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I had originally planned to head up the A9 to either do the 4 at Drumochter or the Beinn a Ghlo three but when I woke up I really didn't feel like such a long drive so it was off to Glen Etive. The road was busier than I thought at that time of the morning but I made quick time up the A82 and before I knew it I was heading down Glen Etive past lots of folk camping. I did have to stop when one of the locals blocked my path but after he moved I carried on to the car park and got a good view of my first target of the day, Ben Starav, as well as a view back up the Glen.
The midgies were making their presence felt at the car so I didn't hang about and quickly made off down the path and past the cottage. Not long after this I made the mistake of crossing the stile and soon found myself in thick fern which was head height. I gave up quickly and pushed myself through to the stream and crossed over on to the proper path.
I was finding the going difficult through a combination of the heat, my right knee playing up and the fact I had been stuffing my face for the previous week. I stopped for a hefty drink and a few pictures around the 700m mark and I was a bit dismayed to see a small amount of cloud covering the top. I also had a look over at my intended third munro of the day Glass Bheinn Mhor which didn't seem too far away as well as a glance at the other summits of Glencoe.
I seemed to get a second wind and made light work of the 300m to the top although I was quite hungry and told myself that my reward for getting to the top would be food. As the cloud had now lifted, my other reward was a great view down Loch Etive.
After leaving the summit, I reached the narrow ridge towards Stob Coire Dearg and I had great fun scrambling along the top of it before the long drop down towards the bealach. I broke right here and descended further before beginning the ascent of Beinn nan Aighenan. As I peered round the side of my next target I could see the distinctive peak of Beinn Eunaich which I climbed earlier this year in poor weather.
I was struggling at this point and by the time I reached the summit, any thoughts of doing all 5 in the area had vanished and it was simply a case of getting the next two done and heading back to the car. I didn't stay long at the top and took a picture of the Loch Awe hills (Beinn Eunaich, Beinn a Chochuill, Stob Daimh & Ben Cruachan) which I have already ticked off as well as a look back to Ben Starav and a look ahead to Glass Bheinn Mhor.
I descended hastily and this part of the walk in reverse wasn't too badand I made good time back to the bealach before climbing up to Meall nan Tri Tighearnan. Tiredness was creeping in by now but I told myself I had one final ascent to do up to Glass Bheinn Mhor and it would be all downhill after that.
I made it up to the top in a decent enough time and as I sat down at the cairn, the sun came out and it was a wonderful feeling to be up there enjoying those views. The relief was palpable but as I guzzled water and enjoyed some chocolate, I gazed into the distance at the many lumps and bumps, some of which I could identify and others which were a mystery.
Looking down at the descent path, I figured it wouldn't be long before I was back to the bottom of Ben Starav but it seemed to go on forever and it took a lot longer than I thought. The path alternates between solid stone and soggy bog and at one point I performed a triple jump to get through some of it. As I reached the point where I had left the path on the way up to head for Ben Starav, I passed some people swimming in some of the deeper pools. I was tempted to jump in myself but settled for continuing my tradition of filling up my water bottle as I leave a hill. One part of the stream looked like a natural flume and I wished I had brought a rubber ring to slide along it
I was surprised by how long it had taken me to get round and I put the foot down heading back to the car and it was a wonderful sight to see it sitting there. The rain made a brief appearance and I enjoyed it bouncing down whilst I watched a stag in a nearby field. After a quick change of clothes I was off down the road, halted only by another of the locals saying cheerio. A very enjoyable day out but also very hard going and a sign that stuffing my face for a couple of weeks won't help me get fitter
A bigger size of all my pictures can be found here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25762426@N05/sets/72157630590667460/with/7576820092/