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It had been a few weeks since my last outing which was Ben Lui and it's smaller neighbour and this was down to being glued to The Ryder Cup coverage and spending most of last Saturday in Tennents on Byres Road
All week I had told myself I was going to get out and with the forecast for Sunday looking good then all that was left was the easy task of choosing where to go
I had done the Ring of Steall at the end of May in scorching weather and The Mammores immediately rose to prominence as my favourite area to walk in (so far anyway). I had seen many good reports of Stob Ban and Mullach Nan Coirean and I quite fancied those two but when I looked further East along The Mammores range, Binnein Mor & Na Gruagaichean stood out so the decision was made.
I've done many Munro's alone but my friend Mick (who I had climbed the Ring of Steall with) was keen to come along so off we went from my house at 7am. A straightforward drive up saw us parked and ready to go at 9am and we began the task of finding the correct path through the trees. As we climbed up the open hillside on a path which looked as if it wasn't used too often, we checked the map and found we had somehow missed the path suggested on here but were at least heading in the right direction
This also gave us a chance to admire the view behind us back down Loch Leven.
The path we were on hugged the edge of the gully and we both joked that obviously people had walked this way and hoped to find a way over to the main path which we could now see
I had looked at the map and saw where the gully flattened out to give us an easy way across and we found it without any problems. Now we were motoring along on the main path and could see where the path made it's way up the slopes of Sgurr Eilde Beag.
I filled up my water bottle at a stream and we once again admired the view back down towards Loch Leven. This was the first point of the day where we could hear a stag roaring although we couldn't see it in amongst the brown heather.
The path round the bottom of Sgurr Eilde Mor climbs at a steady rate and the views over the Blackwater reservoir and beyond were spectacular. We obviously were enjoying the view's too much as we missed the point where the stalkers path starts and carried on upwards on the normal path
Our mistake was realised and we cut across 50ft of heather to reach the path we wanted to take. It zig zagged up the hill and within what felt like no time at all, we were on top of Sgurr Eilde Beag and could see both our intended targets for the day as well as a large part of the Glencoe range.
I had thought about adding on Sgurr Eilde Mor and Binnein Beag but after surveying them from here, I'm glad I didn't go for it as it will give me another chance to visit this fine area. Again, we made good time up to the 1062 point which lies South of the Binnein Mor summit and as we came up the hill and over the top, we were greeted with an absolutely fantastic view.
The Western Mammores, Ben Nevis and Aonach Beag lay in front of us and we both found it hard to believe the wonderful landscape that we surveyed. It was nothing short of phenomenal and although we could have stood there all day, the summit of Binnein Mor was close by now and we quickly arrived on the top. Food was greedily devoured (including a bottomless packet of crisps I bought from Asda
) and we sat there admiring the view whilst listening to the stags in the glen below roaring at one another. Sgurr Eilde Mor lay far below us but beyond it we could see a band of rain moving slowly in our direction so it was time to move on.
The top of Na Gruagaichean was reached quickly and a cold wind was awaiting us so the stop here was brief but long enough to take a few pictures. This was our last Munro of the day and number 54 for myself so it was a good feeling to be standing here surveying what was an ever diminishing view.
Down we went towards Kinlochleven and this was the only part of the day that I didn't enjoy. The grassy slopes were damp and a bit slippy plus boulders lay everywhere and stopped us getting any speed going. It felt never ending and no matter how much we descended, Kinlochleven didn't seem to be getting any closer. We had abandoned following the route suggested on here and just went straight down the side of the hill in the direction of a path we could see. Then, as if by magic, I lifted my head and witnessed possibly the most amazing landscape I have ever seen.
Everything seemed to have conspired to create the perfect view with the sun shining through the clouds on one side, clear blue skies on the other and the hillsides lighting up under the afternoon sun. I feel privileged to have been able to gaze upon this scene and I snapped out of the trance long enough to get my camera out. I tried very hard but I couldn't completely replicate the colours and I would be amazed if anyone could capture it with a camera.
I really had my spirits lifted by this and the walk back to the car became much more enjoyable. Mick had to be back to play 7's so we moved at speed and reached the car just before half three which meant we had been round the two in 6 and a half hours. A highly enjoyable day and I can't wait to get back up there.