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A hard day up Bidean Nam Bian and Stob Coire Sgreamhach

A hard day up Bidean Nam Bian and Stob Coire Sgreamhach


Postby davetherave » Sun Jun 13, 2010 8:06 pm

Munros included on this walk: Bidean nam Bian, Stob Coire Sgreamhach

Date walked: 12/06/2010

Time taken: 8 hours

Distance: 12 km

Ascent: 1390m

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Date. Saturday 12th June 2010
Completed by. Dave, Julie and Wilson
Weather. Clear with mainly blue skies
Time. 8 hrs
Distance. 12 km
Ascent. 1390 m
Hills. Munro’s x 2
Corbett’s x 0


our route.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts



Bidean Nam Bian and Stob Corie Sgreamgach

Starting from.

Car park, at the Pass of Glen Coe.

We camped over night just down from the car park at the pass of Glen Coe, and after a very restless night due to a bad pitch and the dog playing up we were up and gone by just after 7.15 am.

Basically we stuck with the Walkhighlands route, but instead of dropping down into the hidden valley after our 2nd Munro we decided to head along the ridge of Beinn Fhada, then drop into the hidden Valley just prior to the 811m spot height.

Pretty good path all the way up Coire Nan Lochan, (getting repaired in bits ) but we seemed to lose it around the 3 small lochans shown on the OS map. The path was soon found again as we emerged on to the NE ridge of Stob Coire Nan Lochan. From here the path gains height fairly rapidly, and it was not to long before the summit of Stob Coire Nan Lochan is reached. Nice views to be had from here over to Ballachulish and beyond. From here we drop off the Stob approx 150 m before climbing again on to Bidean Nam Bian.

path in progress.JPG

Glen Coe village and Ballachulish.JPG

heading for stob Coire nan lochan.JPG

steep gully near stob Cire nan lochan.JPG


We fully intended to nip over and catch the Corbett Beinn Maol Chaluim, but the mist had come down thick and fast as we descended the stob, and was still pretty persistent as we dropped off Bidean Nam Bia. By the time the Bealach at Stob Coire Sgreamgach was reached it had lifted leaving fine view all round. “””typical”””

Beinn Maol Chaluim.JPG

Back to Bidean Nam Bian (1).JPG

Stob Coire Sgreamgach.JPG


Stob Coire Sgreamgach was soon reached leaving us fine views back over our days walk, the ridge along Beinn Fhada looked lumpy and bumpy, certainly looked more interesting than going down into the hidden valley.

Bidean Nam Bian and stob Coire Nan Lochan.JPG

hidden Valley (1).JPG

Beinn Fhada Ridge.JPG

Beinn Fhada Ridge (2).JPG


We stuck to the ridge and we were glad we did. It is pretty steep near the top of Stob Coire Sgreamhach a bit hands on at times, but nothing to Technical. There was another steep bit about 100m vertical down from the summit, again hands on at times ( wee bit more care was needed at this section ) the ridge from here on was a nice walk all the way to the 811m point.

Drop off Sgheamgach (1).JPG
higher steep part

Drop off Sgheamhach.JPG
lower steep part



This was where we planned to descend into the lost valley…..
This was also where the fun started……

We worked our way down about 100m/ 150m or so with not to much probs; the dog did need help on some bits but was ok thus far.
We then slid down a short steep grass gully 30m long. Encountering some steep crags at the end of the gully about 15m drop, we could either carry on or double back, we decide to carry on. I got half way down and decide to drop the rucksack as it was really hampering my safety.

start off the steep grass gully.JPG


Julie above was making good progress, the main problem was the dog he was not having it, there was no way he was coming down. Thankfully we both get down safe, but the dog he is still high above barking like a dafftie and getting all stressed. Far below you could see people walking along the floor of the hidden valley, several groups stopped and were looking up probably wondering WTF is going on up there !

I get ordered to get back up and get the dog.. After a nerve racking climb, and white Knuckle vegetation gripping, im back up and looking for an alternative route down. The dog and I drop into a gully and scramble our way down, the gully soon narrows, steepens and the dog starts stressing again.

The dog bolts it ( I presume he is trying to find his mum ) leaving me to climb back up and try and find him. I eventually catch up with him and have to resort to taking the cord from my jacket for a lead, there is no way im chasing him around the hill again.

Mean while Julie has her own problems, She also ascends via gully. She later tells me when I catch up with her about 200m from the valley floor that the gully was steep, narrow and then narrowed off more. This was where she was going to leave the gully, as the ground was better for walking or scrambling.

She was carrying both packs and was finding it difficult in the gully. She tells me she launched the packs on to a ledge and pulled her self up trying to get out of the gully and accidentally kicked the bags into the gully travelling a fair distance in the process. Back in she has to go, down the gully even further to retrieve the bags then back up to her point of exit.

Back to me, well the dog and I are making steady progress down slightly better terrain, and after approx 1hr 15 mins we are all united again. Injury free we head down to the valley floor making for the nice walk through the forest, finally reaching the car park after 8hrs.

The gorge from the woods.JPG

At long bloody last.JPG


Lessons learned…..

Know your dog’s limitations.

