As May bank holidays go, this one was pretty great.
More delicious hazy sunshine tempered by a stiff cooling breeze in the forecast, and my initial plan on Beinn a'Bheither was changed in favour of Ben Starav and Glas Bheinn Mhor - my legs did not fancy a pathless ascent and tree-felling diversion. Not the earliest of starts saw me in Glen Etive for 11ish - a beautiful drive, although the road-surface was being re-done, so my wee car took a pounding. I have heard this week that a 'wild' fire (rumoured to be started by campers) has sadly decimated a lot of the land here
Anyway, the climb to Starav was quiet until the brutal wind came into effect at around 400m. Easy to get bogged down in a extremely boggy path on the detour around Coiletir, as I did on the way out, remedied on the way back. Brilliant views already.
Glen Etive by Ross Thomson, on Flickr
River Etive by Ross Thomson, on FlickrA bridge is crossed at the Allt Mheuran followed, past some lovely pools, to the bottom of the Starav ridge, which looks ominous. Most of the circuit from Starav to Glas Bheinn Mhor can be seen above.
IMG_4238 (2) by Ross Thomson, on Flickr
the day's round by Ross Thomson, on Flickr
IMG_4358 by Ross Thomson, on FlickrThe climb did seem to the a lot longer than i'd anticipated, with the at first light headwind increasing to a roar at about 400-500m. The rest of this climb was going to be a slog, and so it proved. It retrospect, I should have tackled this route the other way around as the wind was coming from the east, but hindsight I suppose is a wonderful thing. Still, when the ridge becomes more defined at 750-800m, the fun starts, and I enjoyed the boulder-hopping and scrambling all the way to the gladly-reached summit, where a hollywood view of Loch Etive and Ben Cruachan was revealed
IMG_4253 by Ross Thomson, on Flickr
IMG_4261 by Ross Thomson, on Flickr
summit by Ross Thomson, on FlickrI was a bit more tired than I at first realised, and so stopped for a good while and ate a lot. I was joined by my first/only companion of the day from the opposite side - a lad from Gloucester who had escaped his wife and child for a morning and was doing a round of three. We chatted about all sorts for a while until we were sufficiently cold enough to get moving again! The ridge to Stov Coire Dheirg looked great and provided the most fun of the day - hopping over blocks happily as I made my merry way along.
to Glas Bheinn Mhor by Ross Thomson, on Flickr
IMG_4304 by Ross Thomson, on FlickrThe bealach does drop down to a good 600m, quite a descent, before climbing to Meall nan Tri Tighearnan and then finally Glas Bheinn Mhor, happily reached.
The path home from here is a simple one through the Learg Mheuran, to reach the stunning Robber's Waterfall, then back to the bridge and the outward path, then the car, where I had a close encounter with an inquisitive pal!
Learg Mheuran by Ross Thomson, on Flickr
Robber's Waterfall by Ross Thomson, on Flickr
IMG_4355 by Ross Thomson, on Flickr
IMG_4338 by Ross Thomson, on Flickr
IMG_4347 (2) by Ross Thomson, on Flickr
IMG_4357 by Ross Thomson, on FlickrThe only slight downside of the day was the excruitiating bank holiday traffic from Luss to Balloch. However, I was still only 20 minutes late for badminton in Glasgow. Most certainly had worse bank holidays - great start to my favourite hillwalking month!
