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I've had naughty thoughts about Streap for some time, indeed it was teasing me... Call it Streap-tease
We were hoping to do it during WH Meet in Spring, but ended up on the 3 Corbett across the road and had a superb day, so I won't complain! Still, the pointy Corbett was high on the list and we intended to climb it some time this summer. As it always goes with plans, we rarely stick to them, so we managed to tick off all hills around it: Sgurr an Utha in April, Braigh nan Uamhachan in May, Sgurr Thuilm and Sgurr nan Coireachan in June. And Streap kept teasing. With August gone and half way through September, we eventually caught a reasonable day to return to Glenfinnian area to finish the business and claim the teasing Corbett!
The weekend before, Kevin was still slow after his case of shingles, but by now he had fully recovered and he was desperate to go up "all guns blazing" just to prove that there was still life in his bones! Especially that the day we climbed Streap was his birthday (I'm not allowed to mention the number but it's nice and round) - can anybody have a better b'day gift than walking the ridge of a magnificent mountain?
Very few Corbetts can beat Streap when it comes to: 1. views, 2. character 3. steepness. Braigh nan Uamhachan across the glen has a lovely, very long ridge and it is also steep in places, but Streap, the bigger brother, is definitely a tougher cookie. There are at least three routes to the summit from three different glens, but we decided on the WH route simply because we had been in Gleann Dubh Lighe before and we absolutely loved it. It's one of few glens still left intact and not spoiled by hydro works, a delight to visit any time of the year
Starting from Craigag car park, we met another couple who considered Streap as well, but eventually they headed for Braigh nan Uamhachan. Apart from them, the only other people we saw on the hills were a pair of ridge runners, who jogged past us at such speed that I hardly noticed them
Ridge running is madness - that's my knees talking
The walk into the upper Gleann Dubh Lighe goes through some lovely forest and some gates with a tight squeeze, but I've been on diet recently, lost a few pounds and I can squeeze through easily:
The gorge of Dubh Lighe river:
It was a glorious morning though the summit of Streap was still covered in cloud, I was optimistic the clag would burn off before we get higher:
The track continues deep into the glen, where everything looked (and smelled) autumnal, even the bracken was turning brown:
Panoramic view of upper Gleann Dubh Lighe and the ridge of Streap:
Not much water in the river up here and there is a bridge so no wading needed
The steep slope in the middle of the photo was our descent route
The idea was to climb straight on to Meall an Uilllt Chaoil and then walk along the ridge to the summit. According to WH description, one can avoid high bracken on the lower slopes by carefully picking route - and we spotted a good line of low grass just to the left of one of many streams coming down the slope:
Weather was still good, not much wind and sunny, I love such days of early autumn, when the world around us plays the game of multiple colours... Fifty shades of September
We crossed a couple of smaller streams and charged the steep slope above us. We were in good mood, Kevin was steaming up the hill like Titanic across the Atlantic, thankfully no icebergs in sight
We managed to avoid most of the bracken and followed a very sketchy path for some time, before losing it higher up:
View down back to the glen - easy slopes by my standard:
The ridge awaits... Streap teases again!
A wider pano of Streap ridge from the lower slopes, just before the weather turned for worse:
Sadly, as we marched up the steep slope, the glory of the morning gave way to a grey sadness of the lunch time. It happened so quickly (despite low winds) that we hardly noticed the change until we decided to take a breather about 2/3 way up Meall an Uilllt Chaoil (the 844m top):
To the south-west still some bright conditions:
The final 200m to the 844m top are very steep indeed, but the terrain is grassy with some scattered boulders, so walking, despite the acute angle, wasn't too difficult. Kevin was still marching up like a soldier and I discovered I was struggling to keep up with him! Definitely all that remained from his shingles was a painful memory
Reaching the first of many tops, Meall an Uilllt Chaoil, was a relief. We knew we still had some up and down trudging along the ridge, but the hard work was done
Sadly, weather refused to cooperate... View east from Meall an Uilllt Chaoil, cloud coming in:
The ridge teasing us... The next top, Stob Coire nan Cearc (887m), still visible:
The very top of Meall an Uilllt Chaoil lies about 200m from the point where we emerged on the summit area, a small rocky outcrop visible in the middle of this photo. We didn't bother taking a detour, just turned north and followed the ridge.
