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My first plan was to go to Ben Alder, and
Dougie was going to join me. Shortly before, he called me up
saying he wanted to do something with James: did I want to go to the
Grey Corries? Hell yes I did, and postponing Alder was fine. We altered
plans and decided to meet at Tulloch station in the morning. I'd take
the train up and they'd drive from Edinburgh.
The train journey went great: I took a bike to Westerton and dropped it
off at my pal Dave's house, who lives beside the station. A few weeks
earlier, I'd walked to Westerton with a huge rucksack to find the train
wasn't running without notice. That morning I had walked back to my
house feeling a bit deflated, none happy at Scotrail. This morning, the train
arrived on time and I get onto the sleeper and shut my eyes. Then the
ticket 'clicky' didn't come - well I never found out whether he did or
not. I spent the three-odd hours from Westerton to Tulloch lying on the
seats, eyes closed and music on. I never manage to sleep on trains, but
the shut-eye must be worth something. In any case, I got off at Tulloch
ecstatic, because I'd got out of buying a £30-40 ticket.
From the nerves of the train wondering when the station would come,
Tulloch station seemed serene. With blue skies and birdsong through the
air (yeah, all that hippy jazz), a phone call to Dougie confirmed they
would be only ten minutes... and since I had his boots in my possession
(which he had left in Pitlochry in February) I had time to put them
behind the nearest wall and play the part of Mr. Forgetful when he
pulled up. Why the hell not...!
We drove to Spean Bridge - I had hot chocolate and chips. We could
afford to bum around a while, the days were getting longer and for once we'd
start the route, not based on when the sun set, but when the food was finished.
Walk-in and Stob Ban
The route started beyond Coire Choille Farm. There is a car park at
altitude c. 200m, but the road is very rough - or so it felt in the car.
Eventually we gave up being tossed around inside and parked at 150m, at
the right-turn into the forest. The start of the walk saw us in the open
areas of Glen Spean. There's not so much indication of the enormous
ruggedness from around here, it all felt surprisingly open. But the path
through the Lairig Leacach funnels into a corridor with great views to
Stob Choire Claurigh and the Innses - Cruach and Sgurr - which although
Corbetts, are absolutely dwarfed by their higher cousins across the
valley. And the statue of the Wee Minister is interesting - if a little
strange! Watch out for that, although it's hard to miss.
An hour and a half of track-walking brought us to the Lairig Leacach
bothy - a small building which looks like it's been cut in half. It's
not a bad bothy on the inside and the view to Sgurr Innse's rocky flanks
are brilliant. Following a ten-minute break, we began climbing the corrie
behind the bothy behind which Stob Ban lies, perfectly framed. Then
100v.m. above the bothy James realised the worst - his camera was
missing and he last saw it at the bothy! Dougie took my rucksack and I
ran down toward the bothy once more.
If you'd expected me to moan about the extra work, the reality was I had
a great time. I was moving without a pack, holding nothing and at
jogging-pace I was down quickly. I took a quick break and with t-shirt
in hand, started back upward. It was one of the nicest parts of the
walk. I met James and Dougie by a large boulder, did some bouldering
then climbed on some slabs at the headwall of the corrie. A slog brought
us to the bealach of Stob Ban, which I'd expected to have better views.
It did however give a good view along the length of the Grey Corries
ridge. Sgurr Choinnich Mor (our last planned hill) looked miles away... Dropping the packs, the
climb to the summit of Stob Ban was short, though over steep loose
blocks. We chose the hard direct route. Following the path allows much
better progress.
From here: great views over huge mountain scenery, although today limited by
haze and obscured to the north by the Grey Corries ridge. Already at
over 3000 feet, it was hard not to look at the sweep between Stob Choire
Claurigh and Stob Coire an Laoigh and gawp at the size. And it only got
bigger to the west, culminating in that most massive Ben Nevis.
Stob Choire Claurigh
As Stob Ban had been the introduction to the Grey Corries proper, Stob
Choire Claurigh came as a kind of climax - but only on the summit. We
slogged the 370 vertical metres first between picking up the rucksacks
and the summit. The bealach had great geology on the go and the frogs in
the lochans were mating. I used a technique of Mackenzie's I've always
kept in mind since we did Southern Upland Way. To prevent running
yourself into exhaustion, walk 10 paces and stop. Repeat.
