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The one from which The Midge emerges victorious

The one from which The Midge emerges victorious


Postby kmai1961 » Fri Jul 05, 2019 5:56 pm

Munros included on this walk: Càrn Dearg (Corrour), Sgòr Gaibhre, Sgùrr Chòinnich Mòr, Stob Choire Claurigh, Stob Coire an Laoigh, Stob Coire Raineach (Buachaille Etive Beag)

Date walked: 01/07/2019

Time taken: 23 hours

Distance: 49.5 km

Ascent: 3228m

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Monday 01 July
Munro: Stob Coire Raineach
4½ hrs / 6 km / 701m


I met Sally and Jason in the car park just before noon. We made our slow way up to the bealach, stopping often to chat and catch up (the walk was really more about meeting up than it was about “bagging”). We stopped at the large cairn at the bealach to decide whether to go “right” or “left.” After choosing (somewhat arbitrarily, I think) “left,” we made our way up the scrabbly path, stopping at one point to chat to (yet) another American.

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down Glen Coe toward Ballachulish

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toward Loch Etive

We got some good views—over to the Aonach Eagach, and down the other way toward Loch Etive—from the top of Stob Coire Raineach. It was pretty blowy, and not exactly warm, except we found a most excellent spot in the shelter of some large boulders, and in the sun, just below the summit. So we sat there a while, had some (more) lunch, and some more chatting, before returning to the bealach.

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(Sally's pic)

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moody view from our lunch spot

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and again (Sally's pic)

The descent was *very* windy, so we decided to give Stob Dubh a miss, and return to the glen floor instead, for a bit more shelter. We were going to continue our walk by going up the glen, but truth be told, the river was a bit high, and the good path on the opposite side remained out of reach. So we moseyed back to the cars, and then drove to the Kings House for some food.

The food was good, and not overly priced; between us, we ordered fish and chips, fish pie, and venison pie, and each entrée was £11-13 or so. Macaroni cheese is also on the menu, so I’ll have to return again to give that a try. The new building is very nice, with large windows in all directions.

I was to meet Jimmy at Bunroy campsite later that night; he was climbing Beinn Sgulaird, starting until sometime after noon. I wasn’t in a hurry, figuring I’d still be a couple hours ahead of him, so I stopped in Ft Wm to top up my petrol. And who should drive up whilst I was doing so? This isn’t the first time something like this has happened.

We drove to Roybridge, and set up our tents while the savage midges ate their fill. Since we’d both already eaten, we got cleaned up, and then retreated to the Stronlossit Inn for a pint or two, and to make plans to take on the Grey Corries the following day. (I shouldn’t have worn shorts; the voracious little blighters continued dining all the way up and down my legs.)

Tuesday 02 July
Munros: Stob Coire Claurigh, Stob Coire an Laoigh, and Sgurr Choinnich Mhor (Grey Corries)
10¼ hrs / 21.6km / 1593m


We’d planned to set off around 9am, as the forecast was set to improve slightly later. But old habits die hard, and we were up and ready to go earlier than that, so we actually set off walking by 8am. And it looked as though the forecast was correct; we made the looooong slog up to Stob Coire Claurigh in the clag and light rain. I’d forgotten (it’s that selective memory again—Evie says that she manages to whitewash all of the negatives, and remembers only the good stuff; I suppose I must do the same) how far it was.

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the obligatory photo of the Wee Minister

It rarely happens (it’s usually the opposite), but the cloud cleared at nearly the exact moment we reached the summit. And it stayed clear!—as we made our way along that amazing ridge, which I’d *not* forgotten.

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wa-hey, there goes the cloud!!

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and BAM, there it is, laid out before us in all its glory!

We stopped at Caisteal for a rest (and some food, perhaps, I can’t remember) and to let two lads pass who’d been rapidly catching up to us. We knew that once we’d reached Munro #2, Stob Coire an Laoigh, we’d have a large-ish descent and re-ascent to reach Stob Coire Easain, followed by another drop to the Bealach Coire Easain, and then one more final ascent to the summit of Sgurr Choinnich Mor (all of which then had to be done in reverse to return to Stob Coire Easain and the way home).