We took a sandwich break on the lower slopes of the first top, enjoying the last few minutes with views, mostly to the west of us.
Eigg and Loch Beoraid from the ridge of Streap:
Another long but very entertaining ridge to the east of us, Sgurr Thuilm and Sgurr nan Coireachan, the Glenfinnian Munros:
Eigg and Loch Beoraid from another angle, with Isle of Rum also visible on the horizon:
Zoom to Rum:
The ascent from the col is only about 120m and follows a well-worn path, but it's quite steep indeed. More teasing from Streap! She's playing hard to get, that's for sure
Panther marching up Stob Coire nan Cearc, Meall an Uilllt Chaoil in the background:
When we reached the top of Stob Coire nan Cearc, the cloud was closing in around us so we only stopped for a short snap of me posing with whatever was left from the magnificent views around us...
Veni, vidi, vici, miaow:
The next part of the ridge is probably the most entertaining, as the angle of both descent and ascent is much less acute. Views are probably spectacular. I say "probably" because we saw zilch
On the other hand, walking along narrow ridges in cloud adds some spooky quality to hill bagging... We didn't have a clue what was in front of us!
There is no real scrambling on the "arete" to the summit of Streap, just a few teasing larger boulders and rocky steps. The ground was wet and the rock was slippery, so we took care where we put our feet, but on a dry day one wouldn't even notice any "difficulties":
We arrived on the summit in thick clag, I congratulated my husband his birthday hill, we sat down by the cairn and resigned ourselves to no views. Then, like with a touch of magic wand, the cloud began to thin... It was a revelation!
The best birthday gift - Streap views!
Panorama due north - and the massive shape of Sgurr Thuilm emerging from the clag:
Gleann a'Chaorainn - what a big glen!
Looking back along the ridge we walked:
Pano:
And this is yet to come:
Distant Isle of Skye:
The southern pano:
View east with Streap Comhlaidh dominating the view:
With wee Lucy (C no. 54) on the summit of my 132nd Corbett (the next one will be officially 60%!):
We sat on the summit for a long time, enjoying this unexpected git from the nature. What a spectacular mountain with fantastic views. One of the best Corbetts IMHO. Surely goes on my list of top 10 C's!
From the summit, the ridge continues to Streap Comhlaidh with a short, steep ascent to the last top:
As we continued along the ridge, the clag returned and embraced the summit of Streap - we timed it well!
Streap from Streap Comhlaidh:
The final descent can only be described in two words: KNEE JERKER. Basically, almost 500m of very steep, grassy slope that could kill your knees easily. We took time, especially that the ground was slippy. Kevin laughed, that descending took us more time than going up!
2017-09-17 streap 157 by
Ewa Dalziel, on Flickr
We aimed for the stalker's track below us (we used it as a return route when we did Braigh nan Uamhachan). It was a relief to be on less steep ground, but for a change, the track was very boggy
Yet nothing could wipe the huge grin off my face. I climbed Streap!
From my personal experience, there are mountains and MOUNTAINS. Some Corbetts are F-Corbetts, and Streap falls absolutely into the F category. One of the steepest hills I've ever done, but the ridge is such a joy! Even with some cloudy moments, it was still a delightful traverse. And Kevin enjoyed it, too - you should see his grin! He would hardly let me take any pictures of him though - in his opinion, now in his ****ties, he's an old mushroom and not worthy of photographing - silly man! I've seen him overtaking much younger mushrooms, cooking in their own sauce
Returning from Streap meant walking down the lovely Gleann Dubh Lighe once again:
The weekend after we had other plans that didn't involve hillwalking, but managed to spare a few hours to visit Torridon and lurk around Loch Coulin - TR to follow
