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With aching muscles triumphant from our Mamore
traverse, Dougie and I would continue on the Grey Corries. We were in Glen Nevis at the remote Meanach, a
bothy miles from any road, and a God-send in dry shelter when we stumbled in the door late
the previous night.
I got up first, Dougie slept on for a while. Some of the gear had dried
out - the tent was in a useable condition once more. But having waded
thigh-deep through the river with my boots last night, I didn't want to
look at them - they were twice the weight with the water and there
was no way I could dry them out, even over the stove. The morning crept
by. We didn't need to rush a thing.
I went around the back of the bothy armed with a spade, and noticed myself
making checks to see no one is looking on when it's obviously
empty. Midges would have made the back door morning duties much harder
than they were, but for all the stillness there weren't any to be seen. It wasn't a sunny day today - not so much as forecast - but the
cloud was high and Aonach Beag and Ben Nevis stood clear at the foot of
the glen, enormous in their bulk with tendrils of cloud hanging off them.
Last night we waded the river to gain access to Meanach bothy, thus
unlocking the rest of the Glen Nevis route. Now it was only a question
of time.
Stob Ban
We packed our gear up, pulled on wet boots and set off at midday; not
the most appropriate time since our plan was to traverse both the Grey Corries and Aonachs. We walked along trackless ground beside the Abhainn Rath (the
river) to gain a path running up the river alongside Munro #1, Stob
Ban.
Muscles were sore but we got moving slowly, Stob Ban above us all the
while and looking close. We left the path after a time and beat through
rough ground to the summit ridge. This ridge was deceptively long for
the top took a while to reach. But this was all good progress - the
Mamores were beginning to look distant, and I really felt like we were
making solid progress on the route. I could safely begin to look to the
end of the route, although nothing was certain yet.
Stob Ban to Stob Choire Claurigh
Stob Ban's summit cairn came and went, then we descended the scree path
down it's north flanks. The next Munro - Stob Choire Claurigh - gave an
uncomplicated, but long climb to the top. In April when I was last here,
I just got my head down and walked. This time, my plan of action was
much the same, listening to learn Marillion's 'Grendel' for an upcoming
drumming gig. As much
as I needed to learn this (pretty dreadful) song, it felt awkward to be
tending to flatland commitments in the mountains.
Stob Choire Claurigh climbed to the highest altitude of the day as well as
being the summit upon which our 4-day route turned back on itself and began
the journey to Fort William. I stayed at the summit for a long while,
waiting to meet Dougie. I took some photos and took my feet out of their
boots to dry them out. The upcoming walk would be an entertaining one -
the Grey Corries are a superb ridge walk. It lacks the technical ridges
of the Mamores (which could be a good thing) and the scenery is stunning
on a clear day. I won't forget that first sight of scree flanks and interlocking snowfields in
April. Ben Nevis towering at the end of
the range is a fitting end to the scene and it would make a fitting end
to our trip.
The Grey Corries to Sgurr Choinnich Mor and Camp
We walked over the three Munro Tops of the Grey Corries, each in
succession, usually without views. At one point I chased some sheep
along the ridge, the pair unable to get down the steep slopes on either
side. Then half-way across, I asked Dougie "Guess what time it is?" And
my answer of 5pm shocked him. So late in the day, with so little ground
covered (relatively!), we would almost certainly camp on this side of
the Aonachs and climb them tomorrow.
So we took our time, had a long break at the next Munro, Stob Coire an
Laoigh before heading onward to Sgurr Choinnich Mor. From here, Aonach
Beag really opens up. It's east wall dominates from here and it is vast.
Tomorrow we would pick a line up it. I was convinced the bealach below
Sgurr a' Bhuic was the way to go although Dougie remembered climbing
under an overhang when he did the Glen Nevis round several decades
ago. We would make our final decision tomorrow.
Sgurr Choinnich Mor passed without incident, we passed it's weird crack
in the ground half way up, got onto the summit ridge and followed that
around to the summit. I was most interested in it's Munro Top, Sgurr
Choinnich Beag. It is hard to tag this summit onto a car-to-car walk
from Glen Spean because it lies so far away, but it is only natural to
climb it on a Grey Corries - Nevis traverse. So thus I was glad to
descend from Sgurr Choinnich Mor and climb it, situated right above the
nights campsite below Aonach Beag's east face. This face is a monster
and why the structure and form of the face induced a kind of nausea in
me, I don't understand why.
We pitched our tent on a slightly sloping patch of ground at the bealach
below; a beautiful campsite. At 740m up, the views were still massive,
especially towards Binnein Mor and other Mamore peaks. The sunset itself
was hidden from view by the mountains, but the evening light turned to
gold and orange for a while.
This is what camping should be. If our trip had got off to a rocky start
on the Mamores, then the Grey Corries to Ben Nevis might be some of the
finest walking I've ever done. This mid-way camp was idyllic and we
turned in early that night, ready for the 4.30 alarm next morning.
Images: Sgurr Choinnich Mor to Camp
360° panorama
from Sgurr Choinnich Beag
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