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second summit

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final summit, looking back over what we've done (and what we still have to do...)

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been there, done that. All downhill from here, baby!

But we managed it all fine, and even returned to the car 15 minutes earlier than we’d done 5 years earlier; I was quite chuffed about that!

We had an OK dinner at the Roy Bridge Hotel (not much choice), and decided that although Bunroy seems to be one of the best value-for-money campsites in the area, the food options in Roy Bridge (Roybridge? You see it spelled both ways…) are fairly sucky.

The next day we were going totally car free.

03 July
Munros: Carn Dearg and Sgor Gaibhre (from Corrour)
8¼ hrs / 21.9km / 934m


We were on the train just after 8am. It was much more expensive for not having booked the tickets in advance; nearly £13 each for a return. We alighted at Corrour Station, and were on our walking way by about 8:45am. Although there was a train at about 3:30pm, we’d decided that we’d rather take our time, and have hours to spare than to be worried about time all day. I declared that I was going to take 100 rest breaks!

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lovely Loch Ossian

The forecast had suggested that the morning would have good visibility, but that it would deteriorate as the day progressed. It was badly wrong—in fact, just about the opposite. We climbed up into the clag at about 800m, I’d guess. We took the usual selfies at the summit of Carn Dearg, and just below the summit, Jimmy found a mobile. A couple had overtaken us near Peter’s Rock, and we figured it had to belong to one of them, as it didn’t appear to have been there for very long. Sure enough, just a few minutes, the panicked young woman appeared out of the mist. She was very happy to be reunited with her phone!

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summit Carn Dearg. Note the "good visibility!"

There were views of the surrounding area from the bealach, so we found a large rock on which to have our lunch. Then it was back up into the clag again to gain the summit of Sgor Gaibhre.

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"gloved hand with sandwich" by maitlando

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summit Sgor Gaibhre. Still no view.

The descent was long and tough (heather, tufty grass, holes), but uneventful. Thereafter, we only had the long march along Loch Ossian back to the hostel, and then to the train station. We had talked about “nipping up” the Trainspotting Corbett (Leum Uilleum), but at the end of the day, neither of us had either the heart or the legs to do so.

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the station café, the tasty Leum Uilleum horseshoe behind (next time)

We went to the station, now open all day, and joked about how, since neither of us was driving, we could indulge to our hearts’ content. HA! Two bottles of beer (each) later, we’d had enough. That’s us, then, “off our faces.” Clearly, no longer youngsters! :lol: :lol:

We had an early dinner that was expensive, but good. We knew they’d need our table for a 7pm booking, but they didn’t mind at all that we decamped to the sofas by the fireplace to wait (hours and hours) for the train. They had on-and-off wifi, and I was able to fully charge my phone for the first time since leaving home. We talked at length about how difficult it must be to establish a good business model for such a remote location. For walkers and other visitors, it’s really nice for food, coffee, drinks, and other amenities to be available throughout the day. I hope they’re successful.

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a bit cold, a bit blowy on the platform

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yay, there's our ride home...finally!

We didn’t get back to the campsite until nearly 10pm. Showers then sleep; the forecast for the next day was pretty awful, at least later in the day, and we’d decided, based on that, that we’d have a rest day on Thursday. Jimmy drove us to Oban, and we hung out there for as long as it took to walk the main streets (several times), watch the Mull ferry land and depart, and have a nice lunch.

The next morning, Friday, the hill weather for all/any of our targets was pants once again, so we both headed home.
I’m absolutely covered with midge bites. Everywhere. Oh dear gawd, the itching! But the good news is that I’ve just spent four nights in a tent—and actually got some sleep!
kmai1961
Wanderer
 
Posts: 634
Munros:282   Corbetts:189
Fionas:91   Donalds:65
Sub 2000:51   Hewitts:30
Wainwrights:39   Islands:24
Joined: Aug 12, 2012
Location: nr Glasgow

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