Buachaille Etive Mor - Stob Dearg and Stob na Broige
29 September 2007
A group of five ladies from North Fife had planned a weekend away from
their husbands and young families and decided upon an ascent of
Buachaille Etive Mor. Some of the ladies had climbed Munros before
but they didn't feel confident enough to do it on their own, hence my
involvement.
We met outside the Kingshouse Hotel at the southern end of Glen Coe
and drove the short distance north to Altnafeadh on the A82. Here on
the south side of the road there is some off road parking and a lay-by
on the opposite side. Both were filling up quickly with walker's
vehicles.
Once organised we walked down to the River Coupall and crossed it by
the footbridge, passed the Scottish Mountaineering Club Hut at
Lagangarbh, and towards Coire na Tuilaich. Higher up, the stream
flowing out of the corrie was crossed and we continued up its west
bank.
The path was busy with walkers and a photographer carrying a large
amount of equipment. Well he appeared overburdened with gear until
we took a short break and one of the ladies produced her flask. I'm
not sure if I had seen such a large flask on the hills before, 1.8
litres of hot water for her tea breaks. She also had enough milk to
keep the whole party in coffee and tea for the day. Well I got the
blame as in my list of equipment required for the day walk I had added
some emergency food to the list. This lady had taken it to heart and
had enough food for more than one overnight stop. Well it gave her
friends and myself a bit of a laugh as she frequently produced the
flask offering everyone a cuppa.
The path up into Coire na Tulaich had been improved over the last few
years and now headed a bit further to the west, away from the gully
scree before rejoining the original route at the bealach west of Stob
Dearg. It was then an easy walk to Stob Dearg's summit although the
ridge does narrow a bit just before the summit cairn.
A few photographs were taken at the summit but due to the low cloud
there were no views so we returned to the bealach and climbed the
north ridge of Stob na Doire before descending to the bealach between
it and Stob Coire Altruim where we stopped for lunch. The cloud did
clear a bit and we had brief views into Glen Etive and the Lairig
Gartain.
After lunch we ascended Stob Coire Altruim en-route out to the second
Munro of the day, Stob na Broige. Just before the summit of Stob na
Broige I heard a ptarmigan and on making a search of the area saw
three sitting on a rock. Another group photograph was taken at the
summit cairn.
On the return along Stob na Broige's north-east ridge the ladies
spotted what I think was a stoat which may have been the reason for
the ptarmigan's calls. The stoat quickly disappeared so there was no
opportunity for a photograph to identify it.
At the Stob Coire Altrium/Stob na Doire bealach we descended a rough
path and then some wet rocks to the Lairig Gartain. One of the
ladies found this tough going but was still smiling so she must have
been enjoying the challenge. By this time we had descended out of
the cloud.
The path along the west side of the Allt Gartain was rather boggy in
places which one of the ladies found to her cost as she fell into
it. On the lower stretches of the Lairig Gartain there were frequent
roars from several stags in the area.
It had been a fairly long day for the ladies as they had left home
early in the morning. They had accommodation booked at the Clachaig
Inn for a well earned rest and no doubt a glass or two of wine.
Time taken - 9.25 hours.
Distance - 13 kilometres.
Height climbed - 1250 metres.
Photographs taken on walk can be viewed here:
http://www.caledoniahilltreks.com/gallery07/buachaille_sept07/index.htm
Lindsay
www.caledoniahilltreks.com