Stob Bàn and the Grey Corries

Wednesday 31st May 2017

The clouds were high in the sky when I got up at the start of this day with a promise of great weather as those clouds slowly broke during the course of the morning. I had arrived two days previously at the Leacach bothy and sat through persistent rain patiently waiting for the weather to clear and now I was rewarded with an amazing day. The usual target for people staying at this bothy is the Munro Stob Bàn that lies close by, and that was also my first target of the day. Crossing the stream that had been my water supply for the last couple of days, I came off the valley track to start climbing on a faint, narrow path up a developing ridge. The terrain was, at times, boggy, which is inevitable after all the rain I’d just sat through, until as I climbed more rocky terrain appeared and eventually I reached the summit of Stob Bàn. During the ascent the morning warmed up as the sun started to peek through the clouds with blue skies coming up from the south to reveal the great day that had been promised. From the top of Stob Bàn a gruesome scree slope led me down to the bottom of the col where a long climb took me all the way up to the top of Stob Choire Claurigh.

I visited this Munro back in 2006 on an epic walk from Spean Bridge to Glen Nevis via the Grey Corries that took me twelve hours, and ever since I have looked back on that walk with a lot of affection as being one of my favourites. I had come to Leacach with the express intention of revisiting this fabulous ridge once again that I had glimpsed last September from Sgurr a’ Bhuic where my desire to return was reawakened. The sun didn’t completely come out until just before I reached the summit and now, as if timed perfectly, the glorious Grey Corries ridge was arrayed in bright sunlight stretching west before me with Aonach Beag and Ben Nevis standing proudly beyond. The views were so awesome I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to be back on this ridge with such great weather, especially after all the rain that I’d had on this holiday, and would later have. While standing at the summit there was a song playing in my headphones that repeatedly said: “A little piece of heaven”. As this was repeated many times I couldn’t help thinking that, in this weather, the Grey Corries really looked like a little piece of heaven.

Eventually I tore myself away from simply looking at the ridge to actually walking along the narrow, gently undulating ridge that meanders slightly left and right while underfoot are the white or grey stones that give the ridge its striking appearance. Slowly I passed over the tops on the ridge enjoying every moment as I passed over Stob a’ Choire Lѐith, Stob Coire Cath na Sìne and Caistell until I eventually reached the Munro at the end of the ridge, Stob Coire an Laoigh. Throughout the traverse I was thanking God for the great weather that was even better than I had enjoyed the first time when I walked along this ridge in 2006. I would probably consider this ridge, between the two Munros, to be the best ridge in Scotland as it both looks fabulous and is not too difficult to walk along. I loved walking along this ridge eleven years ago and now my appreciation of it has increased even more. To be able to do this ridge once again, and in such good weather, was more fabulous than I can possibly express. At the summit of Stob Coire an Laoigh I stopped to have my lunch and to consider my onward plan.

To get back to the bothy the shortest route from Stob Coire an Laoigh was simply to retrace my steps along the Grey Corries ridge, which was no great hardship, but it was only lunchtime and another Munro, Stob Chòinnich Mór, is not that far away. Therefore I decided to keep on going by descending the scree slope and up the short climb to the top of Stob Coire Easain, which is a top that should not be confused with the Munro of the same name above Loch Treig. A path seemed to lead down from the summit veering towards the western slopes but soon became horrendously steep to walk down and was clearly not the correct way. I should not have gone that way; I should have stayed at the top of the ridge and to quote myself from eleven years ago: “descended spectacularly on a rocky platform”. With a lot of effort I traversed the abominably steep rock and scree slope until eventually I reached the saddle, Bealach Coire Easain, where after I had thoroughly worn myself out I slowly dragged myself up a steep path that weaves up to the summit ridge of Stob Chòinnich Mór.

This Munro seemed to be very different in character to the Grey Corries and seems to share more in common with the mountains of the Nevis range where dark grey, granite rock abounds unlike the Grey Corries where quartzite is the dominant rock. It is a pity that I was so tired by this point as the path up is ingenious and leads to a gorgeously narrow ridge at the end of which is the fabulously tiny summit, but as soon as I got there I turned around and headed back the way that I had come. Eleven years ago I continued to head west passing over Stob Chòinnich Beag before dropping down into Glen Nevis, but now I was able to relive the whole Grey Corries ridge again and better appreciate the whole experience. I now had the ridge all to myself and the clouds had almost completely disappeared so that I now had even more stunning views of Grey Corries ridge. With the sun behind me the Grey Corries ridge was lit up even better than it had been earlier in the day giving me awesome views as I slowly made my way back along this fabulous ridge, and a cold crosswind wind failed to dampen my enthusiasm.

When I eventually reached Stob Choire Claurigh, for the second time on this walk, I realised that this was my sixth Munro of the day, and even taking into account that only four of them are distinct Munros that is still a hefty total. Turning north I headed along the narrow ridge that leads to Stob Coire an Ceannain that proved to be the trickiest ridge of the day where some scrambling was required over the rocks until I reached the top. From there the descent was relatively straightforward as I came down the increasingly grassy slope eventually veering right to avoid crags and drop down heather slopes all the way down to the bothy. This was an awesome walk along a fabulous ridge in amazing weather, but it was a shame that it was marred slightly by my error on Stob Coire Easain. This was the best weather that I would get in my whole holiday, but I had taken full advantage of it in doing a tremendous walk and even though Scotland wasn’t generally kind to me on this holiday the Grey Corries didn’t disappoint. This ridge has had a special place in my heart for the last eleven years and this walk has reinforced that feeling and multiplied it many times.