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Ring of Steall

Ring of Steall


Postby alanmurray » Tue Nov 09, 2010 12:50 am

Route description: The Ring of Steall, Mamores

Munros included on this walk: Am Bodach, An Gearanach, Sgùrr a' Mhàim, Stob Coire a' Chàirn

Date walked: 06/11/2010

Time taken: 8.5 hours

Distance: 16 km

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Eventually left Perth at 5:45am on Saturday, arrived at Glen Nevis at 8am.
Weather clear, very little wind and potentially some blue skies.

First obstacle for me was the cable bridge - not keen but wanted to stay dry.

Cable bridge.JPG


Couldn't get across the rocks at Steall Falls, had to take socks and boots off - icy cold water ensured I was fully awake.
Steall Falls.JPG


Half way up An Gearanach, looking towards Ben Nevis (in the clouds)
Near summit of An Gearanach.JPG


Just left summit of An Gearanach, and walking along knife edge ridge to An Garbhanach - great ridge walk - very scary for me as exposure not my thing!
Ridge towards An Garbhanach.JPG


Summit of 2nd Munro - Stob Coire a' Chairn - great crisp views
Summit Stob Coire a' Chairn.JPG


On route to Am Bodach - impressive towering mound of rock in front of us (me & Jelly)
On way to Am Bodach.JPG


Summit of Am Bodach - very cold - fantastic views in all directions - looking towards Blackwater Res.
AB to BW res.JPG


Another picture from summit of third Munro - looking towards Stob Ban
AM to Stob Ban.JPG


Stob Ban looking magnificent
Stob Ban - another day.JPG


Walking along the ridge towards the forth Munro.
I thought this Devil's Ridge is not too bad - but the first section of the ridge is ok, a little airy.
Jelly was about 30m ahead of me and stopped, turned around to me and said "you're not going to like this"
Tried not to look down - just concentrated on walking through the pain.
P1050405.JPG


Looking back the Devil's Ridge was not too bad - very exposed and airy for me, only one bit I couldn't get over the ridge top - a wee path bypassing it to the left was ok, a little scramble up - (from the other direction climbing down onto a little ledge might have been too scary for me to do - going up easier for me)
Devil.JPG


Long slog up to fourth Munro - hard climb especially after the other 3 munros - at summit of Sgorr a Mhaim mist came in so nothing to see.
Descent long and tiring - seemed to take an age to get to the base of the mountain.
Although great views down the Glen helped the descent
Descent from Sgorr a Mhaim.JPG


All in all a great day - Steall Falls, a rope bridge adventure, another river crossing, 4 munros, two great ridges, Stob Ban (next on my list), top of the Ben in and out of sight, ptarmigans galore, and a pint in Fort William - what more could you ask for.
In my kip and and sound asleep by 10pm on a saturday night.
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alanmurray
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Re: Ring of Steall

Postby mountain coward » Tue Nov 09, 2010 1:31 am

You did really well there to say you don't like exposure... I couldn't even get to An Garbhanach from An Gearanach - had to stop at the standing-on-end slabs near the far end! Richard went along the silly little side path to the summit and back but I was glad I didn't when I saw what it was like! Great photos!
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Re: Ring of Steall

Postby monty » Tue Nov 09, 2010 12:32 pm

Nice report Alan. The weather was ok and you got some great pictures. It looks like a nice round so I need to get up there sometime. :D
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Re: Ring of Steall

Postby Alastair S » Tue Nov 09, 2010 1:56 pm

Yes, very good report & photos there Alan. Really like the ridge photos & the very atmospheric one of Stob Ban.
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Re: Ring of Steall

Postby The Summiteer » Tue Nov 09, 2010 3:10 pm

Great report Alan, nice pics too! This is one of my favourite walks, it has so much variety mixed with amazing views on a clear day. Like yourself, I was a bit wary at times, but can't wait to do it all over again now next year.

Well done! :)
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Re: Ring of Steall

Postby Jockstar » Tue Nov 09, 2010 4:38 pm

wow !! That's some day out you guys had! Great photo's that captured the experience. Glad I'm sitting down as I swayed a couple of times when I saw the photos :lol: Note sure about doing the bridge, but I'm hoping that it was easier than it looks. Well done :D
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Re: Ring of Steall

Postby skuk007 » Tue Nov 09, 2010 10:39 pm

Really like those pics Alan, nice clear views all round too. Will come in real handy for planning this one. :)
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Re: Ring of Steall

Postby alanmurray » Tue Nov 09, 2010 11:52 pm

Thanks guys.
Great walk, and a tough one - three tough ascents.
The bridge wasn't as hard as I made it look - it took me about 10 mins.
Jelly skipped across it in about 2 minutes.
I think I am getting more used to the airy sections - still scares me witless and have to really take my time and be coached over the tricky sections - couldn't do it on my own - cheers Jelly.
One of the best walks to date - the great weather helped.
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Re: Ring of Steall

Postby mountain coward » Wed Nov 10, 2010 3:30 am

Jockstar wrote:wow !! That's some day out you guys had! Great photo's that captured the experience. Glad I'm sitting down as I swayed a couple of times when I saw the photos :lol: Note sure about doing the bridge, but I'm hoping that it was easier than it looks. Well done :D


The bridge is easy and fun :D Also, if you fall off it, you just get wet - nothing to worry about there... but I've found there's a definite technique to crossing it if you don't want it to swing wildly in all directions (sometimes I do :D )... If you slide your hands along the top cables and each step you take, press firmly downwards, you don't swing about at all and the bottom rope just goes up and down a bit. But getting all the cables going in different directions is great fun :D
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Re: Ring of Steall

Postby Merry-walker » Wed Nov 10, 2010 9:00 am

What a fantastic report!!

shame I had to work Alan, I would really have enjoyed this walk (although I fear I may have held you up) :shock:

that cable bridge looks just plain fun!!
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