“Bummer”
“Wanna just go now?”
“Sure”
And so it seemed that David was crazy (or stupid) enough to go along with one of my mental plans
I abandoned my friends in the pub, grabbed the car and picked up David on the way to Glencoe. We arrived at just before 1 and booted up quickly (the wee beasties were out
). I then annoyed David by losing my headtorch….the amusing irony of needing a headtorch to find my headtorch was lost on him 
We headed off down the path, a wee bit of slipping and sliding as we got used to walking in torch light. Meeting the track we turned right before finding the path down towards the bridge. There was no wind so we had to keep walking in order to keep the midgies at bay
It was a good path as we headed upwards. I was trying to take it easy to not aggravate my ribs but it was so difficult to walk slower than my usual pace when I was concentrating on other things
Despite being the middle of the night it was incredibly warm and muggy and I was not regretting wearing my shorts. We negotiated the awkward sloping slab crossed over the river (interesting in the dark
) and picked up a path. The last time I’d been here had been in snow and I’d just followed a bearing towards the ridge, but the path led us further left, before we had to skirt back right to be able to gain the ridge. As we reached Coire nan Lochan the skies were starting to become light enough to think about photography….David was very patient as I attempted to keep my camera still enough to get some pictures….
Stob Coire nan Lochan
We had looked at the wee snow gully on Stob Coire nan Lochan and I’d thought it might be a possible route up (it wasn’t really a serious suggestion
) but soon after David says “did you hear that?” I hadn’t but we heard what I initially thought was an animal running across snow, falling through ice and then….fireworks…..
at which point we realised it had been rockfall from the cliffs The moon popped out from behind the clouds just before it dipped behind Stob Coire nan Lochan (cue more camera stops
)
We finally made the ridge (and found the path
) which meant that the worst of the ascent was over. The views were AWESOME 
Ben Nevis
Now on the ridge were enjoying a bit of hands on and the sheer size of some of the rocks! And also some of the drops
The ridge was a joy and we reached the top of Stob Coire nan Lochan without incident. Bidean itself looked unassailable from here
We followed the path down towards the bealach where we found some snow to walk across….
The moon just hanging over the ridge
Looking ahead to Stob Coire Sgreamhach
Early morning light over the Glencoe hills
Looking back to Stob Coire nan Lochan
We were both dripping with sweat as we headed up the final ascent to Bidean. It was a lot easier without the snow
We were nearly there but this view back the way was awesome….
And we were at the top!! It was such a fantastic feeling to be there, pre-dawn and to have the whole mountain to ourselves
But it was pretty hazy so we weren’t hugely optimistic for the sunrise 
The moon over Loch Etive
Loch Etive, Beinn Trilleachean, Beinn Fhionnlaidh, Sgorr na h-Ulaidh & Beinn Maol Challuim
The continuation of the ridge and Beinn a’ Bheithir behind
Our route ahead
The Glencoe hills
I voiced my conundrum – it was just after 4; do I eat my sandwiches or something more breakfast? I settled for my flask of tea and a fruit bar
Then…against all the odds, David noticed a wee bit of light in the sky
It turned out to be the sunrise! There was a gap in the cloud that enabled a fabulous Lion King style sunrise 
Ben Nevis
With the sun up, the haze lifted a little and the views down Loch Etive improved so that we could start to see Ben Starav and Ben Cruachan
Ben Cruachan
Ben Nevis behind Stob Coire nan Lochan
Ahead
We figured we may as well get going, so headed off down the ridge….
Beinn Maol Challuim
Some awesome light over the Bookles
Looking back up towards Bidean
Ahead to Sgreamhach
Approaching the Hidden Valley entry we could see snow blocking the route, but could see a possible way down to the right.
Stob Coire nan Lochan from the bealach Dearg
Starting up Sgreamhach the amazing light had got even better!
Looking down the Hidden Valley
Sunlight hitting Beinn Maol Challuim with Loch Etive and Ben Starav behind
The sun reaches the Hidden Valley
The twin…err.. peaks of Bidean nam Bian and Stob Coire nan Lochan
It was an easy climb to the top of Stob Coire Sgreamhach and the views down the ridge of Beinn Fhada looked awesome with the sun hitting the Blackwater Reservoir
Ben Nevis and the Mamores
Wee Bookle, Big Bookle and Creise & Co
The light hitting Beinn Mhic Chasgaig
Looking down the Beinn Fhada ridge
The Aonach Eagach
Loch Etive
Panorama time
The light hitting Creach Bheinn near Beinn Sgulaird
Glen Etive much clearer now
The Mamores
Ben Cruachan
Ben Starav
Sgorr na h-Ulaidh
We waited around for ages but eventually figured we ought to get going….Looking back to Bidean
Time for a photo before we headed down…
It was very steep, the small rocks were loose and the larger ones slippery. It was clear how much concentration was required as we were both virtually silent, other than the odd “Whoooaaahhhh”
Once down the worst bit we were onto a vague path which was still tricky to walk on so I suggested making for the snow patch to get us down the steep bit.
The top section was quite icy and required a lot of concentration, but the rest was lots of slippery fun
From there it was a lot better underfoot and we soon picked up an actual path which we couldn’t find until we stepped onto it
Losing paths seems to have been a theme of the day Looking back up
Now on the path it was easy walking but it was even warmer now
We were tempted to go and jump into this 
In fact it was so warm that David had to stop and turn his trousers into shorts
And I dug out the suncream It was a relief when we hit the shade!
As we crossed the base of the Hidden Valley we could see a tent pitched near the big rocks. It was shortly after 7, so we joked about going to wake them up although the amount of noise the birds were making was probably doing the job better than we could
That’s some ridge
There was a wee bit of ascent to take us out of the valley (our legs were definitely feeling it
) before following the path down through a jungle….
Once out of the jungle we were back into the sun
But the Aonach Eagach looked awesome (I did suggest going up…. )
We made our way over the bridge and up the metal ladder (the sheep rustlers were way ahead of their time
) before hitting the track. Gearr Aonach & Aonach Dubh looked impressive
Looking down Glencoe
What a mountain
Taking the boots off felt amazing, as did a change of t-shirt. We watched a lot of folk set off up hills - it was 8.15am
After the brocken spectre amazingness of my previous visit I knew I'd need something special to improve on it...well, this definitely came close After finishing off my tea and a wee sandwich we headed back down the road after the best night I'd had in ages 
