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It's been a while since I climbed anything in the Mamores. Last time must have been the Ring of Steall and the infamous Devil's Ridge... I never considered doing all of them in one go... I'm not superhuman like SOME folks
But I remembered the steep, rocky east face of Stob Ban, one of the most characteristic mountain profiles in Scotland, and I thought it would be nice to visit this Munro before days get too short. Kevin has done this one before, combined with the neighbour Mullach nan Coirean and Sgurr a'Mhaim. Something that could be called "an alternative Ring of Steall". His old photos looked promising so I put the circuit high on my to-do list.
We chose Sunday rather than Saturday for our weekend outing, mainly because forecast promised less low cloud. But as the day revealed itself, the nasty haze obstructed the more distant views anyway. But apart from that and a short encounter with keds on the way down, we had a perfect hillwalking day!
The car park by Polldubh bridge is pay and display (£3 per day I think), but we saved a bit by parking next to Achriabhach buildings, as we intended to do the circuit anticlockwise. There is a sign marking a bus stop here, but a few cars can easily be parked on the grass without obstructing the gates and the bus layby.
Car park for free with view to Ben Nevis:
As we both have already ticked off Sgurr a'Mhaim, we opted for the classic version of Stob Ban circuit, taking the old stalker's path as a descent route:
We started by heading up the forest track for a short time, before the first gate we spotted a shortcut path (marked with a small cairn) which follows the banks of Allt a'Choire Dheirg.
Ready for adventure:
The path follows the stream and passes through some very nice, quiet forest. A small waterfall was the first attraction of the day:
The path eventually joined a forest track - we took the upper one to continue towards the Allt a'Choire Riabhaich path. The forest below the track has recently been cut down and we could see across the glen to Ben Nevis and also east into the heart of the glen. Sadly, it was all so hazy, I felt like in the middle of twilight zone:
Shame about the felled trees... But of course, all forest belongs to someone and it will have to go sooner or later. I took the chance to film the panos, though to be honest there wasn't much to capture due to the haze...
We found the path easily enough, but because the trees are gone, it felt a bit "bald"...
The Ben from the "bald" part of the path:
The path climbed steeply through the sad remnants of the forest, all the way to a fence. We climbed over the stile provided and turned left to follow the fence. This was the wettest part of the whole route and even after two weeks of dry weather, the ground was still soaked and slippery. Yuck! Just as well we tackled it on the ascent, I would hate descending on that wet mud & grass mixture!
Luckily, the muddy experience didn't last long, and soon the path became more bearable:
Coire Riabhach and the steep cliffs of Mullach nan Coirean looked amazing in the morning sunshine
After the initial slog to the height about 500m, the slope eased off and it looked much more comfortable to walk:
The Ben was as much as we could see... Nothing beyond, no distant hills visible, at least the sky was blue and pictures had good contrast. The haze didn't stop Kevin from snapping 460 photos again, most of them of different rocky outcrops and cliffs. This route is nowhere near as difficult as Beinn Dearg in Torridon (which we climbed the previous weekend), but it is just as interesting and even without the distant panoramas, there was still a lot to discover!
Hazy Sgurr a'Mhaim:
The final climb to the summit of the first Munro looked now a delightful ridgewalk, easy and not too steep
For the final 100m of ascent the ridge narrowed, no scrambling but the terrain became rocky, there is an obvious path avoiding any difficulties. The ridge is not too badly exposed...
...and I was in my element, posing with The Ben behind me:
As we neared the summit, a flock of large, black birds appeared, they flew around for a few minutes, circling the summit of Mullach. I never saw ravens in large flocks on the hills, usually they show up single or in pairs, so it was an interesting spectacle to watch:
Looking down the ridge - first class fun for mountain maniacs
)
The twilight zone... We were making quite a good progress and this photo was taken at 11 am, but the haze didn't seem to thin. Sadly, it wasn't going to be a day for grand vistas, but I was happy with the weather anyway:
Just before the summit, the ridge is almost vertical on one side and the views down to Coire Dearg can give you vertigo...
The ridge we climbed - looks more difficult from this perspective
One more for "Me on a rock" album, this time "Me on top of a very big rocky cliff":
We reached the summit in less than 2 hours which was a good pace, considering the number of stops Kevin took for photographing
Here, it was time for a nice break, some lazying in the sunshine and... more pictures, even though we were still in the twilight zone.
Kevin happy regardless of the fact that he was repeating this one:
I had a quick celebration for my Munro no. 150
Didn't expect to get that far, to be honest, I was aiming for the half way point (141) this year and "maybe a couple on top of it". So I'm more than pleased, even though we missed the infamous AE this year...
The AE which, by the way, should be easily visible on the southern horizon but we couldn't even make out its shape in the haze. Meall a'Chaorain, the southern top of Mullach, was as far as we could see:
A couple of snaps of the summit so-called-panos
After tea and cookies, it was time to continue the ridge walk to Stob Ban. What we could see was a mouth-watering traverse and I hoped deep down in my heart, that we were going to encounter some scrambling on the way!
