Scottish Wanderings: Loch Cluanie Munros & Grey Corries

I visit Scotland from time to time to see friends and to seek for "Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer" moments. The "Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer" is a classic, romantic painting by Caspar David Friedrich from 1818 that has inspired me. Here it is, free to use, from Wikipedia.

This time Mike and Roger drove up from Oxford to Edinburgh whilst I flew from Munich and Ralf, a new Munro recruit, flew in from Düsseldorf. After a night near Edinburgh airport we drove to Loch Cluanie to do Carn Ghluasaid (957 m), Sgurr nan Conbhairean (1109 m) and Sail Chaorainn (1002) m. The round was 16.5 km and we ascended 1268 m as Strava tells me.

Here is Ralle during the ascent from Loch Cluanie on a cold early May day... 

 ... and here he is on a second photo...

 ... and here it starts snowing. 

 Scottish weather, 4 seasons in a day and all that. We saw some ptarmigans...

 ... and then after a long ascent approached the summit...

 ... high above loch Cluanie...

 ... to reach the summit cairn whilst the sun was shining. 

 To the Northeast is a wild corrie, that I remember from my first round of the Munro's. On those day, roughly 15 years ago, I did it in mid winter and a large amount of snow was covering the hills and glens. 

 After that we ascended Sguarr nan Conbhairean which was, with 1109 m, the high point of the day. 

 Again dark clouds during the descent...

 and a long way to the outlier Sail Chaorainn and back down into the glen. 

We then drove a few km towards Skye to stay in the Ruarach Croft near Dornie. This is a great B&B for those that wish to walk in Glenshiel or nearby.  

The plan for the next day was to do the Grey Corries ridge from Glen Nevis. This includes Sgurr Choinnich Mor (1094 m), Stob Coire an Laoigh (1117 m), Stob Choire Claurigh (1177 m), then Stob Ban (977 m) and is the Lochaber traverse. We discussed the idea but with tired legs Mikes suggested  to start in Glen Nevis and to finish in Glen Spean. This walk was 23 km long and had 1711 m of ascent. Here are some bluebells near the start...

 ... here is the A team and the "don't fall" sign.

Here, Mike leaves the glen with Ben Nevis behind emerging from the gorge. 

At the end is a sheltered meadow with a wire bridge over the stream. Mike and I had to test the wire bridge.

We then walked past the Steall waterfall...

 ... and ascended the Grey Corrie ridge on trackless ground from the South. 

 Here, Sgurr Choinnich More, the first Munro, becomes visible,...

 ... here Roger ascends the steep bit of the top before the Munro...

 ... here we have managed the major ascent of the day...

 ... before descending briefly to a bealach before ascending Sgurr Choinnich Mor. 

 Another photo of the ascent to our first Munro, now just 10 min away.

 The ridge was a wee bit windy and there were sections of snow...

 ... and scrambly rock. 

 Here, we have reached Stob Coire an Laoigh for a break. 

 Here we continue with the great winter climbing buttress of Coire an Laoigh behind us. 

 During the descend from Stob Choire Laoigh we used the snow which thankfully covered an awful boulder field ...

 ... before continuing to descend on a grassy slope. Here, Roger is on it with Stob Ban in the distance. 

 Roger and Mike then deposited their rucksack at the bealach and we ascended Stob Ban.

 Here, a photo of Mike and myself on the summit cairn after the short ascent. 

 We then descended to the Lairig Leacach bothy, where Ralf had started to prepare pot noodles and soup. 

 We then followed the landrover track back to our car for a 10 pm curry in Fort William. 

Again a weekend in Scottish Wanderer mode. Gorgeous views and the feelings of space, freedom and solitude.

Epilogue: When I returned the car at Edinburgh airport, I had to pay GBP198 for a tiny rubber damage near some existing and recorded rim damage. I am pretty sure that we did not cause the rubber damage. The company is Green Motion and if you google for it then you will see that they have a terrible reputation. A whistleblower even suggested that they get bonuses for making folks pay for damage that they did not cause: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-46974240. Wanderer mode ended quickly.

HW

Mixed emotions in Scotland

For the last weekend of the semester, I had booked a Friday-to-Monday trip to Scotland to meet Robbie and Katie and to winter climb. But then the news came: Andy Nisbet and Steve Perry had perished on Ben Hope, my last Munro. Two great Scottish mountaineers. Here Simon writes euologies:

http://www.scottishwinter.com/?p=6974

http://www.scottishwinter.com/?p=6967 

So I flew to Edinburgh with mixed emotions, ran 10 km up and 10 km down Glen Tilt in a rainy storm and stayed with Katie and Robbie in Forres. Here is Robbie during our again stormy run on the Saturday. 

In the afternoon I drove to Aberdeen to meet Simon. I was lucky, as the mild & wet storm had given way to cold & crisp weather. The ephemeral was happening. We rose at 5 am and two hours later we ascended Lochnagar.

 Here we reach the col...

 ... and here we approach the Southern sector where I had never climbed before. 

 We climbed two two-pitch grade IV routes. Here is Simon just above the crux of the first climb...

 ... here on our way to the second climb...

... and here he climbs route number two. 

On route 2 I had again the easy pitch but with an exposed tip toe traverse out onto a nose.

Monday was the last cold day before things would go back to wet and windy and my last day in Scotland. The running and the two routes on Lochnagar had taken their toll and so when the alarm rang at 4 am I scored a 0.001 out of 10 on the motivation scale. We drove to one of the Angus glens. Unfortunately, our first line was not in condition and so we had to walk quite some distance before we spotted an icy line high up. 

It looked better and better the closer we went. Here is Simon on the steep entry to the gully.  

After that, the angle eased to the belay. I climbed pitch two which also had a steep step. 

Fantastic climbing so close to my former home. Here is Simon judging the climb with his facial expression. 

 The third pitch is easier but again ice and neve all the way to the top. 

 When topping out I scored 10.001 out of 10 on the motivation scale. A great grade III ice gully and a top out into warmish February sunshine. 

 I briefly lay down to photograph one feature that I love above the Angus glens: that yellow grass coming out of the snow. 

Then a walk on the plateau, here with Mayar behind...

 ... and finally down the Kilbo path.  

All of this is what Andy and Steve had loved. I thought of them when descending from this snowy, light world into the glen below. 

HW