Grey has my Inner Goddess doing cartwheels...

[bobble_hat_kenny]

I scowl with frustration at myself in the mirror. Darn my hair - I must not sleep with my Bobble Hat on! I must not sleep with my Bobble Hat on! Reciting this mantra several times, I do my best to perfect my coiffure in the Glen Nevis Youth Hostel bathroom mirror, in breathless anticipation of my big date with Grey.
Grey has been the object of my desires ever since I first glimpse that craggy profile and those sinuous, muscular ridgelines during an idle browse through the books in an outdoors shop … the SMC Munros book, it may have been. All of a sudden, my Inner Goddess sits up and takes notice, and after dutifully ploughing through the dullest bits in Section 5 (yes, A' Bhuidheanach Bheag, that means you!), I find myself furtively flicking back with sweaty palms to Pages 85 to 87....
Weeks and even months later, I still can't shift those images from my fevered brain. Visions of Stob Coire Cath na Sine and Caisteal distract me from my work, and keep me awake at night. I have to face it - I am powerfully attracted to Grey. Full name "Grey Corries": a range of four Munros in the central Highlands. How will I break this one to my wife ?
Another couple of months pass, and the realisation gradually dawns on me that the only way that my Inner Goddess is ever going to give me peace is for me to spend a couple of nights in close proximity to Grey.
...So I make some hurried excuses to my family, and book myself in to the recently refurbished Glen Nevis Youth Hostel for a Friday and Saturday night.
Now, I've heard that most of Grey's previous suitors have tended to favour the northern approach from Corriechoille in Glen Spean, but that makes it rather awkward to get all four Munros done in one day, particularly for those of us not in the first flush of youth . And I have to be honest with myself: only the Full Monty is going to satisfy me. I therefore opt for the less conventional Glen Nevis approach, hoping to catch Grey unawares.

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Now, whenever I've ever booked accommodation for a hill walk well in advance in the past, that has been a guarantee for a named storm to sweep in from the Atlantic, and for the telly to turn deep orange with Weather Warnings …. This time will be different, however. As I try to perfect that hairdo very early on the Saturday morning, it is clear that the sun is going to shine on my illicit liaison... The early morning view up Glen Nevis is nothing short of spectacular.

Soon enough, I've driven up to the car park at the Glen Nevis road end and I'm setting off down the Nevis Gorge path, breathless with anticipation!

Although I've walked the Nevis Gorge before (en route to the Aonachs and the Ring of Steall), my senses are all of a quiver this time, and the sudden, startling emergence from the gorge onto Steall Plains, with the huge waterfall sparkling in the early morning sunshine, is almost too much for me!

Perhaps it's for the best, by way of giving my Inner Goddess a chance to mop her fevered brow, but the big disadvantage of the Glen Nevis approach is that it is a Very Long Walk In indeed before Grey is even glimpsed ! So I do my best to keep myself calm, enjoying the truly monumental scenery on offer. First up is this impressive view of A' Mhaighdean and Binnein Mor of the Mamores. I am just a bit worried that they still have their summits in early-morning Clag, however. What if the Clag doesn't lift, and I don't even get to have a proper look at Grey ? The disappointment will just be crushing!

Next up is An Gearanach of the Ring of Steall, looking impressively precipitous (though clearly not as shapely as Grey). Is that clag never going to lift, though?

Finally - finally (I'd been walking for HOURS!) - I approach the mouth of Coire Rath at the very head of Glen Nevis, and get my first tantalising view of Grey's naked shoulder! (The rounded prominence in question is Meall a' Bhuirich, which is the Corbett Top at the end of Stob Ban's south-west ridge, to the right of this photo.)

At this point, Binnein Beag does its best to tempt me off-route, getting all up close and personal! I hate to disappoint the poor thing, but a lowly Mamore is never going to distract me from Grey....

Grey is playing very hard to get, however, placing a substantial waterway between us - the Abhainn Rath. Thankfully I find a bit at a meander where I can get across with only slightly wet feet.

My heart is hammering, my pulse is racing and I am getting all steamed up! (Admittedly, that is perhaps because I am slogging up the very steep grassy western flanks of Meall a' Bhuirich to reach the bealach with Stob Ban .) That glimpse of Stob Ban's summit in the distance really has my Inner Goddess quite undone!

What can I say! Grey has taken me to the Heights for the first time, and with the promise of lots more fun, deliciously leavened with physical pain, for the whole of the rest of the day! Yes, I am standing at Stob Ban's summit cairn, with a huge view stretching out to the south-east...

I look back down Coire Rath, across Glen Nevis to where Mamores a-go-go are showing off in the sun. Well, I daresay they're attractive enough in their way, but let's face it, they're just not Grey!

Now Grey gives me my first taste of strict discipline: I am taken to a Place of Torture. Apparently, it is known as "Stob Ban's north ridge". I do my best to make my way very carefully down the ever-shifting scree path, whimpering quietly as I land on my backside for the third time ...

