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Buchaille Etive Mor - the Big Herdsman of Etive, Glencoe
Stob Dearg Stob na Broige Map Showers on and off early in the morning but we got the tent down - a robin perched on the tent pole while we were doing it - and then drove up to Glencoe. There was some heavy rain on the trip up there but by the time we got to the parking place this had stopped and with the cloud clear of the mountain tops we set off at 10.45, a song in our hearts and immortal fame and glory set firmly in our sights.
From the A82 a distinct, well-maintained path takes you to the mountain, past a whitewashed house - Lagangarbh - and on up into the Coire Tulaich. There the way gets steeper and then steeper still as it approaches the wall-like head of the coire - in fact some blokes there were messing about with ropes but that was well over the top. It wasn't really all that hard and we were soon on the ridge where you bear left and follow a path to get to the summit. (12.45).
It was easier going on the ridge, rocky and a bit narrow in places but not a problem anywhere. At the summit there's a cairn and a windbreak and the hill falls steeply away on most sides. A dreadlocked lad and his girlfriend were there already and he took our photo. Just then the party of 5 rope-artists arrived but they'd freed themselves of their bonds by then. Oh, and a man with his dog turned up. Busy, eh. Anyway after a brief stop to take in the good views down to Glen Coe, we retraced our steps back along the rocky ridge to the top of the coire and carried on towards the next top. There was more cloud about but we could always see where we were going, none of this blind groping about in murk thankfully.
The next top was a very large, impressive peak called Stob na Doire which I would have thought should have been classed as a munro itself - it's certainly a lot bigger than the 'real' second munro we were headed for. Then on over another top, Stob Coire Altruim. It had started raining by now, not the hard driving stuff but enough to get you pretty soggy. On the way to the final munro, Stob na Broige, we met up with the dreadlock couple again and had a chat about how to get down into the valley. They said there were two ways - the well established path which started on the other side (N) of Stob Coire Altruim, its head apparently marked by a cairn, and a less well-trodden route of 'pink scree' down which they'd seen the dog man go. We continued on to the unremarkable summit of Stob na Broige - rain, rocks and another stony windbreak (3.10). Then back we went, deciding to forgo the dogman route despite the alternative meaning some reascent. At least it wasn't Stob na Doire we had to reascend - I think that would definitely have pushed me towards taking my chances on the scree. At the head of the path down someone had laid out a small arrow with stones, pointing the way. As I hadn't noticed it on the previous way past I think it must have been left by the dreadlock couple to help us - very nice of them.
Down we went, very steep at the top, rocky and shaley in places, and still raining steadily. Lots of water was cascading down the hillside now, making the path into a stream in several places. At the bottom we forded a river in spate, getting our feet completely wet through, and then we squelched the rest of the way along the valley, the Lairig Gartain, following the path back to the road. I think we got back around 5.40. No camping that night - we got a B&B in Tyndrum instead and had a bar meal and couple of pints in the pub whose name I've forgotten - the one next to the Green Welly shop. Gave the Royal a miss this time.
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