Aonach Beag and Mòr

Wednesday 27th May 2026

For this holiday I had devised a trail across the West Highlands of Scotland, which in the second week I had started from Glen Coe and I could have followed the valleys all the way, but after suffering with low cloud and rain in the first week of my holiday I was fortunate to now have good weather so I wanted to take advantage of it. Therefore, after camping beside the ruins of Steall in Glen Nevis, I looked up at the mountain that towered over me to the north and declared that I was going to climb it. I had previously headed up these slopes in 2016, but since I had not started until the afternoon, once the weather had cleared, I had only got as far as the Munro Top, Sgùrr a’ Bhuic, so now I wanted to go all the way. I followed the narrow path heading upstream beside the Allt Coire nan Laogh intending on following the burn all the way up, however, I veered off at a junction and ended up crossing the southern slopes on a sheep trod without making any progress uphill. Eventually I turned up the mountain and toiled up the steep slopes that were covered in heather and bilberry, sprinkled with pale violet flowers. This was very tiring, though a cold wind prevented me from getting too hot and eventually, after a lot of effort, I reached the top of the ridge that stretches west from the top of Sgùrr a’ Bhuic. Rather than turning right onto the ridge, I crossed over and followed the contour around to pick up the young burn that heads into the corrie. I had decided that some of my problems the day before had been because I was dehydrated, so at this point I made a point of replenishing my water bottles to ensure I didn’t run out of water and that my rucksack was particularly heavy.

When I reached the top of the corrie the view east across the awesome ridge of the Grey Corries was revealed to me, which repeatedly drew my eye as I slowly headed north up the ridge, following the edge of a precipitous cliff that had me feeling a little nervous as I continued to climb. When I reached the top of Stob Coire Bhealaich the steep, eastern crags of Aonach Beag and Aonach Mòr, still decorated with snow, could now be seen as I made my way along the narrow summit ridge. After chatting with a guy at the top for a while, I continued along the ridge and then turned up the slopes to reach the top of Aonach Beag, which was covered with snow and with no obvious summit marked with a cairn I was wary about getting too close to the cornices on the sheer cliff face. I could see some partially melted footsteps in the snow so I followed these to somewhere near where the summit might be and then hastily retreated towards safety, following the indentations out again. I had previously visited the top of Aonach Beag twenty years ago, out and back from Aonach Mòr, so I had been keen to climb it this time from the valley so I could more properly say I have climbed the mountain. Once off the snow I followed the clear path that zigzags down the steep, rock-filled slope to the col with Aonach Mòr, relishing every step that reminded of many mountain walks from my past and sadly not recently. These days I am reluctant to go up a mountain unless the weather is perfect, like on this day, because I know how much better it is when the weather is good. The comparison is enormous. Why would you want to go to the top of a mountain when you can’t get views like this?

After pausing for my lunch I headed up the broad slopes that led me all the way up to the summit of Aonach Mòr where I had stunning views all around, including west towards Càrn Mòr Dearg and Ben Nevis. Continuing along the broad ridge I veered towards the eastern edge following the route determined for me by the O.S. Maps app, but in 2006 I had kept to the western edge overlooking the deep valley of Allt Daim, which avoided the detritus of the ski slopes, but, of course, since there was no snow, no skiers. A very steep and long descent eventually brought me to the station at the top of the ski centre’s gondola ride, which I could have taken down, but instead I walked on a mountain bike track. When I realised this was a cycle track I came off it, until I realised that the track was in a poor state and no one was cycling down it, so I resumed my descent on the badly eroded track which eventually brought me into a wood where the hazards were even more evident. When I reached a forestry track I turned north east to get away from the ski centre and the mountain biking, and after that long, steep descent it was a relief to finally have easier walking. As I had descended I was struck by how hot it was becoming, since it is always much cooler at the top of a mountain, but it was also now much hotter than I had experienced at any point in my holiday as the heatwave that had afflicted England over the Bank Holiday weekend eventually reached the Highlands of Scotland. 

The forestry tracks took me past a quarry, whose access roads were tricky to cross, and still I kept heading north until finally my path veered right and I came alongside a railway. I had now joined the route of the East Highland Way, a little known trail that goes from Fort William to Speyside, largely following forestry tracks, such as this, but eventually the track veered south and a path continued my eastward progress until I reached a road where I turned left onto the busy A82. With no pavements I walked along the grass verge for a mile into Spean Bridge where I hoped to find something for dinner, but everywhere was closed, so I set off again along the main road taking the A86 which heads towards the Cairngorms. I didn’t go quite that far, and after at least an hour’s walking beside the road I reached Roy Bridge where I found something to eat and the campsite where I spent the night. This was a tiring day with sweltering heat once I came off the mountains, so despite trying to drink as much as possible I still felt dehydrated at the end of it. It was great to be walking at the top of mountains, especially as I don’t get to do that very often these days, and to be on mountains that I had previously visited twenty years ago, but the long walk out didn’t help.