The descent from Mullach nan Coirean is easy, following an obvious path, contouring the edge of Coire Dearg. In the lack of more distant views, we paid more attention to what was near:
Another pose on the edge of the cliff:
Just around the corner, the next stage of our route looked very promising as for scrambling
Stob Ban and Sgurr a'Mhaim behind:
The ridge from the 917m top:
Coire Dearg and Ben Nevis just about visible:
I expected scrambling but the ridge is vertical only from one side... It is worth sticking to the very edge though rather than trying to bypass anything:
Zoom to Stob Ban, the white mountain - now I knew where the name came from:
Kevin noticed two large birds of prey flying along the ridge. Familiar shapes... could we be so lucky again? They looked like eagles to me
Sadly they showed up and disappeared so fast, we didn't have time to take any good photos. The best we could manage:
As we progressed along the ridge, I was trying to find an optional scrambling route somewhere:
...but every time I got my hands on the rock, it was always too little and over too soon
Looking back at the 917m top:
Just in front of me, the only section of this ridge where some decent, though easy scrambling is available. I say available, because there is of course a bypass path...
Looks easy and I was a bit disappointed when it was over, maybe I should go to AE, at least this wouldn't be TOO EASY
View back to Mullach nan Coirean with some interesting pinnacles in the foreground:
More pinnacles:
Towards the next top, this one at 910m and crowned with a white cairn.This is the official place where granite gives way to quartzite!
The final climb to Stob Ban was now clearly visible, no great obstacles. This side of the mountain doesn't look particularly interesting - all its charm and rough beauty is on the eastern face!
Something for vertigo sufferers
here are many opportunities to take pictures which then can be shown to your friends (or posted on social networks) just to say "see what I can do"
Before climbing to the summit of Stob Ban, we decided to take a short detour to this little top (912m), which looked like a good viewpoint:
...and it was worth it! The ridge all the way to Mullach nan Coirean, looked simply stunning:
Sgurr a Mhaim and the Devil's Ridge, now closer so less hazy. Suffering from a bad reputation, this devil is not as bad as it's painted and I really enjoyed the traverse when we did the Ring of Steall:
There are plenty of little outlying tops and bumps on the ridge of the Mamores:
The 912m top from above:
We tackled the final climb without any more hesitation. Half way up we met a fellow walker, who turned out to be a WH member, too
Looks like WalkHighlanders are everywhere
The final climb is rocky and the path is eroded, but nothing difficult. I only noticed that the white quartz is much more slippery (even when dry) than other rocks. Compare to this, torridonian sandstone gives a very good grip!
The summit was reached without any slips and soon we were basking in sunshine by the cairn:
Sgurr a Mhaim profile:
Just after we arrived, we heard voices from the other side of the mountain
and we saw a group of walkers making their way up the steeper face of Stob Ban. We were going to descend this way:
The rest of the Mamores
Sgurr an Iubhair (Munro top) in the foreground, Am Bodach (Munro summit) behind:
Lunch time
Scrambling opportunities?...
This was definitely the most interesting view of the whole day and Kevin took countless snaps of this ridge from above, with the high peaks behind...
...because in other directions, there was still very little to be seen:
After a long break on the summit, we set off to descend from Stob Ban. I was trying to stay off the path for some scrambling activities...
...and managed a bit of easy downhill rockhopping
Later filmed the wall, just to have something to brag about to my parents
Look what I descended, ha-ha!
Laughing aside, this descent was full of surprises, interesting gullies and vertical drops on the northern side:
May look easy but it's exciting!
Ehmmmm.... Maybe I'm not going to show this to my parents... My poor dad would have a heart attack
The vertical face of Stob Ban:
Lower down, the path is a bit annoying - eroded, dusty and very slippery. It is best to stay on the grass wherever possible:
The real beauty of Stob Ban can only be appreciated... from below!
Monsters turned to stone:
From Sgurr an Iubhair to Sgurr a Mhaim:
From this perspective, it is obvious that any difficulties on this side of Stob Ban can be avoided...if you really have to
Descending became easier eventually, as eroded quartzite gave way to grass. The path is obvious all the time and at some point we started looking for the branch going down into Corrie a'Mhusgain. Behind us, the mighty Stob presented its eastern face in afternoon sunshine:
The descent path is hard to miss:
Looking into Corrie a'Mhusgain:
The old stalkers path provides a very comfortable descent route
Kevin said we were going to be down by four o'clock. And to be honest, I didn't even feel like I had climbed two Munros with over 1000m of ascent. What a lovely day it was
Half way down we took a few snaps of a lovely waterfall - shame there was so little water in it
One happy Panther ... if a bit sunburnt (I forgot to pack in my +50 factor - didn't expect I was going to need it!):
The sunny Stob Ban:
The stalker's path zigzags down the steep slopes. It is a bit eroded here and there but generally, good going!
At some point when descending, we were attacked by a swarm of keds (nothing unusual - they are nasty this year) but managed to pluck them all out of each other (they especially like Kevin's hair) and soon we were down in the glen, with the sun-and-shadows spectacle playing behind us:
One last look at mighty Stob Ban:
Back at the foot of the Ben:
We returned to the car in 7 hours and that included lots of stops and longer breaks for photos and scramble-ish adventures
If we were stubborn we could do it in 6 hours or even less but what would be the point. Mountains are there to savour, to enjoy and I like my experiences to last as long as possible. On a day like that, who would want to get down too early?
Summing up, highly recommended circuit. For fitter folks, it would be possible to add Devil's Ridge and Sgurr a'Mhaim to make a longer day. I'm sure distant views must be spectacular on a clear day
We still have the easternmost 4 Munros in Mamores left to do so the Nevis Range hasn't seen the last of us. Meow!