Ban the wife from Scrambling through steep gully’s ( due to expensive manicure bills )..
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Re: A hard day up Bidean Nam Bian and Stob Coire Sgreamhach

Postby monty » Sun Jun 13, 2010 8:19 pm

Great report Dave,
Nice picture of the hidden valley. Sounds like a dangerous descent was had by all into the lost valley. Glad to hear you all made it ok. Time to reflect I think. Maybe some trips aren't suitable for Wilson after all. :D
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Re: A hard day up Bidean Nam Bian and Stob Coire Sgreamhach

Postby malky_c » Sun Jun 13, 2010 9:02 pm

Hmm, makes for interesting reading. Realise I may be partly to blame here as I'm guessing you took this route based on my recommendations in the other thread. I did mention it was steep, but I possibly didn't appreciate the difficulties of route finding in descent, as I went up this way. Glad you got down OK though!
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Re: A hard day up Bidean Nam Bian and Stob Coire Sgreamhach

Postby kevsbald » Sun Jun 13, 2010 9:10 pm

As the dog would say 'wooowaarroowwwoofgrrraaaoooewwaaarrr'.
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Re: A hard day up Bidean Nam Bian and Stob Coire Sgreamhach

Postby davetherave » Mon Jun 14, 2010 2:07 pm

monty wrote:Time to reflect I think. Maybe some trips aren't suitable for Wilson after all.


This was a bit of an eye opener, thankfully there were no injury's.. or worse.. :shock:

Regarding the dog, it is good now to know his limits ! :o :)

monty wrote:Realise I may be partly to blame here as I'm guessing you took this route based on my recommendations in the other thread.


can only blame ourselves for our own mistakes. You are right in what you say though, it certainly seemed harder trying to find a safe route coming down the hill.

As Monty's say's.......Time to reflect I think. :D
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Re: A hard day up Bidean Nam Bian and Stob Coire Sgreamhach

Postby monty » Mon Jun 14, 2010 3:01 pm

Never the less Dave, Good report and some great pictures. :D
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Re: A hard day up Bidean Nam Bian and Stob Coire Sgreamhach

Postby skuk007 » Mon Jun 14, 2010 3:41 pm

Good report, but felt for you near the end there. I did this recently and like yourself I made my own way down to the Lost Valley. I went down the steep slopes not too far from the top of Stob Coire Sgreamgach not wanting to tackle the crags further along the ridge.

Your report makes me feel I was right as your route down seems a bit scary, but then I didn't have a stressed dog to worry about.

Nice pictures too. :)
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Re: A hard day up Bidean Nam Bian and Stob Coire Sgreamhach

Postby fedupofuserids » Mon Jun 14, 2010 8:12 pm

Glad you all made it down unscathed, looks like it turned into a bit of an epic.

My mutt is a also a liabilty on the fells, but I wouldn't be without him, someone's got to navigate :lol:
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Re: A hard day up Bidean Nam Bian and Stob Coire Sgreamhach

Postby steven671 » Fri May 27, 2011 8:49 pm

dave ,julie and wilson,on reading your great report i would like to do this,i also take my dog along,would you say that you would have been better going the other way round due to taking the dog with me,(black lab)?
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Re: A hard day up Bidean Nam Bian and Stob Coire Sgreamhach

Postby davetherave » Sat May 28, 2011 12:41 pm

Steven,

if i were to do this route again, i think i would probably start at the Lairig Eilde glen. You could gain the ridge to the 811m spot height on Beinn Fhada from that side fairly comfortably.

Only problem with that is the walk back to the car via the main road. If i recall correctly there was no roadside paths. Could be fairly dangerous especially if you have the dog.

So to answer your question yes reverse would be better. you could route route find better heading up to the 811m spot height, it would also be better climbing up the more difficult parts of the Fhada ridge rather than climbing down.

Hope this helps Dave.
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Re: A hard day up Bidean Nam Bian and Stob Coire Sgreamhach

Postby jwramsay » Sat May 28, 2011 9:11 pm

I looked at your route map and thought "hmm that looks interesting".

Glad you all made it down OK.

That Red Scree at the top of the Hidden Valley doesn't seem too bad after all!
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Re: A hard day up Bidean Nam Bian and Stob Coire Sgreamhach

Postby SCOTRAIL DRIVER » Sun May 29, 2011 1:31 am

hi dave...
how are you mate all good i hope...
me and RAB were up the tramachan ridge to day turned back the snow wind and hailstone's
just a bit to much ....
hope to see you out and about......l8rs :D :D
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Re: A hard day up Bidean Nam Bian and Stob Coire Sgreamhach

Postby blanchie » Sun May 29, 2011 6:51 pm

Not that this is of much use now, maybe in the future, but I have spied a route off the Bheinn Fhada ridge on the north east side which looks ok. Involves a bit more of a walk back.
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Re: A hard day up Bidean Nam Bian and Stob Coire Sgreamhach

Postby steven671 » Mon Jun 06, 2011 7:52 pm

davetherave wrote:Steven,

if i were to do this route again, i think i would probably start at the Lairig Eilde glen. You could gain the ridge to the 811m spot height on Beinn Fhada from that side fairly comfortably.

Only problem with that is the walk back to the car via the main road. If i recall correctly there was no roadside paths. Could be fairly dangerous especially if you have the dog.

So to answer your question yes reverse would be better. you could route route find better heading up to the 811m spot height, it would also be better climbing up the more difficult parts of the Fhada ridge rather than climbing down.

Hope this helps Dave.

hi,yes thank`s it does,hope to camp up there somewhere and do the buachaille`s at the same time then cross the road and do the aonach eagach then down glen etive for ben starav ridge walk...i messaged you on another walk report of yours regarding wilsons back pack,can i ask if it fits ok and what make and size is it,i seem to be reading bad reports about them,and one last thing,is there enough places for refilling the water bottles? thank`s steven
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Re: A hard day up Bidean Nam Bian and Stob Coire Sgreamhach

Postby Jock McJock » Tue Jun 07, 2011 5:26 am

Nice report :D Planning on doing this route and breaking it up with a wee camp up at the wee lochans at Coire nan Lochan. I want to try and get the lower tops around there too, so will camp the first day and run around the low stuff and get the big ones the next day. The descent off the ridge looks quite steep but its def the way I want to come down. Thanks for posting the report and the pics, been very helpful for my plans :D
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