picked up a soggy camper hitching for a lift after fishing on Rannoch Moor and dropped him at the foot of Beauchaille Etive Beag. We then drove down the long winding road through Glen Etive and almost bumped in to these fine young chaps.
- quite expensive....
They were just standing on the road, but on our arrival they buggered off down by the river and posed elegantly for us before hoping over the fence and away. We continued the drive to the end of the road were there were maybe 3 other cars, but only one tent pitched. We picked a spot for the tent on a flat piece of ground near a large old campfire. As it was raining, we got the tent up, one which Jim acquired on Facebay and had never even opened since the day he had bought it. It was a gelert 3 man and once it was up, completely in tack, there was much room inside. Jim set about dinner and i set about the campfire.
- campfire`s burning
As it was still raining and had been for a while we weren`t worried about setting off any wildfires and the log wood burned through the night. We sat and munched our prepacked, heat in a bag, adventure food, which was very tasty indeed, sank a couple of beers and had a right old laugh before turning in for the night. I must add that one person from the other tent came out for a chat a couple of times, leaving the other one in all the time. We could hear them talking and laughing but the non appearance of a.n other led us to think that this might be a fight club situation
We arose early to see Ben Starav basking in the early morning sun.
- Ben Starav
Loch Etive looked not bad either with Ben Cruachan poking in and out of low flying cloud.
- Loch Etive
We ate our porridge and bacon rolls before quickly heading off to the starting point of the walk as laid out on WH. It was defo a day for shorts. I kept my gaiters on and donned my old brasher boots, which have seen better days, and took off down the road towards the bridge. It was nearly 8 a.m and Jim had planned for us to do all the 5 Munros in this area. But after a month where i`ve moved house and been on holiday I wasn`t sure if i was up to it and tried to go with the flow. I`d spent the last few weeks moving furniture , painting, wallpapering, in and out of shops, stressing out
and then flew off to a week in the sun stuffing my face and drinking free beer. 
So i wasn`t in tip top condition for a 10-12 hour Munro bagging session, but what the hell, i was back at work on monday, let`s do it. We crossed the bridge over the calm, deep Etive water onto the path and around the farm house. Through the deep bracken and back onto the path towards Starav. The sky was clearing, but there was still some low cloud around, none more so as that hiding Glas Bheinn Mhor.
- G.B.M
We were both down to shorts and t-shirts as it was roastin, and started the walk up the first Munro. We marche up to a level area about 500m up with some small lochains and stopped to splash ourselves in the water. We had a great view down to our campsite area from here and over towards Glencoe.
- Me posing on some rocks
We moved on pretty quickly as the midges were starting to attack us. They were with us most of the way up but a combination of smidge and skin so soft as well as constantly moving up, kept them at bay....until we stopped. Think they were more annoying than biting us because i didn`t have many bites afterwards.
It was a fairly easy walk up despite the heat and the midges, but the path is pretty worn and quite wide in places, must be a busy hill. Can see why, the surroundings are beautiful. As the summit came into view we passed a Ptarmigan and young chick.
- Starav
- looking back down glen etive
After about 3.5 hours we reached the first top of the day, Ben Starav. Been wanting to do this hill for a long time and we were both so glad it was a cracker of a day
- munro no. 53 for us
- Loch Etive & Ben Cruachan
We sat for a bit and took some phonecalls, amazing how you always get a reception at the top of a hill and coincidently someone phones you.
We also managed a munch before heading off, pity we had along day ahead of us and weren`t able to hang around longer.We set off for the next one, checked the map and headed down the ridge towards beinn nan annakin skywalker, as it became known as for the rest of the day
"Who makes up these names" is becoming a familiar quote on our walks .- beinn nan aighenan
We had fun scrambling along the pointy ridge.
- Jim on ridge
- posing again
We headed down and skirted along the side of the hill. I could feel the heat getting to me already and was already lagging behind Jim, who waited in the low point between the hills for me. Taps were aff, rucksacks abandoned and we headed on up with just our cameras and a bottle of water each. We met a walker on his way back down, he was just doing that one, who must have thought we were mad ! It looked like an easy climb up, but to be honest i was struggling in the heat. Once at the top i told Jim that i wasn`t sure how much more i could do, and the thought of 5 Munros was making me weary.
- Munro no. 2
So as it was Jim started to gee me up as we headed back down, kept me talking, taking my mind off things and getting me in a more positive frame of mind. None more so when he told me about someone we both know posing for a naked, charity calender shoot
This certainly cheered me up and I vowed that if i made the 5th Munro, i would strip off to celebrate, as i did on the Devil`s Point, something my kids never tire of telling me, or anyone else for that matter, about. We found our bags again and stopped for something to eat. I was feeling ok again. Something i forgot to mention, frogs, hundreds of them, they were everywhere. I don`t know how many times i nearly jumped out my skin when one moved in the grass below us, i was convinced we were going to come across a snake. We had a wee bit of a dodgy moment getting up onto Maell nan Tigerman (wtf) when we had to cross a steep narrow stream, and then scrambled up some rocks towards the summit of Tighearnan. Climbing up here offered more wee scrambles and soon we could see the path up Glas Bheinn Mhor.
- Glas Bheinn Mhor
We went down and up there with plenty of chat keeping us going and the time went in in no time at all.
- no 3 done
Now it was decision time, Jim said nothing, i said nothing, of course i was gonny carry on .
Although the path up from the bealach towards old farmer`s almanac looked hellish steep. But it winded tightly on the way up and the going was still good. On reaching the plateau before the final push onto the fourth munro of the day, i decided i would head left (northish) to take the easier slope up and Jim headed straight for the steeper climb up the face.- Stob Coir an Albannaich
Jim reached the summit just before me but i knew i was done.
- SCA`s beach like summit
I was struggling on the downhills especially, even with two sticks and i hummed and hawed about the fifth one.
"It`s just there" Jim pointed, and it looked easy, the smallest hill of the day, but I`d had enough and so it proved on the way down. I was struggling with simple decision making, like just where to put my next step and was glad when i made it down the rocky descent.
We then descended into the Coire Leacach, which we thought was the quickest way down, jeez we would have been better doing Meall nan Eun and going back down the path. It was murder, and to top it off i kept getting little stones in my old boots. At least some of it was in the shade and there was plenty of water to cool us down, if not a pool enought to go for a dip. Eventually we got out of it and reached flat ground again and walked back along the path towards the car, just a bit red and crispy , and a bit fried in the head.
- The one that got away
- Jim
- Jim again
- Me
- Cruachan & me
- Starav on the walk back
So it was a good if tough day on the hills, and we`ll definitely be back to do Meall nan Eun
Jim`s everytrail link with route and more great pictures
http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=2210560
