Etive Mor

Munro: Buachaille Etive Mor


Stob Dearg 1022m / 3353ft

Stob na Broige 956m / 3136ft



OS Map: 41



I had realised at around 750m up Stob Dearg that I was stuck. To escape the field of loose rocks I had diverted my walk and now found myself trying to climb over rocks in a V shaped channel which has been cut away over the years by a small stream which was also getting my feet wet. I took a breather and looked down the gully to find half a dozen people stopped a couple of hundred metres below. I tried once more to struggle over the loose and wet rocks but it was no good. As I looked down once more the numbers of the people below had increased to about ten. By the time I had retreated slightly to scramble up some big rocks to my right my audience had numbered around fourteen, all staring intently at my progress, or lack of it. I thought that either they were getting some amusement out of the situation I was in or, my paranoia kicked in as I thought that I might be going the wrong way, and my audience was wondering what the hell I was doing. However, once on the big rocks I made it to the top of the gully fairly easily and I was able to take in the ridge on to Stob Dearg. Etive Mor is a well known and popular mountain as the guided tour of people now negotiating the scree field below me would testify too. It has all the looks of a classic mountain, a cone shaped lump rising out of Glencoe full of crags and rocks, the thing looks impossible to climb, at least on first impressions. The key to the Munro comes from climbing up through the gully, Coire na Tulaich. Back tot eh top of the gully. The track up to the summit of Stob Dearg was straight forward even though it was fairly misty. I kept vigilant though as once wrongly placed foot and you could be taking tumble off a cliff or sliding down some loose rocks to your death. From the summit of Stob Dearg I descended to the top of the gully again before following the four and a half mile ridge walk which took my up then down and back up and then finally along to Stob na Broige, the second Munro on Etive Mor.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dechmont Hill

Image
Walking With Kids At last, after a weekend where it barely stopped raining there was a break in the weather, and a chance to get out. Dechmont hill is our closest climb and measures just under 200m, which gives the kids a chance to get to the top. We parked on the road that runs parallel behind Gilbertfield road. The walk started on the track that leads to Dechmont farm and the shooting range. They are now turning this area into housing, so be careful of builders lorries etc. We took a left turn at the road which leads to the farm, and then a right at the Dechmont Range House, now abandoned. The track ends at a small compound, but takes you past the ruins of Gilbertfield Castle. Gilbertfield Castle The compound contains a couple of old houses which acts as a control station for the shooting range. There is no access through it, instead take a left turn before the end of the track and make your way through the grass. There is a path through here but can be obscured by the tall grass sur
Read more

Bike and Hike

Image
"It was a shame that for all the beauty of the scenery that the top of the mountain was covered in mist." Ben Alder and Ben Bheoil  These two Munros stand south of Dalwhinnie in a remote part of Scotland. The best way of getting to them is to cycle out to Culra bothy, some 17km, which, I suppose is one way of warming up before a lengthy hike. These hills were not even on my radar for possible hills to visit but something happened that changed all that. I have had a mountain bike for over 20 years now, for over 15 years it has been covered up, sitting, rusting out the back. A few years ago I did replace the main gear cassette and chain however frustrated at not getting the gears working properly I gave up and left it. That was until the start of the summer. I had decided on not worrying about gears, all I wanted to do is to cycle and to have a bike that would be a low maintenance as possible. With that in mind I took the gear shifters off, pushed the rear mech back and fixed t
Read more

Cort-ma Law

Image
  Cort-ma Law Less than an hours drive from Glasgow, just north of Lennoxtown are the Campsie hills, which allows for a quick days hike.  Starting Point The best place to start is at the Campsie Glen waterfall car park. This can get busy, so it is best to try and get a parking space early. The walk itself starts directly opposite the car park.  Car park location Location of hill Route The track ascends immediately from the carpark travelling east, go past the old shelter covered in graffiti. Shelter Hike up from the car park The track continues upward and the track could be tricky at this point for younger walkers. The first part of the walk ends at a small cairn marker.  First marker cairn From there the hike undulates for 2km as it snakes it's way slightly south of the actual top. Here you will reach a bigger cairn marker.  Second marker cairn From this marker turn north east to the trig point 4.5 km distance. The height of the summit is 526m. We reached the top with 4 kids in 1
Read more