The Black Mount Duo
Route: Stob Ghabhar and Stob a'Choire Odhair
Munros: Stob a' Choire Odhair, Stob Ghabhar
Date walked: 26/03/2023
Time taken: 7.5 hours
Distance: 18.17km
Ascent: 1255m
The Black Mount Duo
The two annual weekends where the clocks change appear to have become quite a popular fixture in my hill walking calendar over the years. Often waking up to the new time zone in a tent at the top of a hill. This “spring forward” Andrew and I opted for the easiest of options, which in hindsight can only be described as heavily regrettable.
We arrived at Victoria Bridge on the Saturday early evening with the master plan of camping low near the cars to get the most possible sleep before heading up Stob a’ Choire Odhair and Stob Chabhar with light winter day packs.
This was just off the West Highland Way so we always imagined it could be busy. Luckily when we arrived, we found the perfect flat patch, although slightly closer to the car park than normal for us. We got the tents pitched, enjoyed one beer, and got settled in for an early night.
Just as we agreed an alarm time a group showed up decided to pitch 10 metres away from us. They started off pleasant enough before deciding they needed a fire and then proceeded to spend all night effing and jeffing about how cold and miserable it was. The young ones constantly asking to be driven back to civilisation but being told to “man up”. There was contemplation on our part to move location, but we didn’t have large enough backpacks to pack up and head into the hills (or we would), and there was no guarantee we would find anything suitable close by in the pitch black.
After a couple of polite requests, they would shut up for approximately 1 minute before crescendoing back into a drunken babbling mess – there is always one main problem! Well after midnight (+1hr for the clocks!) and without a wink of sleep I less politely told them to shut the f up. This seemed to get the message across but then dread we’d wake up to a flat tyre or a slashed tent became an ominous thought, and the newfound adrenaline stopped any immediate shut eye...
Eventually they discussed heading back to the car and driving off, although no one was in a fit state for that. I’m not entirely sure what they ended up doing, but silence prevailed so that was all that mattered in the moment. A night with zero sleep due to wind buffeting off the side of the tent makes for a good adventure, but this didn’t…
We postponed our start time slightly and were off walking by 7am – no idea if they were still their tents but there was little effort our end to keep our packing up as quiet as we normally would.
Anyway, enough moaning – but lesson learned, if it’s easily accessible, the more likely it is for the less enjoyable side of society to bring an “alternative” experience.
Early morning
The first couple of kilometres were easy going and we had passed the Clashgour Hut in no time before veering off and beginning the route up the glen. There were a few clouds floating about perfectly at summit height that we were keeping an eye on.
Low down the path was quite boggy in parts but before long we gained solid ground and were making quick progress up the south side of Stob a’ Choire Odhair.
Heading in
South side
Looking back
About 50 metres from the summit we entered the cloud and enjoyed absolutely zero views from the summit which are described kindly by Walkhighlands as “superb in all directions”.
Up until now it had been a pleasant temperature but as soon as we were surrounded by the cloud, many layers were quickly required. Make no mistakes, it was winter up here.
Just before we went in
Summit views
Visibility really was awful and there wasn’t any clear and obvious path over the west ridge down to the bealach at 668 metres, so we took and bearing and followed that in a straight line. After circling around the summit cairn for a while, once we took the initial bearing it really didn’t appear to be the right way, funny how quickly you can get disoriented in a cloud.
Being in the cloud is rubbish but popping back out from the cloud to sensational views is something special!
We can see again
Looking back to the summit of Stob a’ Choire Odhair which was now bathing in the sunshine a mere 15 minutes later! Typical.
Stob Ghabhar now looked quite menacing with its thin snow blanket and impressive north face. We stopped briefly at the bealach to sort out our layering and let a couple pass ahead of us before trying to find the path up the loose scree and rock.
The north face
Looking back to Coirein Lochain – far steeper than it looks here
The final section up to the ridge
As Walkhighlands suggest, it was indeed a relief to reach the ridge. It wasn’t too difficult heading up the scree, but it was the worst of condition where crampons would likely have hindered more than helped but the rocks were slippy and unstable. Makes the knees a tad jittery! Started off with poles but they were quickly abandoned for a more hands on approach / safety net.
Once up on the ridge the route looked excellent and nothing too daunting in the now clear conditions. Thankfully the cloud had now completely lifted so there didn’t appear to be any major time pressure to make it to the summit and we could enjoy the views.
Some snaps along the ridge
It was just after noon by the time we reached the second summit of the day and by now the couple that had overtaken us at the bealach were long gone so we had it all to ourselves. There wasn’t any wind, so we took the decision to make the most of this superb viewpoint as our lunch stop.
Not a bad lunch view
After a while we were joined a chap named Jonny who had been just behind us for most of the walk and had some cracking pictures of us heading along the ridge. We agreed to make the way back to the car together. The route down was relatively easy gone, a bit uneven underfoot but very quickly we had left the snow, packed away axes and bathed in the sunshine.
Heading down
Always find it amazing how you can bump into a total stranger at the top of a hill in Scotland which instantly gives you enough mutual interests to make for an interesting and enjoyable chat for the next few hours.
The three of us reached Clashgour hut by 14:15 and made the gentle walk back to the car, which was hopefully still in one piece! Thankfully when we arrived back at the now very busy car park, everything was in order. Except for shock horror…
Leave no trace
My car was sitting waiting at Crianlarich, which for info turns out to offer a few great spots for car sharing – something that is becoming increasingly more and more challenging with all the “no overnight parking” signs springing up across the country. We packed up as much of the rubbish and took to the bins in Crianlarich.
