19/07/2011 Grey Corries

Stob Ban (munro) 

Stob Choire Claurigh (munro)
Stob Coire an Laoigh (munro) 
Sgurr Choinnich Mor (munro)


Length: 15.9 miles  25.7 km, Ascent: +1834m, Naismith: 8h 11m

This one has been on the todo list for a long time.

And so it came to pass that the weans were to be minded by the most excellent nanny and papa and H and Mrs H were to go to the hills again. You'd think we'd know better by now.

We had hatched a plan so cunning that you could pin a tail on it and call it a fox. Drop the kids off just before bed time get them settled and drive, drive, drive to a suitable place, sleep in our wonderful, ever reliable, magical estate car and then be placed perfectly for an early start and early return to previously mentioned kids.

The best laid plans etc. etc. etc. We made it to Fort William by midnight and, too tired to carry on, headed for the most excellent North Face car park. It wasn't a busy as I had expected. On the last visit there had been 2 motor homes taking up at least half a dozen spaces. I regarded this as "a bit cheeky". No such problems finding a space. 1 tent occupied by a group of silent MTB'ers with their bikes padlocked outside their tent was all that there was.

We got settled in to our bags, too tired, even for a cup of tea.

I was awoken by the rain. Then by some midges venturing in through the open window. Finally at about 6am, I heard the rumble of a diesel engine and poked my head slowly over the window ledge. A police car doing a slow drive by and then it was gone again. Time to get up.

We packed bags and drove to the road head for the Grey Corries. Here we were able to get the stove on for a breakfast cuppa, dressed in hill clothes, packed much food into sacs and we were off!

The route we (I) had opted for was to take in 4 peaks, to do this in a logical way, we would walk through the Lairig Leacach to the wee bothy and then climb Stob Ban by the stalkers path (only marked on 1:25000 map). From there it would the long haul up to Stob Choire Claurigh and the start of the Grey Corries ridge. We had a shower of rain on the way to the bothy but then it cleared and the Stob Ban section was dry and it looked promising. The cloud remained fixed on Stob Choire Claurigh. So we asended into the murk and were rewarded by 15 to 20m visibility.

big slabs

I'd love to post lots of photos of the gorgeous views but there was none. I'm sure it is beautiful. I cannot verify that. What I can do is be particularly smug about my navigation. Not only did we do the right hills in the right order, but we made it back to the car. Bonus.

Stob Ban

Our only adventure was on the top Stob Coire Easin. Here is a junction of sorts, this is the point in the ridge where, to turn right takes the walker down the ridge towards the dam and the car, to turn left takes the walker further away from the car, and civilisation into the depths of Lochaber and almost trackless wilderness. And bog.

Stob Ban in glorious panorama

After a quick conference, we felt all was ok, I took a bearing and we turned left to follow a faint track heading in roughly the right direction between great piles of stone. After descending for 5 mins I mentioned that I wasn't happy with the direction and ground we were covering. Mrs H agreed so we turned around and re climbed the hill only to find a better track heading in exactly the right direction. This led to further adventure.

halfaseesaw, wet

Mrs H had had a wee slip on the way across the bealach between Stob Ban and Stob Choire Claurigh. The rock is mostly quartz in nature and tends to form large flat sections which, in the rain, were slippy. This knocked her confidence and her hip and maybe her knee too.

after some rooting about on internet looks like a Dactylorhiza maculata, Heath Spotted-orchid

So, when the ridge became narrower, rockier, slippier and steeper, we became slower. Then the rain started. The next 2 hours were taken up by edging down big bocks of scree to reach the bealach, crossing to the last Munro and the seemingly endless succession of  false tops and apparently pursuing a phantom sheep that defecated on the path every 6 feet.  On one false top in particular, if the cloud had been any thicker, I could have quite easily turned around  thinking I'd bagged the summit. The plus side the endless ascent was followed by a remarkably rapid descent and re ascent of the top.

the dam

Happy to be heading back to civilisation, we started the long walk downhill. The guide book says to descent to the dam and cross the burn. This left a few questions lingering in my mind. Above or below the dam? How to get to the dam? How to get up the other side???? I worry about stuff like this.

This was solved by heading for the trees above the dam, hanging onto the deer fence and lowering ourselves down the steep bank (judging by the shape of the fence, I gather this is what everyone else has done too). I had considered sitting astride the dam and doing a bum shuffle across (I think the alpine mountaineering term for this is "à cheval"). This was instantly overruled by Mrs H. We opted for stepping across the burn and just getting wet(er). Climb up the opposite bank and over the style. This leads a to a concrete walkway and brings you to the track. All we were left with was a plod in the shelter of the forest.

puggy line bridge

I was delighted to see the wee railway bridge through a gap in the trees. If you can imagine the old trestle bridges popular in cowboy movies, well, this is a miniature version. Very cool. This line was built to run from the aluminium smelter in Fort William to Laggan for engineering purposes. The main one being drilling a tunnel from Laggan under the Grey Corries, the Aonachs and Ben Nevis.

Back at the car 12 hours after leaving for tea, painkillers and clean, dry clothes.

Home for midnight. So the plan was a partial success.