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The whole Nevis Range + Grey Corries

The whole Nevis Range + Grey Corries


Postby Dommie » Mon Sep 01, 2014 12:15 pm

Munros included on this walk: Aonach Beag (Nevis Range), Aonach Mòr, Ben Nevis, Càrn Mòr Dearg, Sgùrr Chòinnich Mòr, Stob Bàn (Grey Corries), Stob Choire Claurigh, Stob Coire an Laoigh

Date walked: 22/06/2013

Time taken: 19.5 hours

Distance: 34.3 km

Ascent: 3300m

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First of all, the date of walk was chosen in order to have maximum daylight. The walk starts from the upper car park and it's a good idea to spend the previous night there in the Summer, otherwise parking place may be difficult to find. We started the walk at 6am.
From the car park turn North and start climbing up. The way up is very steep and tiring and obviously not a tourist path, however there is no special difficulty. Ben Nevis, the first Munro of the day was approached from the East, in continuous rain, of course and reached by 9am. After having faced the terrible mess up there (plastic bottles, etc. that must have fallen off an even higher mountain as I don't assume some people have lower IQ than their pet), decided not to spend more than 1 minute.
Climbing the next 3 Munros on the East are very straightforward and almost easy. The descent from Aonach Beag (4th) towards the saddle under Sgurr Choinnich Mor (5th) was difficult though. Although late June the face of the hill was icy and some mist (or fog?) made the descent even more slow. Once down, the sun come out for about 30 mins that provided a perfect lunch brake at 15ish.
Another saddle further up supported a place for having dessert. The range can easily be climbed through up to Stob Choire Claurigh (7th), which was reached about 7pm. Up there the weather became very bad and visibility decreased from 5 meters to zero.
Down in the saddle on the way to Stob Ban (8th) we stopped for a minute to remember my lost tent that was blown away in February there.
The last Munro was reached soon and it was the point where we had to have a rest.
Soon after we started the descend to SW toward Glen Nevis. The river was crossed at about the elevation of 400 m, making a significant short cut but maybe a bit wetter boots :) in comparison to a ford that crosses the river further South. After crossing the river we kept the SW direction until the footpath was reached on the Northern side of Water of Nevis. Following the footpath, the Waterfall and the car park can easily be reached. We lost the way close to the Waterfall and ended up at the South side of the river but thanks for the rope bridge this mistake was easy to correct. We reached the car par by about 2am. Night was spent in the car. Next morning an extremely big breakfast was waiting for us in Fort William...
In summary I am sure the walk is beautiful but very little part was actually enjoyable because of the non-stop rain and wind/cold.
Time wise the 20 hours seems a bit long, I agree but we did not hurry at all!
Good luck!
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Nevis Range + Grey Corries.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

Last edited by Dommie on Tue May 26, 2015 3:45 pm, edited 4 times in total.
Dommie
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Posts: 26
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Joined: Jan 14, 2010
Location: Glasgow

Re: The whole Nevis Range + Grey Corries

Postby Alteknacker » Tue Sep 02, 2014 12:08 pm

This is a great looking route that I've had my eye on for a while. You confirmed my deep prejudice against bad weather, though, so timing is everything!

From the map it looks like it ought to be more than the 3300m you quote, and there are certainly a few decent descents (followed by the ascents of course).

Just out of interest, do you not take photies? I never used to, on the basis that the experience is what matters; but I find that the experience fades a bit, and it's very motivating on miserable autumnal days to look over pics of great walks! Or in this case, perhaps you decided that 20+ pictures of clag and anorak-clad folks would be less than entirely gripping....???

20 hours is a good long time - well done! I bet your breakfast tasted REALLY good!
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Re: The whole Nevis Range + Grey Corries

Postby Dommie » Tue Sep 02, 2014 12:41 pm

Alteknacker wrote:This is a great looking route that I've had my eye on for a while. You confirmed my deep prejudice against bad weather, though, so timing is everything!

From the map it looks like it ought to be more than the 3300m you quote, and there are certainly a few decent descents (followed by the ascents of course).

Just out of interest, do you not take photies? I never used to, on the basis that the experience is what matters; but I find that the experience fades a bit, and it's very motivating on miserable autumnal days to look over pics of great walks! Or in this case, perhaps you decided that 20+ pictures of clag and anorak-clad folks would be less than entirely gripping....???

20 hours is a good long time - well done! I bet your breakfast tasted REALLY good!



You are right, the 3300 m is probably an underestimation but this is what the measurement was here when I made the map. I measured ~3500 on Google Earth though.
I usually take a picture or two of each walk. I am sure I have them somewhere but will take some time to dig them out.
Dommie
Walker
 
Posts: 26
Munros:282   Corbetts:28
Fionas:3   Donalds:6
Joined: Jan 14, 2010
Location: Glasgow

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