Four Seasons in one day

[epmallon]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGlauvfDh18[/youtube]

The way ahead awaits with Stob Coire nan Lochan in the background

When we arrived all tops were covered by low cloud but the forecast was promising and soon we were heading into Coire nan Lochan

You gain height quickly as you will notice when you look back towards the glen floor

The top of Stob Coire nan Lochan loomed closer as we crossed the burn below the waterfall as per the guide books we had read.

Stob Coire nan Lochan

looking east with Buachaille Etive Mor in the centre background

the way ahead is obvious and as we reached the top of the ridge between Gearr Aonach and Stob Coire nan Lochan we had marvellous views all around us.

fine views over to Ballachulish

Aonach Eagach

the slopes near the top of Stob Coire nan Lochan are very rocky and as we rounded the top we caught our first glimpse of Bidean nam Bian with not very promising weather above it but within 5 mts it had cleared again.

Ready to tackle the last climb to the top or maybe not

It was at this point before going up to Bidean nam Bian that David was aware of the descent we were going to make after doing Stob Coire Sgreamhach that he felt it was maybe safer for him to descend at this point as he knew his limits (very wise) and he also suffers from vertigo so here he left us to meet up with him again in the lost valley.Through out the day we were joined by three Dutch men who come over every year for a ten day holiday bagging as many munros as they can, we always seemed to be overtaking each other at various points in the walk.

Time for a snowball fight at over 3 thousand feet

on top

Helicopter in the distance

We caught some wonderful views of the rescue helicopter from HMS Gannet flying over us and thankfully they were not there to rescue anybody (not unless Davie phoned them) maybe doing some training?

Stob Coire nam Beith

Looking down Glen Etive

Looking over to Buachaille Etive Mor

The Lost Valley

Looking over to Bidean Nam Bian from near the top of Stob Coire Sgreamhach

On top Stob Coire Sgreamhach

Nearly down

A wonderful day's walking and The Lost valley was even more impressive than I thought it would be.

[maddjock]

video is a good touch... though bit long to watch it all at the mo..
good report and pics

[davetherave]

Enjoyed the video, the ridge looked rather thin when heading towards your second summit Stob Coire Sgreamach.

Still looked like there was a fair bit of snow on the ridge though.

We plan to do this route/similar this coming weekend. What was your route into the lost valley, did you traverse along the Beinn Fhada ridge, or did you just drop into the Coire.

I think we intended going along the Fhada ridge ridge right to the end , and pass the waterfalls, then crossing the bridge again to the river Coe.........

I have since found out from Malky-c that the gorge down at that end would be un passable.... he suggests a route he once took was to drop into the Lost valley at the 811 spot height.

[epmallon]

Thanks dave glad you enjoyed the video it gives people a taste of what to expect. The ridge between Bidean nam bian and Stob Coire Sgreamhach is a lot flatter with no snow on it. We came back down the way the map on this site suggested, when we did it there was snow in the gully and we had to come down facing the snow kicking steps into the snow for part of the way down, great experience. Its a great walk and lost valley is amazing.