Sgurr Choinnich Mor from Glen Nevis

[Alastair S]

20110924.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

Another Granite City Hillwalkers meet so another weekend of poor weather forecasts....

This time we were staying in MCOFS's Alex MacIntyre Memorial Hut at North Ballachulish. The forecast was dire for both days of the weekend, but with the Saturday slightly better. There weren't that many of us so I fitted in with other's plans; which was to do the most western of the Grey Corries that some of the others hadn't quite completed the last time they were here. So Sgurr Choinnich Mor from Glen Nevis. The idea being that we would be down in the glen and out of the gales for most of the time. If the weather had been decent it would probably have been the two Aonachs. As I'd had a weeks illness a couple of weeks earlier I was fairly glad we weren't tackling these big boys.



An Steall

Anyway Saturday dawned not too bad. No rain, a gentle breeze & a cloud base around the 2,000ft mark. A pleasant walk through Glen Nevis with the Steall waterfall looking particularly impressive. We followed a path all the way to the 650m contour. It was pretty boggy going with a couple of the minor streams needing care to cross. But the rain hadn't come (yet), the intermediate top of Sgurr Choinnich Beag was cloud free and there were still only the faintest of breezes. Around the 650m mark the path looked like it was going round the peak so we started heading straight up from here. About 10 minutes before I got to the Beag peak the rain finally caught up with us. It then stayed with us for the next hour and was fairly heavy at times. I got the odd glimpse of a view from the Beag including one of the main goal for the day.

Half an hour later and we topped Sgurr Choinnich Mor with further tantalizing views. It has to be said that the approach isn't the most inspiring but once you're up there the north aspect of this mountain is much more appealing (than the southern one we took). However this southern approach is pretty easy going (if boggy) and never gets very steep. And the predicted 60-70 mph gales? Well I had my pocket anemometer with me and on the top at it was 10-15 mph with a peak gust of 21. Back of the class MWIS!

Then it was back to the bealach and take a bearing to get back to the path around the 600m mark. The rain eased off and it was an easy walk back.




Glen Nevis - Looking west with the base of Sgurr a' Mhaim to the left (south)




Binnein Beag Over Glen Nevis




Sgurr a' Bhuic (left) & Stob Coire Bhealaich (right). Both being preambles to the Aonach Beag / Aonach Mor pair.




Here Comes The Rain Again - View south from the slopes of Sgurr Choinnich Mor. And yes, we did catch this rather persistent & heavy shower.




Sgurr Chonnich Beag - View (of sorts) NW





Sgurr Chonnich Mor (Summit View East)




Sgurr Chonnich Beag From Bealach




Let There Be Light (But Only On Glen Nevis)




A Crocked Tree - Soon to topple into the Allt Coire a' Bhuic. Binnein Mor is the pointy peak to the left.


This report has been a bit of a rush - hence all the Flickr links rather than the more subtle approach I normally like to take and I haven't had time to sort out the wonky gpx file (it has us well off piste for the first 3km). The reason being we are off on big safari holiday tomorrow (well, in about 4 hours time now!) so things have been a bit of a rush. So apologies in advance if I can't replay to any questions you folk may have.

I'll see you all at the end of the month

[Yipyipcoyote]

Great report and super clear photos again. I have still to do this one. Looks like quite a long walk for only one Munro.

[rockhopper]

Some nice moody shots despite the weather Mr S. Not been here yet but hoping to next year - certainly is a long way for one

[ChrisW]

Great stuff Alastair, love the crooked tree shot....can't decide if it was a good thing or a bad thing that the wind was not as predicted you would have missed these pics if you had gone elsewhere

[Johnny Corbett]

It is a long walk for one but looks an interesting route all the same.

[Alastair S]

I'll see you all at the end of the month

Or maybe the beginning of the next....

Did a hill yesterday (Sgor Gaoith), my first for a good few weeks and came to check my diary to see just when I did my last. And found I'd forgotten about this report. So thanks for the comments guys.

Had a good day yesterday but it might be some time before I get round to reporting on it as I have literately 1,000 of photos to process after our safari holiday (the first few are now on my Flickr page).