Ring of Steall - The Mamores - 19th Sep 2011

Pronunciation/Translation: An Gearanach - an gyeranach (the complainer), Stob Choire a' Chairn - stob corrie a cairn (peak of the corrie of the cairn), Am Bodach - am podach (the old man), Sgurr a' Mhaim - skor a vaim (peak of the large rounded hill).

(Entry by Shona)

From an overnight camp at Glen Etive, we wake to clouds and light rain. After packing up the tent, we head up to Fort William where we stock up on goodies for our hike.
We park the car at the Glen Nevis Lower Falls car park and get all of our gear sorted and feed the dogs before we start the long walk in to the Steall Falls.

Our walk takes us along the south side of the river. It’s pretty squelchy and wet but the path is good enough to follow. We wind our way along the riverbank and into some trees. From here, the path starts to climb along the edge of hill, and the going becomes a little rocky and uneven. We do a little climbing and scrambling before we come to a complete standstill. No idea where the path goes from here and we are perched on a little ledge with a high drop through trees to the river below.

We see a few people on the opposite bank and shout over to them to see if they can see the path on the other side. They tell us that there is a path farther along so we carefully pick our way across the rock face, and head up the hill where we join a proper path heading down to the Steall Meadows. The river is wide and shallow here. The meadows are flat and open ground surrounded by the mountains. We can see and hear the Steall Falls and head towards the mountaineering hut.

After a few snaps, we head towards the base of the water falls and eventually find a place to cross the water. The ground on this side of the falls is very boggy and we zig zag through various bogs to the higher ground. From here we head up in a steep ascent across the northern shoulder of An Gearanach. We meet a fellow hiker who tells of the weather from the summit. It’s not looking good and he has turned back. We decided to plod on regardless. Further up we cross paths with a few other hikers who have also decided to turn back. Again, we choose to head on up.

We put our waterproofs on as the rain has made an appearance. A little further up we start to feel the wind pick up. A quick discussion sees us heading for the summit to take a weather check from there. We summit An Gearanach (982m) and quickly move on as it is now pretty cold and windy. The ridge narrows here before it drops off the other side of the mountain and takes us up towards Stob Choire a' Chairn (981m). We stop here to look back where we descended before heading towards our next summit.

We get to the summit and carry on walking for a few minutes before we realise that we have followed the wrong path and are heading towards Na Gruagaichean. Um, that wouldn’t have been a good move. We head back towards the ridge and we are soon back on track and heading southwest towards Am Bodach (1032m).

The ascent is hard going, nearly vertical and the path zig zags tightly for what seems like an eternity. We eventually reach the summit cairn and stop for something to eat. We find a place which is relatively sheltered from the wind and stock up on energy for the remaining two peaks of the ring. Making sure we are still on the correct path, we head on to Sgor an lubhair. The ridge has narrowed here and the wind has picked up. Intermittent rain means the ground is soft and slippery so we are careful not to make any mistakes up here.

The dogs arent their usual spritely selves and are cold and wet. They choose the paths where there is less wind and stay close to us. We reach the next top and carry straight on through the mist towards the last Munro in the ring. The path crosses another track and Eric heads west. After a very loud shout to him followed with a hand signal, he sees that he is on the exit path. We head up the side of Sgurr a' Mhaim (1099m). It is very windy here with sheer drops on both sides of the ridge now.

Devils Ridge is the most dangerous place on this walk and it is not recommended in high winds. (like today!) We summit our last peak and do a quick check of the map as our route guide states we can walk off the north side, straight down to the car park. We decide that it isnt safe to go this way in thick mist and high winds, so we head back to where the  path crossed the earlier exit track.

Heading back along this part of the ridge was an interesting experience. The wind was severe and even the dogs were looking more than a little nervous. I got blown right off my feet here and was a little too close to the edge for comfort. We make it to the cross roads in one piece and head down a very good path, which takes us down to the Coire a' Mhusgain lochan. We have a quick map check and notice that someone has decided to camp next to the water.

As we head along the path, we go cross country and take a shortcut to where we want to be. From here the path is long and follows the girth of the mountainside, right round before dropping to meet the river. As we head down, the river drops down further and we follow the lower slopes until we can see Glen Nevis and then we see the car park. Another half hour and we are back the car.

As the dogs tuck into their treat of a pigs ear each, we sort our gear before heading back to Glasgow.

Time taken: 9 hours from 10.30am – 7.30pm.