Stob Ghabhar and Stob a'Choire Odhair
Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 2:24 pm
From Bridge or Orchy, take the road west from the hotel. This small road looked as though it's been recently re-surfaced, as the road was in good condition. It runs past Loch Tulla to your right, passing the Inveroran hotel. Park at the Victora Bridge car park, just before the bridge. Walk across the bridge and take the path to your left, just before the forest lodge, heading west.
The path follows the Abhainn Shira. unfortunatley we saw a dying Stag. We wernt sure what to do under these circumstances? We presumed the laws of nature would take course.
After 20-25 mins you will see the Clashgour hut, a small tin bothy. At this point take the path heading north. This track is quite mucky in places, and well worn.
Follow this path, you will see a large waterfall just beside the Aonach Eagach.
You should also see the route up to Stob a'Choire Odhair which zig-zags up its ridge. Take this path, past the ford (253447). it heads up the ridge quite steeply at first, and eventually starts to level off after 1/2 hour.
At this point the terrain becomes more rocky (and snowy!). Keep heading up, and a small cairn marks the top. Great views of Rannoch Moor and the surrounding hills were seen from here, although the wind chill was biting!
Head west towards the bealach between Stob Ghabhar and Stob a'Choire Odhair for a well deserved lunch, a path is available to follow. From here the route of Stob Ghabhar looks quite intimidating and steep.
However, the closer you get to it, the easier it looks. Keep to the path, which heads towards the Coirein Lochain, and turns southwards going straight up the face of Stob Ghabhar. It isn't really a scramble, but it does require some steadying with hands in places. The path heads up the face, and should present no difficulty.
If you look closely, you can see people on the pic above to give u an idea of scale. Eventually, the path will lead you to the top of the Ridge, the Aonach Eagach.
Follow the ridge in a westerly direction. It will quickly become apparent that it narrows quickly, and looks exposed. However again, looks can be deceiving. Once you are on the ridge, there is plenty of path to make your way over it, and the exposure at either side shouldn't cause a difficulty if you concentrate on the path and not the exposure. There are no moves that are exposed and in no time at all, the ridge is over. Bit of a shame really, as I was expecting something more sinister. It reminded me a bit like Striding Edge in Helvellyn, except not as long.
Again, the pic above gies an idea of scale with the people in it.
After the ridge continue up the broader ridge to the top. From here we saw fantastic views of the hills around Glencoe and further afield.
We even saw the sea it was that clear! After 15mins of admiring the view, we headed back down the broad ridge SE, and followed the metal fence posts for a while, eventually making our way back down, back to the path, tracing our steps back.
All-in-all a very enjoyable day with fantastic views from start to finish, the first of the winter snow, and a bit of excitement on the mini-me Aonach Eagach!
The path follows the Abhainn Shira. unfortunatley we saw a dying Stag. We wernt sure what to do under these circumstances? We presumed the laws of nature would take course.
After 20-25 mins you will see the Clashgour hut, a small tin bothy. At this point take the path heading north. This track is quite mucky in places, and well worn.
Follow this path, you will see a large waterfall just beside the Aonach Eagach.
You should also see the route up to Stob a'Choire Odhair which zig-zags up its ridge. Take this path, past the ford (253447). it heads up the ridge quite steeply at first, and eventually starts to level off after 1/2 hour.
At this point the terrain becomes more rocky (and snowy!). Keep heading up, and a small cairn marks the top. Great views of Rannoch Moor and the surrounding hills were seen from here, although the wind chill was biting!
Head west towards the bealach between Stob Ghabhar and Stob a'Choire Odhair for a well deserved lunch, a path is available to follow. From here the route of Stob Ghabhar looks quite intimidating and steep.
However, the closer you get to it, the easier it looks. Keep to the path, which heads towards the Coirein Lochain, and turns southwards going straight up the face of Stob Ghabhar. It isn't really a scramble, but it does require some steadying with hands in places. The path heads up the face, and should present no difficulty.
If you look closely, you can see people on the pic above to give u an idea of scale. Eventually, the path will lead you to the top of the Ridge, the Aonach Eagach.
Follow the ridge in a westerly direction. It will quickly become apparent that it narrows quickly, and looks exposed. However again, looks can be deceiving. Once you are on the ridge, there is plenty of path to make your way over it, and the exposure at either side shouldn't cause a difficulty if you concentrate on the path and not the exposure. There are no moves that are exposed and in no time at all, the ridge is over. Bit of a shame really, as I was expecting something more sinister. It reminded me a bit like Striding Edge in Helvellyn, except not as long.
Again, the pic above gies an idea of scale with the people in it.
After the ridge continue up the broader ridge to the top. From here we saw fantastic views of the hills around Glencoe and further afield.
We even saw the sea it was that clear! After 15mins of admiring the view, we headed back down the broad ridge SE, and followed the metal fence posts for a while, eventually making our way back down, back to the path, tracing our steps back.
All-in-all a very enjoyable day with fantastic views from start to finish, the first of the winter snow, and a bit of excitement on the mini-me Aonach Eagach!