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The main
objective for this weekend was to climb some of the peaks around about
Glen Shiel, and at the top of the list was the South Glen Shiel Ridge;
well known among hillwalkers as being one of the few places you can
knock of seven Munros with relative ease. The South Shiel ridge was
scheduled for the Saturday, so on the Friday, Michael and I split up the
journey north by climbing two Munros neither of us had done on the
Buachaille Etive Beag.
Stob Dubh
The weather was hardly ideal, and the wind was very cold when we stepped
out of the car on the A82. After ten minutes of preparation, we left the
car park, following a well built track upwards. The key here was speed,
and so we packed light and moved fast - the best way to go in my
opinion. It was 3pm and darkness fell at 7pm, so we'd have to get a move
on.
To my surprise, a staircase of boulders led us all the way to the summit
ridge. The path was similar to those on the likes of The Cobbler or Ben
Lomond. It's been very well constructed, but isn't for someone that
prefers to climb by their own route. Lower sections were still
being constructed, so we occasionally went cross country. Otherwise it
was an easy ride all the way to Mam Buidhe, the bealach separating the
two Munros.
On the ridge, the wind had picked up and the going was tougher. We went
for Stob Dubh first, being the further away Munro and therefore the one
to get out of the way. A sketchier path took us up to 900m where the
ridge levelled off and a narrow ridge took as the rest of the distance
to the summit. Stob Dubh is an impressive mountain, and very steep sided
for being such an accessible Munro. It looks beautiful, but offered no
great challenges on the ascent. Of course, it is surrounded by the even
more impressive mountains of Glen Coe and the views are spectacular for
the effort required to reach it. We got it on a dull day, but there were
always views worth seeing. Glen Coe is always magnificent, whatever the
weather.
Stob Coire Raineach / Descent
From Stob Dubh, we traced our steps back to Mam Buidhe where Michael
dropped off his bag, then headed up towards Stob Coire Raineach. A short
ascent brought us to the summit at 5.40pm. It was becoming noticeably
darker while we stood at the top, but we'd have ample time to descend.
Few words other than moody could describe the views. It was complete
melancholy; Glen Coe and Rannoch Moor both sulking beneath the thick
cloud. Then we heard a siren coming from Glen Coe - a few blue flashing
lights could be seen and for a moment we wondered whether there had been
an accident. Some light drizzle fell too.
On a lighter note, Stob Coire Raineach was my 50th Munro. We stayed at
the summit for a while, sometimes making calls, watching the
police/ambulance lights in the valley below, or shivering from the cold.
When it was getting a bit miserable we left for the bealach below; a
couple of nice scree runs and steep ground on the way.
Michael picked up his bag at the bealach then we followed the path back
down in the direction of the car. The stags were making a racket, with
their distant roars sounding throughout the glen. Very atmospheric.
Lower down, we picked up the pace and arrived at the car park four hours
after starting out having ran the final hundred metres.
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