The weather for this walk was brilliant again, but I could tell it wasn’t going to last as it was already beginning to cloud up, although that just served to cool the temperature at the hottest part of the day. The weather combined with the tremendous terrain provided me with a thoroughly enjoyable and memorable day's walk. This was one of those days in the hills that you remember with fondness for many years and make me say to myself, "This is why I do this." I still have fond memories of the Mamores five years later and I have returned several times over the years to try and recapture the magic of this weekend spent on the Mamores in 2005.
On the morning of this walk I caught a bus from the youth hostel to its terminus at the lower falls in Glen Nevis, where I immediately started to follow a signposted 'Forest Walk'. I was actually following Ralph Storer's route number 21 (from "100 Best Routes on Scottish Mountains") on this walk, which should have taken me onto a ridge via a 'hilltop seat'. However, no such path to a seat could be found and I ended up following the stream, Allt a' Choire Dheirg, on a clear, though occasionally muddy, path to a boundary fence. I was then faced with a very steep climb up the hill beside the fence under a blazing sun; the clear path was my only assurance that I was following a path that many had previously followed. In fact, there were a few people further up the hill on my path, but a quick look on the internet reveals what is probably an easier route beside the Allt a'Choire Riabhach, which gains the ridge lower down. Ralph Storer's actual path is probably non-existent and has been for years.
When I finally reached the top of the ridge I squeezed through a gap in the fence and headed up the ridge on an increasingly rocky path to my first Munro of the day: Mullach nan Coirean. A short diversion took me across to the nearby top of Meall a'Chaorainn and back, which this was a pleasant trip that required little effort. Bypassing the summit of Mullach nan Coirean on my return, I headed off along the eastern ridge towards Stob Bàn, passing over various minor tops on the way and admiring the stunning scenery. A white stony path brought me up to my second Munro where I had my lunch (and also provided the midges with theirs!). Storer's route was now almost downhill all the way, despite it being only lunch time, so I decided to abandon Storer once I was down the steep, rocky descent off Stob Bàn (a great path, but very tricky in descent, though it would also have been quite difficult in ascent. I'm glad I didn't go up that way!).
Passing the lake, Lochan Coire nam Miseach, below Sgorr an Iubhair, I headed up a steep grassy slope to the bealach between the aforementioned and Stob a' Choire Mhail. Passing over the latter I began to cross the narrow 'Devil's Ridge', which, despite being very high, provided me with no problems in this weather (almost no wind) so I could simply walk along the top of the ridge except for at one small crevice in the rocks that seemed too far for me to dare jumping over. A path exists that bypasses this, but instead I clambered down on one side of the gap and then climbed up on the other side. My nerve may have failed to allow me to jump the gap, but I'll be blowed if I was going to miss any part of the top of the ridge! With a short scramble down at the end I completed the narrow ridge that had been worrying me for ages, but which turned out to be alot easier than Crib Goch, and so began the climb up to my third Munro of the day: Sgurr a'Mhàim.
After a short rest at the top to admire the views down Glen Nevis, and across to Ben Nevis, I began a most enjoyable descent over white quartzite stones down its western slopes often sliding several feet with every step. It reminded me of how Wainwright used to describe Dorehead Screes in the Lake District before it lost all its stones (!); this wasn't as steep, but it was still a very enjoyable way to descend several hundred feet. All that now remained was for a long zigzagging descent down the steep grassy slope back to the bus stop. Unfortunately when I eventually I got to the bus stop I found that I had missed the bus by less than ten minutes, but the three mile walk back to the youth hostel failed to dampen what had been a very enjoyable day over some thoroughly exciting terrain. The walk and the terrain reminded me of the best sort of walking imaginable, as I have previously experienced in the Lake District; this was ridge walking, par excellence.
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