Ring of Steall

[alanmurray]

Eventually left Perth at 5:45am on Saturday, arrived at Glen Nevis at 8am.
Weather clear, very little wind and potentially some blue skies.

First obstacle for me was the cable bridge - not keen but wanted to stay dry.

Couldn't get across the rocks at Steall Falls, had to take socks and boots off - icy cold water ensured I was fully awake.

Half way up An Gearanach, looking towards Ben Nevis (in the clouds)

Just left summit of An Gearanach, and walking along knife edge ridge to An Garbhanach - great ridge walk - very scary for me as exposure not my thing!

Summit of 2nd Munro - Stob Coire a' Chairn - great crisp views

On route to Am Bodach - impressive towering mound of rock in front of us (me & Jelly)

Summit of Am Bodach - very cold - fantastic views in all directions - looking towards Blackwater Res.

Another picture from summit of third Munro - looking towards Stob Ban

Stob Ban looking magnificent

Walking along the ridge towards the forth Munro.
I thought this Devil's Ridge is not too bad - but the first section of the ridge is ok, a little airy.
Jelly was about 30m ahead of me and stopped, turned around to me and said "you're not going to like this"
Tried not to look down - just concentrated on walking through the pain.

Looking back the Devil's Ridge was not too bad - very exposed and airy for me, only one bit I couldn't get over the ridge top - a wee path bypassing it to the left was ok, a little scramble up - (from the other direction climbing down onto a little ledge might have been too scary for me to do - going up easier for me)

Long slog up to fourth Munro - hard climb especially after the other 3 munros - at summit of Sgorr a Mhaim mist came in so nothing to see.
Descent long and tiring - seemed to take an age to get to the base of the mountain.
Although great views down the Glen helped the descent

All in all a great day - Steall Falls, a rope bridge adventure, another river crossing, 4 munros, two great ridges, Stob Ban (next on my list), top of the Ben in and out of sight, ptarmigans galore, and a pint in Fort William - what more could you ask for.
In my kip and and sound asleep by 10pm on a saturday night.

[mountain coward]

You did really well there to say you don't like exposure... I couldn't even get to An Garbhanach from An Gearanach - had to stop at the standing-on-end slabs near the far end! Richard went along the silly little side path to the summit and back but I was glad I didn't when I saw what it was like! Great photos!

[monty]

Nice report Alan. The weather was ok and you got some great pictures. It looks like a nice round so I need to get up there sometime.

[Alastair S]

Yes, very good report & photos there Alan. Really like the ridge photos & the very atmospheric one of Stob Ban.

[The Summiteer]

Great report Alan, nice pics too! This is one of my favourite walks, it has so much variety mixed with amazing views on a clear day. Like yourself, I was a bit wary at times, but can't wait to do it all over again now next year.

Well done!

[Jockstar]

wow !! That's some day out you guys had! Great photo's that captured the experience. Glad I'm sitting down as I swayed a couple of times when I saw the photos Note sure about doing the bridge, but I'm hoping that it was easier than it looks. Well done

[skuk007]

Really like those pics Alan, nice clear views all round too. Will come in real handy for planning this one.

[alanmurray]

Thanks guys.
Great walk, and a tough one - three tough ascents.
The bridge wasn't as hard as I made it look - it took me about 10 mins.
Jelly skipped across it in about 2 minutes.
I think I am getting more used to the airy sections - still scares me witless and have to really take my time and be coached over the tricky sections - couldn't do it on my own - cheers Jelly.
One of the best walks to date - the great weather helped.

[mountain coward]

wow !! That's some day out you guys had! Great photo's that captured the experience. Glad I'm sitting down as I swayed a couple of times when I saw the photos Note sure about doing the bridge, but I'm hoping that it was easier than it looks. Well done

The bridge is easy and fun Also, if you fall off it, you just get wet - nothing to worry about there... but I've found there's a definite technique to crossing it if you don't want it to swing wildly in all directions (sometimes I do )... If you slide your hands along the top cables and each step you take, press firmly downwards, you don't swing about at all and the bottom rope just goes up and down a bit. But getting all the cables going in different directions is great fun

[Merry-walker]

What a fantastic report!!

shame I had to work Alan, I would really have enjoyed this walk (although I fear I may have held you up)

that cable bridge looks just plain fun!!