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Fearful of the WH meet jinx on the weather, I managed to get to Roy Bridge early with the aim of getting at least one good trip done in reasonable conditions: it wasn’t a disappointment.
Clouds flirting with the Aonachs and Grey Corries in the early morning heralded the prospect of a good day; traversing the four Munros from Stob Ban along to Sgurr Choinnich Mor was the target.
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- Aonachs from Glen Spean
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- Grey Corries from Coire Choille
The only shadow on the day was my mistake parking the car way back at Cour Bridge before even getting to Coire Choille – I just didn’t realise how much further along the track it was possible to drive past the farm and on up the trail to Lairig Leacach. As a result, a good hour or so was added to the length of the day, which was tolerable on the way out but frustratingly tiring on the way back.
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- The Wee Minister checks the car parking below
Once past the Wee Minister who overlooks those progressing up the glen, the path up the Lairig is a pleasant stroll for a couple of hours. The route is dry and the gradient is undemanding so both height and distance are gained with the minimum of effort. Even the small descent after the watershed isn’t dispiriting as you descend towards the bothy from where the Stob Ban route departs. The slopes on either side close in and the intriguing crags of Sgurr Innse to the east loom above and get added to the list of future targets. Finally, just before the bothy is reached, Stob Ban pops its head over the skyline, and at last the first target for the day is in sight.
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- Lairig Leacach bothy and Stob Ban
The bothy marks the end of easy walking for a few hours, until the ridge itself is reached. Rather than crossing the Alt a Chuil Choirean and making for the ridge line, I followed the track up its northern banks and dodged the boggiest of stretches as it passed the waterfalls and ravines. Leaving the sac at the bealach above Coire Claurigh meant I wouldn’t have to carry it, and 2kg of water up the final steep slopes.
Grassy terraces crossing the slabs that sit below the bealach provide possible routes up the next stage of the route, but I opted for a scramble up the ravine to the left. As the sides narrowed, just before its final upper wall, a steep grassy slope provides an exit and the bealach is reached after another few minutes scrambling across some of the sheets of scree. The reward is the first glimpse of the ridge ahead and views back to the north east where Sgurr Innse sits proudly in the foreground. The price is the steep 500 feet that separates you from the summit.
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- Slabs in Coire Claurigh below Stob Ban
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- Sgurr Innse from bealach below Stob Ban
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- First glimpse of Grey Corries ridge from bealach below Stob Ban
A steady plod later and, just over three hours from the car, the view makes it all worthwhile, with brilliant white sun and weather bleached stones surrounding the cairn and the chance to bask for twenty minutes in the reflection they radiate. It would have been all too easy to stay for ages: but the ridge beckons. As you begin the descent back to the bealach, the wide shoulder up to Stob Choire Claurigh stretches out ahead – another steady grind before the main part of the ridge is gained.
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- Summit of Stob Ban
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- Aonachs and Ben Nevis from Stob Choire Claurigh
Once on the ridge, the path snakes from one point to the next, at some places perched above the crags to one side or another, while along other stretches it sweeps up and down intermittent grassy gradients or fields of scree that are never steep: almost always airy, but never precarious.
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- Ridge ahead from Claurigh
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- Cliffs below Stob Coire an Laoigh
However, once past Stob Coire an Laoigh and Easain you’re lured into a false sense of security and ease. The descent from Stob Coire Easain can be quite a scramble and then the clamber up to the final Munro of the day, Sgurr Choinnich Mor is a short sharp shock, in stark contrast to the pleasant sweeping slopes of the first part of the ridge. Equally contrasting is the nature of the summit: soft grass upon which to sit and rest, rather than sharp edged quartzite and the bed of nails that work against relaxation.
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- Final slopes of Sgurr Choinnich Mor
Two and a half hours from Claurigh to Choinnich Mor, now the descent – but preferably not a re-ascent of Easain. To avoid this I contoured round from the Bealach Coire Easain to reach Beinn na Sociach. It proved to be a delicate teeter across some of the scree and boulders below the north west upper slopes that took an hour from Choinnich Mor to Sociach. A worthwhile detour? The jury’s still out.
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- Ridge looking back from Beinn na Socaich
The descent down the final ridge to the north opened out gradually but got steeper and boggier as the path dropped closer to the Alt Choimhlidh and the dam in the valley. The views behind kept on attracting over-the shoulder glances, that invariably meant I missed another slippy boggy bit and narrowly avoided the inevitable wet bum. As my water had run out on the last summit (you never know how much is left in that big plastic bag) a drink at the dam was appreciated.
The final part of the day enters the forest, and the recommended alternative route that avoids the old tramway was followed. I tried the other and after just a few yards it was clearly going to be a challenging boggy thrash. One part of the tramway itself looks like a relic of the wildwest and a goldrush line through the Rockies. After an age the path emerges from the forest a couple of hundred metres from the point where cars can be left on the track above the farm at Coire Choille – rubbing salt into the wound of my error at the beginning of the day.
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- Wild West scene set?
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- A look back at the end of the day
After ten hours on the go I finally got back to the car with a self-satisfied sense of achievement at a great day out, and up for the challenge that the rest of the weekend might bring.
