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I had been looking forward to visiting some of the Glen Etive hills for a while , the plan for the day was to climb Ben Starav, Beinn nan Aighenan, and Glas Bheinn Mhor and then possibly continue to the eastern two if time and energy allowed . I was parked up at Coileitir for 0730 and set off with enough food ,water and gear for a long day out . The first part of the route was a pleasant wander over the bridge , south along the river and then detouring around the cottage , at this point I took a ‘short cut ‘
following the line of the deer fence to meet the burn above the footbridge , this resulted in me having to wade through a swamp for a couple of hundred metres , it is probably more sensible to rejoin the riverside path after the cottage and use the footbridge .
- Allt Meirleach
- Glas Bheinn Mhor from the N ridge of Starav
The path winds up beside the burn past some lovely waterfalls before turning up the long ridge to Ben Starav . This part of the day was a real slog , not steep but just relentless , 1000m in 3km first thing in the morning is a great way to get warmed up , height is gained quickly though and I reckon that once you top Ben Starav the hardest part of the day is over .
- Ben Starav
The summit was hidden in cloud and had a fair bit of snow , only the briefest of glimpses across Loch Etive to Beinn Trilleachan and its fantastic looking slabs , this must be a glorious viewpoint on a clear day .
- Loch Etive
- Trilleachan slabs
The route onwards to Stob Coire Dearg needed a bit of care , a short drop with steep snow on either side , I picked my way down axe in hand to reach the narrow rocky ridge before scrambling along its crest to reach the peak ,from there I had good views of the route ahead .
- Ridge to Stob Coire Dearg
- Onwards to Bealachan Lochain Ghaineamhaich
- Beinn nan Aighenen
From the 767m bealach an obvious path contours down towards the lower 600m bealach, from there it was a pleasant climb up to Beinn nan Aighenan over slabs and low crags of granite ,thankfully the summit was clear and some nice views were to be had .
- Summit with Ben Cruachan
- Return to main ridge
Descending to the 600m point again I chose a line to pick up the ridge leading onwards to Glas Bheinn Mhor , this easy ridge has a good path and before long I was on the summit of the third Munro of the day , its cairn complete with mini snowman .
- Ridge to Glas Bheinn Mhor
- Summit of Glas Bheinn Mhor
- Down to bealach and on to Stob Coir an Albannaich
A straightforward descent brought me to the bealach above the Allt Mheuran , decision time !
I had plenty food ,water and daylight left , more importantly no body parts appeared to be in imminent danger of falling off/bursting , I decided to carry on to the two eastern Munros .
I started the steep climb up towards Stob Coir an Albannaich, finding this tough going over rocks and loose scree but eventually reached the wide plateau , skirting around the head of the corrie to reach the summit , and a very busy summit it was too . I hadn’t met a soul all day , suddenly coming across a dozen people must have startled me , so much so that I totally forgot to take any photos !
Descending east I was keeping a good lookout for the second grassy rake to descend , the WH description is good here , just after a raised area of slabby granite the obvious path cuts off north marked by a small cairn .
- Meall nan Eun from below SCA
Once across a boggy bealach the route leads over some lovely pavement to the minor summit of Meall Tarsuinn , from here I could see the final ascent of the day to Meall nan Eun .
- Nice ground on ascent of Meall Tarsuinn
- Last one of the day
- A look back to Stob Coir an Albannaich
One final pull brought me to the wide plateau of the summit , a fine mossy expanse , Stob Gabhair seeming surprisingly close .
- Summit No. 5
From the summit a nice wander NW over gently falling ground brought me to the head of Coirean Riabhach , from here the route descends on steep sodden grass over rocks and broken crags , not in any way pleasant , especially at the end of a long day .
- Long walk out
Eventually the valley floor is reached and a decent path is picked up alongside Allt Ceitlin ,as I walked out the sun was lighting up the vast areas of slab below Stob Coir an Albannaich , spectacular .
- Granite in sunshine
- Last look at Ben Starav
Lower down the glen a good track develops which turns to head south along the River Etive to the bridge at Coileitir , passing through some nice woodland , a cuckoo singing rounding off the day nicely .
I was back at the car park just under 9 hours after setting off , a long day during which I pushed on a good bit harder than I normally would , nice to be able to do it but I think I’ll revert to my usual, more civilised pace for a while .