Go to 15 paces and repeat. Ramp up slowly. I love the way it works and
by the summit I was holding 70 paces a time.
The summit was magical. The view to the west looks across the
intersecting snow sweeps of the Grey Corries to culminate in threatening
chaos on the Aonachs. Further still, Nevis reigns above all. I'd dreamed
of seeing this view in sunshine and spring snowfields. I shared the
elation with James and Dougie on the summit and in text with Mackenzie
that went: "Stob Choire Claurigh. WHAT A F***ING VIEW MATE!".
That says it all, really...
Along the ridge to Stob Coire an Laoigh
The rest of the ridge did not disappoint. The first Munro Top - Stob a'
Choire Leith is an easy walk from Stob Choire Claurigh. A beautiful
tiered buttress hangs off the side of Stob Coire Cath na
Sine (second top). All summits have amazing views and Stob Choire Claurigh begins to
look like a giant as you gain your distance from it. The third top,
Caisteal ('castle') is the highest of the three and triangular in form.
The end of the Gray Corries did not look so far away from here.
A helicopter flew by the summit as we stood on Caisteal. Stob Coire an
Laoigh was in view ahead, and what had seemed a fairly anonymous peak
had vertical buttresses hanging off it's northern flanks. I hate to use
battle metaphors but call these battlements if you like. It's seriously
impressive material. You by pass these cliffs and the walk to the summit
is without issue. It was my 120th Munro and three of us sat inside the
summit cairn, out of a harsh wind which was a prominent feature of the
day.
Sgurr Choinnich Mor
We didn't hand around for long, it was
getting late now. But we would do Sgurr Choinnich Mor in line with the
original plan. And if we got down in the dark, then no worries. A Munro
Top, Stob Coire Easain, lay between us and Sgurr Choinnich Mor, but
because of the quartzite boulder fields on the south slopes, it's easier
to go over the top than contour. From Stob Coire Easain, the south ridge gets
rougher in places and narrows more than at any other point on the Grey
Corries. There are few problems however. Dougie and I went down this
ridge
and James went down the west slopes accidentally, joining us at the
bealach soon after.
Sgurr Choinnich Mor had a couple of narrow sections around about the
summit. It's not such an exposed peak at the crest, but the slopes fall
away sharply. I thought back to January when a man
fell 300m down the
SE face. A couple of parts were indeed narrow. On snow or ice and
without an axe to hand, it would be far too easy to slip. It's a long
way down!
The last summit ridge was a narrow grassy arête, I'd imagine it would be
quite spectacular in winter. The cairn was insubstantial, so little wind
protection meant little hanging around. It was the last Munro of the
day, but the car remained 9km and two Munro Tops away. From here the
view to Aonach Beag and Aonach Mor is spectacular - up to 500 vertical
metres of snow, crags, and chaos in a wall almost unbroken for 4 km.
Some of Scotland's highest mountains are right there, right in front of
you.
Descent (over Stob Coire Easain
and Beinn na Socaich)
From the summit of Sgurr Choinnich Mor, we
headed back to the bealach then up to Stob Coire Easain, which was
positioned between us and our final descent to the valley. I felt pretty
shattered at the top, took a couple of minutes and in growing darkness,
headed down to Beinn na Socach, a Munro Top. Dougie and James by passed
it and I joined them on the other side for the long grassy haul back to
the forestry tracks.
I'd brought sandals along to change into for this final section, but in
the end I couldn't be bothered. The feet were sure as hell feeling it
when we finally walked the kilometres back to the car which was waiting
at the exit of the forest.
All in all - a cracking trip. It was good to finally do the Grey
Corries, and also to see more in the Glen Spean area. We headed down to
Fort William and were met with a full Bank Street bunkhouse. Another
hostel two minutes up the road had three spaces left, perfect for three
of us. We got a curry in the main street, which on a Saturday night was
explosive - no change there then for Fort William.
The next morning we headed back down the road - James and Dougie both
live near Edinburgh, so I'd have to get a train home. Unwilling to see
another great day go to waste, Dougie and I headed up Arthur's Seat -
another superb, sunny day.
Panoramas
360° panorama from Stob Ban
360° panorama from Stob Choire Claurigh
360° panorama from Stob Coire an Laoigh
360° panorama from Sgurr Choinnich Mor
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