Thankfully, down at the bealach with Stob Coire Claurigh, I am finally shown some mercy. In fact, I am treated to this delicious view of Grey's butte! Apparently it goes by the name of "Sgurr Innse". Well, each to their own, I suppose.

Grey insists on keeping me disciplined, however, and I am given this view back to Sgurr Ban's north ridge from the scenic lochan at the bealach, to remind me just now nasty things can get if I don't behave...

The steady ascent to Stob Choire Claurigh isn't as steep as that descent from Stob Ban, but it goes on and on, and my thighs are throbbing. Only the promise of sampling more of Grey's delights enables me to put up with the pain. Finally, however, I reach Stob Choire Claurigh's summit - the fifteenth-highest hill in the UK, no less. And this is surely as good as it gets. I am treated to what may well be the best view in Scotland. The Clag has completely lifted by now, and every inch of Grey is completely exposed, exquisitely framed by the Back Corries of the Aonachs ridge with Ben Nevis in the distance. I swear, my Inner Goddess very near faints dead away...

Once I get my breath back, however, Grey has my Inner Goddess doing cartwheels!

The pleasure just goes on and on. I am taken on a stupendous ridgewalk, crossing three Munro Tops in what feels like no time (but actually takes a good couple of hours). First up is the minor rise (but official Top) of Stob a' Choire Leith. The next Top is more impressive, with a large cairn and a grand view back to Stob Ban, which is looking a bit tiddly from up here. Unfortunately, however, I have earned Grey's displeasure . I am reminded sternly that this Top is named Stob Coire Cath na Sine, apparently meaning "Peak of the Corrie of the Battle of the Elements", and that I must NOT, under any circumstances, EVER refer to it again as "Stob Coire Barry Sheen"!

Grey is almost ready to take me to the Heights for a third time … However, before being allowed to reach Munro Number Three, I am taken up one more Top, this one called Casteil, and then it is time for some more discipline, with a scary view of Stob Coire an Laoigh's precipitous northern cliffs !

Finally, however, I am at Stob Coire an Laoigh's cairn, desperately trying to calm my racing heart and to slow down my breathing.... But what is that shapely peak to the west? Surely Grey can't be expecting to take me to the Heights a FOURTH time? I sigh in submission and make my apologies in advance to my quadriceps, as I gaze onwards to the fourth Munro of the day, Sgurr Choinnich Mor, with its mini-me western Top Sgurr Choinnich Beag visible to the west, and pointy Sgurr a' Bhuic (a Top of Aonach Beag) visible in the distance.

Can I really manage a fourth Munro? I'm not entirely sure, but my Inner Goddess is pulling me onwards towards the next Top, Stob Coire Easain, and Grey is clearly not in a mood to be gainsaid!

Yet more discipline awaits, on the steep descent from Stob Coire Easain to its bealach with Sgurr Choinnich Mor, with the first real scrambling of the day! I console myself with the thought that one possible translation of "Sgurr Choinnich Mor" could be "Big Kenny's Peak", so really I just have to grit my teeth and climb the thing. (The more prosaic, and probably more accurate, translation is of course "Big Mossy Peak" .)

It is only slightly less steep on the other side of the bealach, but somehow I manage to bear the agony that Grey inflicts on my thigh muscles, and eventually top out on the fourth Munro of the day. From the cairn, I look back fondly along the full length of Grey's shapely ridgeline...

Just as I am sighing with relief at having nothing else to climb, I realise that Grey has not yet done with me. Yes, I am tapped on the shoulder and reminded of that western Top, Sgurr Choinnich Beag. I beg, I plead, but Grey is relentless. Beag has to be climbed too !

Finally, I summit the last peak of the day, and at Sgurr Choinnich Beag's bijou cairn I am permitted to enjoy a delicious glance back to shapely Sgurr Choinnich Mor.

Grey's work with me is finally done, and I am to be permitted to make a slow descent back down to the Glen Nevis path via the bealach with Sgurr a' Bhuic, aching deliciously from top to toe from Grey's punishments as I take the long and winding road all the way back through the Nevis Gorge to the car park and back to the hostel.
And now here I am back in my office on a dreich Friday afternoon, gazing wistfully out of the window with only memories of Grey to keep me going...

[IreneM]

Always love reading your cheery reports BHK, but you have excelled yourself with this one!

Absolutely fabulous

Thank you!

[gammy leg walker]

:lol:

Always love reading your cheery reports BHK, but you have excelled yourself with this one!

Absolutely fabulous

Thank you!

Nothing to do with Mr Grey of course IreneM

[bobble_hat_kenny]

:lol:

Always love reading your cheery reports BHK, but you have excelled yourself with this one!

Absolutely fabulous

Thank you!

Thanks, IreneM - it's always nice to get positive feedback, especially on a Friday afternoon after a long week at work ...
Yes, I should probably reassure the world in general, and Clan Grey / Gray in particular, by offering the standard disclaimer that the "Grey" referred to above is a mountain range in central Scotland of undetermined gender (I deliberately didn't use "he" or "him", or for that matter "she" or "her"), and that any resemblance to living persons, real or deceased, is purely coincidental !

