Walkhighlands

John McCourt and I set off with the intention of walking to Stob Diamh and Ben Cruachan by starting off at an old railway track beside the B8077 road, grid reference 133284. We followed the track then a path to a footbridge over the Allt Coire Glais, 120296. After crossing the footbridge, the ground is bit boggy and there is no path to follow. The ascent, on the grassy slope to Stob Garbh, is quite steep to about 450m where there is a bit of level ground before some more effort is put in to reach the summit of Stob Garbh. With a short break on the way up, it had taken us about 4 hours to get to Stob Garbh. Another 30 minutes saw us on the summit of Stob Diamh but Ben Cruachan will have to wait
as it was now 1630 so we returned by the same route and arrived at the footbridge just as dusk was setting in.

Hi. my pal Sandy and me tried to walk on to Stob Diamh the day after you but didnt make it by the time we got to about 114294 in the rain and then wind, couldnt see a thing we turned back as I was soaked to the skin but it will be there for another day but thought I would ask a question about the route we couldnt see anything so after the bridge could you go to 114297, 111299, 107302, 102305, 098307, and then to the top what do you think.
seadog

Looks like a nice route Ddinie. Weather was kind to you as well so looked enjoyable. You got some nice pics.

Hi Seadog, Your route up the valley loks doable but I see nothing to be gained. Its probably boggy all the way up the valley and there are possibly crags near the top that could be difficult and you would not save much distance. Better to stick to Ddinie's route and go up the ridgeline.

Stob Diamh (and Ben Cruachan):

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ_PbBNQ1AA[/youtube]

seadog wrote:Hi. my pal Sandy and me tried to walk on to Stob Diamh the day after you but didnt make it by the time we got to about 114294 in the rain and then wind, couldnt see a thing we turned back as I was soaked to the skin but it will be there for another day but thought I would ask a question about the route we couldnt see anything so after the bridge could you go to 114297, 111299, 107302, 102305, 098307, and then to the top what do you think.
seadog

Hi Seadog
From the footbridge, I wouldn't go any further than 111299 on your route, as going any further would be too difficult with the outcrops and the steepness of the climb. The route we took was steep enough. Your route appeared to be very boggy made worse by what looked like a large track made by industrial plant vehicles. We were going to go off our route to about 111299 then head for the footbridge at 120296. A better alternative might be to go up Sron an Isean then on to Stob Diamh. You were wise to turn back in the rain and wind. We found the return journey bad enough on the dry grassy slopes without the wet conditions. David Dinnie

Thanks for getting back to me looks like the way DDinnie went is the best so thats the way we,ll go but might have to leave it untill next year as its a fair drive from Cumbernauld and the days are short.
seadog