Another tired drive back up to Aberdeen awaited, couldn’t help but feel slightly hard done – but a great couple of hills regardless. Will be back to get to some of the Tops in the future.
Our route
Thanks for reading,
Andy
The two annual weekends where the clocks change appear to have become quite a popular fixture in my hill walking calendar over the years. Often waking up to the new time zone in a tent at the top of a hill. This “spring forward” Andrew and I opted for the easiest of options, which in hindsight can only be described as heavily regrettable.
We arrived at Victoria Bridge on the Saturday early evening with the master plan of camping low near the cars to get the most possible sleep before heading up Stob a’ Choire Odhair and Stob Chabhar with light winter day packs.
This was just off the West Highland Way so we always imagined it could be busy. Luckily when we arrived, we found the perfect flat patch, although slightly closer to the car park than normal for us. We got the tents pitched, enjoyed one beer, and got settled in for an early night.
Just as we agreed an alarm time a group showed up decided to pitch 10 metres away from us. They started off pleasant enough before deciding they needed a fire and then proceeded to spend all night effing and jeffing about how cold and miserable it was. The young ones constantly asking to be driven back to civilisation but being told to “man up”. There was contemplation on our part to move location, but we didn’t have large enough backpacks to pack up and head into the hills (or we would), and there was no guarantee we would find anything suitable close by in the pitch black.
After a couple of polite requests, they would shut up for approximately 1 minute before crescendoing back into a drunken babbling mess – there is always one main problem! Well after midnight (+1hr for the clocks!) and without a wink of sleep I less politely told them to shut the f up. This seemed to get the message across but then dread we’d wake up to a flat tyre or a slashed tent became an ominous thought, and the newfound adrenaline stopped any immediate shut eye...
Eventually they discussed heading back to the car and driving off, although no one was in a fit state for that. I’m not entirely sure what they ended up doing, but silence prevailed so that was all that mattered in the moment. A night with zero sleep due to wind buffeting off the side of the tent makes for a good adventure, but this didn’t…
We postponed our start time slightly and were off walking by 7am – no idea if they were still their tents but there was little effort our end to keep our packing up as quiet as we normally would.
Anyway, enough moaning – but lesson learned, if it’s easily accessible, the more likely it is for the less enjoyable side of society to bring an “alternative” experience.
Early morning
The first couple of kilometres were easy going and we had passed the Clashgour Hut in no time before veering off and beginning the route up the glen. There were a few clouds floating about perfectly at summit height that we were keeping an eye on.
Low down the path was quite boggy in parts but before long we gained solid ground and were making quick progress up the south side of Stob a’ Choire Odhair.
Heading in
South side
Looking back
About 50 metres from the summit we entered the cloud and enjoyed absolutely zero views from the summit which are described kindly by Walkhighlands as “superb in all directions”.
Up until now it had been a pleasant temperature but as soon as we were surrounded by the cloud, many layers were quickly required. Make no mistakes, it was winter up here.
Just before we went in
Summit views
Visibility really was awful and there wasn’t any clear and obvious path over the west ridge down to the bealach at 668 metres, so we took and bearing and followed that in a straight line. After circling around the summit cairn for a while, once we took the initial bearing it really didn’t appear to be the right way, funny how quickly you can get disoriented in a cloud.
Being in the cloud is rubbish but popping back out from the cloud to sensational views is something special!
We can see again
Looking back to the summit of Stob a’ Choire Odhair which was now bathing in the sunshine a mere 15 minutes later! Typical.
Stob Ghabhar now looked quite menacing with its thin snow blanket and impressive north face. We stopped briefly at the bealach to sort out our layering and let a couple pass ahead of us before trying to find the path up the loose scree and rock.
The north face
Looking back to Coirein Lochain – far steeper than it looks here
The final section up to the ridge
As Walkhighlands suggest, it was indeed a relief to reach the ridge. It wasn’t too difficult heading up the scree, but it was the worst of condition where crampons would likely have hindered more than helped but the rocks were slippy and unstable. Makes the knees a tad jittery! Started off with poles but they were quickly abandoned for a more hands on approach / safety net.
Once up on the ridge the route looked excellent and nothing too daunting in the now clear conditions. Thankfully the cloud had now completely lifted so there didn’t appear to be any major time pressure to make it to the summit and we could enjoy the views.
Some snaps along the ridge
It was just after noon by the time we reached the second summit of the day and by now the couple that had overtaken us at the bealach were long gone so we had it all to ourselves. There wasn’t any wind, so we took the decision to make the most of this superb viewpoint as our lunch stop.
Not a bad lunch view
After a while we were joined a chap named Jonny who had been just behind us for most of the walk and had some cracking pictures of us heading along the ridge. We agreed to make the way back to the car together. The route down was relatively easy gone, a bit uneven underfoot but very quickly we had left the snow, packed away axes and bathed in the sunshine.
Heading down
Always find it amazing how you can bump into a total stranger at the top of a hill in Scotland which instantly gives you enough mutual interests to make for an interesting and enjoyable chat for the next few hours.
The three of us reached Clashgour hut by 14:15 and made the gentle walk back to the car, which was hopefully still in one piece! Thankfully when we arrived back at the now very busy car park, everything was in order. Except for shock horror…
Leave no trace
My car was sitting waiting at Crianlarich, which for info turns out to offer a few great spots for car sharing – something that is becoming increasingly more and more challenging with all the “no overnight parking” signs springing up across the country. We packed up as much of the rubbish and took to the bins in Crianlarich.
Another tired drive back up to Aberdeen awaited, couldn’t help but feel slightly hard done – but a great couple of hills regardless. Will be back to get to some of the Tops in the future.
Our route
Thanks for reading,
Andy
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