[dogplodder]

This report had me spellbound, not least because I want to reach the two western Greys from Glen Nevis, better half having an irrational fear of what the pot holey road from the south could do to his car suspension. I say 'his' when it's 'ours' because when it comes to pot holey roads he reacts like it's entirely 'his'.

Any advice on route if only needing to include the western 2 Munros and in the interests of not expending more energy than is strictly necessary?

[bobble_hat_kenny]

This report had me spellbound, not least because I want to reach the two western Greys from Glen Nevis, better half having an irrational fear of what the pot holey road from the south could do to his car suspension. I say 'his' when it's 'ours' because when it comes to pot holey roads he reacts like it's entirely 'his'.

Any advice on route if only needing to include the western 2 Munros and in the interests of not expending more energy than is strictly necessary?

Thanks - well, I do hope that my WRs at least raise a smile! As you'll have gathered, I had done a bit of research on Grey prior to this outing, and although doing Sgurr Choinnich Mor and S.C. An Laoigh without continuing to Stob Coire Claurigh is slightly unconventional (it misses out the lovely ridge walk between Laoigh and Claurigh), it does seem to be perfectly feasible. You would walk up the Glen Nevis path through Nevis Gorge and the Plain of Steall, go on east up the glen until just past Sgurr a' Bhuic of Aonach Beag (more specifically, until you reach the Allt a' Bhuic), then reverse my descent route, initially up the side of the Allt a' Bhuic (pathless, but grassy and not too steep) to the east side of the Sgurr a' Bhuic / Sgurr Choinnich Beag bealach. From there, the onward route over S.C. Beag, Mor & Stob Choire an Laoigh is "interesting" in parts, but has a good path all the way along. When making the scrambly ascent of Stob Coire Easain, stick to the crest of the ridge which is easier than it looks, and avoid the dodgy bypass path to the north which is actually harder work. You'd then be able to descend from Laoigh into Coire Easain, down a bit of a scree slope at first, but at least avoiding the steep and scrambly re-descent of Stob Coire Easain. From Coire Easain, you'd descend southwest into Glen Nevis at the western edge of the mouth of Coire Rath, where you could pick up the Glen Nevis path just north of the river. This all looks quite feasible, and not too epic.
Don't tell Grey that I told you all that, though ...
Incidentally, similar car suspension fears were part of the reason why I opted for this epic Glen Nevis approach: it certainly didn't disappoint!

[gammy leg walker]

This report had me spellbound, not least because I want to reach the two western Greys from Glen Nevis, better half having an irrational fear of what the pot holey road from the south could do to his car suspension. I say 'his' when it's 'ours' because when it comes to pot holey roads he reacts like it's entirely 'his'.

Any advice on route if only needing to include the western 2 Munros and in the interests of not expending more energy than is strictly necessary?

The track up Corriechollie is not that bad Dogplodder,I've driven up it 3 times,it gets a bad reputation and people assume they require a 4 X 4 to navigate along the track,you don't.

[Chris Mac]

Superb,,more Bobble Hat Kenny prose brilliance that wouldn't be out of place in a book.

I had your Meall Ghaordaidh report stuck in my head while walking it earlier in the year and i've got a feeling it will be the same when I visit Goddess Grey, if I have your permission to do so of course?! I wouldn't want you to think she was cheating on you!

[Graeme D]

I have read some brilliant, witty, humorous TRs on this site, but that is up there with the best of them!

[Huff_n_Puff]

Oooh... oooh.... ooo...., I almost fell for that, your wizardly words almost seduced me into believing the Glen Nevis route would be the answer to a fair maiden's prayers , but then the wizened old hag that inhabits my body looked at the map, checked the route and reverted to plans for the Corriechollie route. GLW is right the track from Corriechollie is not too bad - I'll give you a lift DP

Brilliant report though and smashing photos

[scotsmist]

A good report, enjoyed the read. Thanks.

[surfthemaze]

Great write up Kenny. Long day out well worth it. Glad you got some sunshine to appreciate the tremendous views. G

[arjh]

This report had me spellbound, not least because I want to reach the two western Greys from Glen Nevis, better half having an irrational fear of what the pot holey road from the south could do to his car suspension. I say 'his' when it's 'ours' because when it comes to pot holey roads he reacts like it's entirely 'his'.

Any advice on route if only needing to include the western 2 Munros and in the interests of not expending more energy than is strictly necessary?

The track up Corriechollie is not that bad Dogplodder,I've driven up it 3 times,it gets a bad reputation and people assume they require a 4 X 4 to navigate along the track,you don't.

Spot on, I drove it in normal tyres in January a couple of winters back.

[Sunset tripper]

I dont know anything about Grey but entertaining stuff. I was doing cartwheels on Stob Ban myself a couple of years ago and stabbed myself with my axe .Very foolish but nothing serious. Some would call this hill walking lark sado-masochism.
Cheers