Glencoe Walking Weekend

A few weeks ago saw the first of our Guided walking weekends offering 3 separate walks in this case around Glencoe. The idea being; come along to 1, 2 or 3 of the days as you fancied, with potential to reduce the overall travel for both clients and myself.

Single day walks inevitably mean traveling back and forth in a single day for a lot of people. Adding this up over multiple trips and especially if you are bagging the Munros is a lot of cost for petrol & a lot of added pollution from the travel. This is not ideal for wallets or the impact it has on the environment. At AP Mountaineering, I am always looking for ways to reduce our impact where possible.

Glencoe

With 3 days available I picked some of my favourite walks, in what is one of the true gems of Scotland, Glencoe. Mobbed with cars driving through at any time of day it is easy to see why. Buachaille Etive Mor looms over you as you pass the Glencoe ski centre, the rocky walls appearing impenetrable. In the centre, the glacial valley itself, with the 3 sisters towering on one side and the Aonach Eagach on the other making you feel tiny and capped at the end by loch Leven. A loch surrounded by mountains and cut across only by the old railway bridge. The famous valley has plenty on offer for mountain walking and the routes offer some superb views but are no push over with most walks start from almost sea level!

Day 1: Buchaille Etive Beag (Small herdsman of Etive)

Maybe the shortest / easiest munro day in Glencoe? This superb mountain offers 2 munros; Stob Coire Raineach (Peak of the corrie of ferns) and Stob Dubh (Black Peak).

With what is best described as driech day, I set off with 2 clients but unfortunately it was quickly apparent that 1 would turn back. They had been sick in the week prior and were struggling because of it. Sadly, the sickness had left him weaker than anticipated and quickly the decision to turn back was made. From here Jeremy & I continued onwards away from the midge riddled carpark. The first part of the route is quite steep but we made it up to the bealach (col), with visibility increasingly shrinking. The forecast had suggested it would clear later on but even with our later start it wasn’t looking promising.

Reaching the bealach just in time for the drizzle to join the party, we headed onwards to Stob Coire Raineach first for summit number 1 of the day. It is a steep ascent with a variety of paths, some looser than others but we picked our way through summiting fairly quickly. No views to be seen, so after the obligatory photos and some snacks we returned the way we had come.

The cloud teased us on descent parting briefly to offer us small glimpses of surrounding mountains, but within minutes was gone leaving us to merely imagine the views.  Back at the Bealach we crossed it and made our ascent to the Stob Dubh as the drizzle set in once again.  

Munro number 2 for the day and it was definitely sandwich time. We hung around while to see if it cleared up, but the drizzle persisted and we headed down reversing the route to the bealach before descending the steep path bath to the carpark. Low down we did pop out below the clouds and a little more was visible but most the mountains still lay cloud covered. But despite the cloud and drizzle it was still a superb day out with Jeremy. We had loads of chat and 2 more munros in the bag for Jeremy!

Day 2: Beinn a’Bheithir (Hill of the Thunderbolt)

With some of the finest views around this mountain starts only a few meters above sea level before summiting both munros at over 1000m making it a very big day. Sgorr Dhearg (Red Peak) and Sgorr Dhonuill (Donalds Peak).

From my accommodation across the water in Onich, I had the perfect view of this huge massif sat on the corner of Loch Leven and Loch Linnhe. Even better was that it was completely cloud free when I awoke for day 2!

After meeting my 3 clients, returning Jeremy, Lucy & Kate in Ballachulish, we headed out past the school and hung a right opting to bypass schoolhouse ridge and instead take the ridge of Beinn Bhan (white mountain) which offers a less technical walk but also affords better views as you ascend down onto the lochs.

It was scorching day so we took it extra slow with plenty of water breaks and eventually made it up onto Sgorr Bhan (White peak) which offers the first truly spectacular view. A beautiful ridge curving its way round to the first munro Sgorr Dhearg. From here after the long ascent this summit push felt relatively short (the guys may not agree!) and we made the most of the great weather chilling on the summit taking in the truly wonderful 360 views. Views out to Skye, Jura, Mull, Lismore, Arran, Ben Nevis & the Mamores, Glencoe & Glen Etives peaks, Cruachan & much much more.

After a good rest (and an adorable dog having off with my sandwich!) we headed down to the bealach before starting the final ascent to the second munro of Sgorr Dhonuill. Not quite as high but still feeling tough and with a bouldery final section to negotiate the team summited. Once again we rested and took in the views. This massif is high on my top 10 favourite munros list for the views and I was glad the teams amazing effort was rewarded with them.

Carefully descending from the summit back the way we had come, we returned to the bealach before dropping into the glen and winding the long way down to the forestry land and tracks. Luckily we had stashed a car at the carpark saving us the long walk back to Ballachulish

A superb effort by the team with a full on 9 hour day. Well worth the long day for the views though on a day like this.  

Day 3: Bidean Nam Bian (Peak of the Mountains)

The highest Munro in Glencoe at 1150m, although invisible from the road, hidden behind the 3 sisters and Stob Coire nan Lochan.

More sickness meaning Jeremys couldn’t make the third day. This left Duncan as the sole client on Sunday. We headed up the Lost Valley of Glencoe, as it was something he’d been keen to see. The valley is well known due its history of hiding rustled cattle by MacDonald Clan members as well as where they were able to escape and take refuge on the night of the Glencoe Massacre.

Heading up into the Lost Valley we took in the beautiful waterfalls, crystal-clear pools and huge house size boulders, hidden among the trees in this very tight gorge. It is a stunning start to the day before you pop out into valley itself. Its falt base and steep sides towering above complete with the not straight forward walk in definitely show you why this would be a place to hide some rustled cattle!

Stopping to take it in the spectacle every so often we casually made our way to the back of the valley and ascended toward the bealach. An initially steadily path finally steepens dramatically ending with a scree section where care is needed both ascending and descending. Sandwich time as we enjoyed the views down Loch Etive. We decided from here we would head up to Bidean Nam Bian. Duncan isn’t set on bagging all the munros but who doesn’t want to have ticked off the highest Munro in Glencoe?

It’s a fairly chilled final push to the summit from the bealach and we quickly found ourselves sat atop Bidean nam Bian, taking in the impressive 360 views it affords. We chilled at the summit for quite a while, because who wants to leave a summit when you have such spectacular views? Before heading down via Stob Coire nan Lochan to mix it up and make a circular route of the day. After the short steep descent down off Bidean nam Bian, we had a gentler walk up to Stob Coire nan lochan before descending through some rocky terrain along the ridge overlooking the coire.

The spectacular much loved winter climbing venue of Stob Corie nan lochan is impressive to walk along the top of in summer looking down into the gulleys and skirting the rocky edges and from below it is equally impressive. Thoughts of winter creep into the conversation (well I say creep, I probably just went for it having done a few routes there last winter!). Below us we could now see all the way back to the car! The descent valley follows a spectacular stream, full of small waterfalls and crystal-clear pools. We made good time from here as the path is solid and easy going and eventually made it back to the car after a long, tough day. The final thing is to turn round and really appreciate the three sisters of Glencoe, knowing we’d walked up in between them and managed a superb loop round the back over the hidden Bidean nam Bian. A great effort by Duncan ticking the highest Munro in Glencoe but also via a fantastic circular route.

And with that, the weekend was over. A superb effort by everyone that came along. Every day was tough in its own way but hopefully the hard work was worth the superb views we had over the weekend.

Interested in a guided walk with us? Look out for our up & coming guided walks & walking weekends here, or on Facebook.