The Mamores

Tuesday 26th May 2026

At the end of the previous day, before this walk, I had climbed up from Kinlochleven along a great path that passes through stunning wooded scenery to reach the Blackwater Reservoir where I put up my tent, even though I had actually intended on staying at the Loch Chiarain bothy, but I was too tired to keep going that far. It was still an enchanting spot with views across the reservoir, over the pass of the Devil’s Staircase and towards the mountain of Buachaille Etive Mòr. The following morning the views were even better because now there wasn’t a cloud in the sky for the first time on my holiday. When I set off I continued to head towards the bothy, before turning left at the burn, Allt Coire na Cruaidhe to follow a slender path that climbs beside the stream. This was very tiring on a path that, shall we say, was in its natural state, that is, rough and boggy. Eventually I came to a junction with the path that comes up from Loch Chiarain where I turned left to continue climbing over Meall na Cruaidhe to views over the epic range of mountains known as the Mamores while the mountains of Glen Coe continued to dominate the view whenever I looked back. My patience on this holiday after a week and a half of poor weather was finally being repaid and now I had excellent weather while heading towards one of the best mountain ranges in Scotland. The tiring path eventually led me to the mouth of Loch Eilde Mòr where a gravel track provided me much easier walking while heading back towards Kinlochleven.

Once over the pass I had mesmerising views along the length of Loch Leven and if I stayed on this track it would have taken me into Lairig Mòr to join the West Highland Way, or alternatively, I could have gone past Loch Chiarain to head into Lairig Leacach to continue north, and these were my foul weather alternatives. However, I wanted to take full advantage of this good weather and I had left myself plenty of time to do so. Even though it would take a lot of effort, I wanted to climb onto the glorious Mamores ridge, and the sight of these high mountains towering over me made me question my intentions. When I turned into Coire na Bà I quaked at the enormity of the mountain Am Bodach and the scale of the effort before me as I slowly made my way up the path, eventually turning east to head across the long slopes of Na Gruagaichean before turning north again to pass below the crags of the north western top and eventually reach a broad, grassy saddle. I have descended by this path through Coire na Bà twice before, most recently in 2017, and I think I appreciated it better on those occasions because it is just too long and tiring for an ascent, so I was relieved when I finally reached the great Mamores ridge. Now, I slowly climbed the ridge towards Stob Coire a’ Chàirn with stunning views all around me, including north towards Glen Nevis and the fabulous mountains beyond, while Am Bodach continued to dominate the view. I fell in love with the Mamores range on my first visit in 2005, so I was overjoyed to be back and to be enjoying fabulous weather amongst the amazing scenery.

The broad ridge eventually led me up to the small, airy summit of Stob Coire a’ Chàirn, which lies on the route of the classic Ring of Steall mountain walk and in 2005 I did part of that walk, coming up over An Gearanach to reach this Munro. But now I turned my back on the view north to look upon Am Bodach, which I decided I didn’t fancy attempting to climb, especially with a heavy rucksack on my back. After making my way along the ridge to the col I then started to head across the screes bypassing the summit. The Ordnance Survey shows two paths crossing the slopes below the steep crags of Am Bodach, which I intended on taking, but I couldn’t find any trace and eventually I turned uphill, climbing a sheer grass rake that led me back onto the clear path which weaved around the crags leading me very steeply up the mountain. With my head down, taking one step at a time, repeatedly crossing the rocks, back and forth, eventually I reached the popular summit of Am Bodach where the views were sensational and worth the exceptional effort required to get there. I could see Loch Leven and the Blackwater Reservoir to the south, but I was more interested in the views across the Mamores from this central location. From the westernmost Munro of the range, Mullach nan Coirean, all the way to Binnein Mòr at the eastern end, every mountain, with the Grey Corries beyond, looked fabulous in the sunshine. 

I spent ages wandering around the summit, taking pictures and gazing at the awesome view, until eventually I headed west down the rocky path that led me down to the saddle and up to the summit of Sgùrr an Iubhair where I took many pictures, mesmerised by the view east, back towards Stob Coire a’ Chàirn with Binnein Mòr behind, displaying the Mamores in its glory. Sadly my photographs lack depth due to the bright sunshine, which is a shame as the view from my perspective was sensational. Eventually I began to descend veering south to avoid the cliffs of Coire nam Miseach until I reached the col where a path led me north descending into Coire a’ Mhusgain. This was an excellent path which I enjoyed coming down until eventually I began to think about dinner since it was now six o’clock. I didn’t want to camp at this point, but I did make my dinner and after eating I continued along the path through the increasingly wooded valley until eventually I reached the road in Glen Nevis. There I turned up the valley along a fabulous path through gloriously wild scenery with bluebells providing a lovely foreground display to the Nevis gorge in the distance. 

This was an exhausting climb because of the warm, sunny evening and it continued as I made my way along the road and through the fabulous Nevis gorge footpath, which has not lost any of its charm despite being very popular. The Steall waterfall at the top was lit by the setting sun, but with a large party preparing to camp there I kept going until I reached the ruins of Steall and camped there. This was a long, tiring day passing through amazing scenery with fabulous weather that you can often only dream about in the Highlands of Scotland, so I felt fortunate. I keep telling myself that I now prefer long distance trails instead of mountains, but when you are at the top of a mountain in good weather the old feelings about mountains come back. But going up a mountain is a lot easier when you are not carrying the heavy camping equipment required for a long distance trail and I could tell my body was more than twenty years older than when I was first in the Mamores with my knees especially causing me problems on this walk.