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I go up Ben Nevis once a year and on this day I was planning to go via the CMD. The weather forecast was good apart from gusts up to 50 MPH
. So a last minute change of plan was to ascend via the southwest munro top Carn Dearg.
This photo taken from the Steall meadows a few years back shows the approx. route up via the waterslide and then west to the top of Carn Dearg and on to the Ben.
The carpark at the end of the road in Glen Nevis is at an elevation of around 150 metres. I walked back from the car and picked the first bit of undergrowth at the side of the road that looked as if someone had been through before. I found a half decent route through the trees and ferns until I was soon on the open hill on the right hand side of the waterslide. Its a steep climb on a rough path all the way up to the corrie. The water is very dangerous to cross on the steep slope and shouldn't be attempted until on the flat ground at the top.
This is where I crossed the Allt Coire Eoghainn and it was still really slippy but no real danger on the flat ground
Zoomed to Steall Falls
The next stage up to Carn Dearg east ridge was the steepest part of the day and from high up it felt like I was perched above the car park.
Zoom to the start point from about 900metres
From here it was a easy walk along the ridge to the cairn on Carn Dearg at 1020 metres
I went down to the Col between the Ben and Carn Dearg and you lose very little height. There was thick cloud from this point onwards, I never bothered getting map or compass out as I knew a straight line would take me up the steep scree and boulder slope and I would hit the pony track eventually which I did at around 1250metres. After being on what felt like a very remote mountain it was weird to enter through the mist into a Zombie like world of figures wandering up and down
. I went up to the top then back down to the point I had joined the path took a bearing to avoid five finger gully and back down the same way. I was surprised to see 2 people while heading down and thought they had got lost on the descent of the pony track I was going to ask if they wanted to come down with me and I would give then a lift back to the visitor centre. but it turned out they were munro top baggers and had decided to do Carn Dearg via the pony track which involves a big descent and reascent back to the path. On my own again and all the cloud cover had now gone
Carn Dearg east ridge
View to the Steall meadows
Back down alongside the waterslide
I had now ran out of water and the pools in the slide looked really clear, cold and tempting but a recent discussion about all the unsavoury stuff lying on the mountain far above put me off
I was soon back in the trees and tall ferns a short distance from the car in bright sunlight and this is where I made my only navigational error of the day. I got wrapped up in ferns, thorn bushes, trees etc. and walked into 6 foot high boulders before bursting out of the bushes into the middle of the car park like a lunatic with people looking at me in astonishment
I felt the gaze of the folk at the ice cream van as I made for the car removing the foliage from myself as I went.
A good day though on a rarely visited part of Ben Nevis and even though you start 150m above sea level the steepness made it hard especially on the way down.
I would recommend this route but careful navigation is required in poor weather, in good weather the views are outstanding throughout