Stob Ban is rather hidden away behind the much higher peaks of the Grey Corries. However it is a steep and shapely peak in its own right, and well repays the approach walk. The tiny Lairig Leacach bothy sits at its foot.
Good track for the approach; ridge path is wet lower down and steep higher up.
None to start.
Parking off track at NN255788 beyond Corriechoille.
The start of this walk is several kilometres up a very rough track from Corriechoille, itself just beyond the end of a minor road from Spean Bridge. Driving the track requires great care to avoid damage on the many potholes; there is parking on the left just before the track reaches a locked gate at NN255788. Continue up the track on foot; this is the historic right of way over the Lairig Leacach, on foot. After passing through a gate the track reaches the Wee Minister - a wooden sculpture who looks out across the glen. Continue on the track through areas of mature and recently felled forestry.
The track eventually crosses the Allt Leachdach and continues uphill into a pass between the Grey Corries on the right and the Corbetts of Cruach Innse and Sgùrr Innse on the left. After reaching the summit of the Lairig Leacach at 515 metres it then runs gently downhill.
Eventually the track leads to the tiny Lairig Leacach bothy; Stob Ban is now well seen rising as a sharp conical peak beyond. The bothy is maintained by volunteers from the Mountain Bothy Association; please help by carrying out any rubbish you find here, and always follow the bothy code when visiting.
The track fords Allt a'Chùil Choirean, or there is a footbridge just upstream. Continue briefly along the track until a small cairn which indicates the start of a path to the right, aiming for the foot of the ridge. The going is wet and boggy at first as the path makes its way up towards point 769m, a rounded knoll to the east of Stob Ban. There are great views back down to the bothy and the dramatic, impregnable looking Corbett of Sgùrr Innse across the other side of the glen.
Eventually the ascent becomes drier underfoot, and a path leads across the north side of point 769m to reach the bealach beyond. Stob Ban rises impressively from here, with a steady ascent to the first shoulder, and then a very steep final ascent on a zig-zagging path close to the edge of the northern cliffs.
Despite the close proximity of the much higher main ridge of the Grey Corries, the view from the quartzite cairn is wild and impressive in all directions. Ben Nevis looms large to the west, whilst the Mamores and the peaks of Glencoe are well seen.
From here it is possible to descend a steep and loose scree slope WNW before turning north to a bealach with a lochan. This enables a link with the main Grey Corries ridge, a descent into Coire Claurigh, eventually picking up a zig-zag path to the south of quartzite slabs. The quickest and easiest return, however, is to retrace your steps by the route of ascent back to the bothy.
From here continue along the track by the outward route to return to the start.
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