[Trip Index] [Munro Index] [Home] 24th August 2004   Aonach Mor Aonach Beag Map The previous day I'd got up at 4.40, not having slept much, for it was the day Rachel was due to leave for her new job in Spain and I was to take her to Coventry airport by 8.00. Naturally she was wound up to bursting point, emotionally, and there were a few tears. But if being brave means being terrified and doing it anyway - she's brave. It was an awful day too, cold for August and tippling down with rain - a right glum day. I felt near to tears myself by the time I left her but of course daddys have to remain solid and dependable. Anyway I don't hold with these modern notions about how good it is for men to blubber - someone needs to hold it together. From there I had carried on north through the rain and stayed the night at at a B&B in N. Ballachulish, just next to St Brides church, with Kate ??? whose husband Alan had completed all the Munros. £23 for the night. As I was having my breakfast I heard on the local news that a 15 year old lad was missing in Glencoe on Bidean nam Bian. The B&B owner said his son was in the Mountain Rescue Team and had been out all night searching. Apparently the lad's dad had started tiring and had let the lad go on ahead on his own. He turned up ok later, however, having spent the night alone on the mountain. A couple were staying at the B&B and chatted over breakfast. They were both late 20s, him being tall, white, balding and with glasses; she was an Indian girl. They were going to climb Bidean nam Bian that day. In the morning it was overcast and looked like more rain. I drove to the car park at the end of Glen Nevis and looked at the glowering skies feeling little enthusiasm for some reason. Maybe it was the aftermath of Rachel's departure. Still, it wasn't raining so I booted up and set off at 10.10. I made my way along the path up the glen, through the initial woodland bit then on up the valley past the wire bridge until I came to the ruins at Steall - just a few foundations of vanished buildings. From there I turned north up the Allt Coire Giubhsachan. The approach along Glen Nevis The Allt Coire Giubhsachan Of course the diagram in Cameron McNeish's guidebook shows the path going along the right hand side of the stream so that's where I went - and found myself fighting a losing battle slogging through the grass and up steepish slopes, breaking my own trail. Hard work. After a while I crossed over and gained the path; that made it a bit easier but there was still a steep climb up through grass and rocks until the 450 metre level where I emerged onto a broad, flat valley. After an easy but boggy ½ mile trek over this valley there was then a short, not too arduous climb up to the bealach at 822 metres. The flat valley (the bealach is top right) At the bealach between the Aonachs and Carn Mor Dearg Supposedly the way up to Aonach Mor was now on my right but there was no sign of a path there and it looked very steep, with cloud shrouding the upper reaches. I was feeling knackered, unenthusiastic and a bit anxious as the SMC guide had said navigation on the 'featureless plain' of Aonach Mor could be difficult in poor visibility. Briefly considered turning back but I'd had a text message from Rachel saying she was determined to do her best in Spain, so I felt I had to bash on. At the top of Aonach Mor The way up was very steep and the wet grass was slippery - quite unsafe in places and I felt a bit queasy from time to time - thoughts of giving up kept returning. Still, I kept on and after entering the thinnish cloud layer I managed to haul myself up to the top of the steep bit. As the ground levelled out onto the upper ridge/plain I headed for the summit by compass but soon found a good path which took me all the way there. Navigation wasn't difficult at all. The summit plateau is broad and grassy with a cairn marking the top. (2.20) Not much to see so I retraced my steps for a few hundred yards then took the left fork where the path split and followed this south down an easy incline to the col between Aonach Mor and Aonach Beag. The cloud cleared a bit at that point and gave a few decent views of AB's eastern cliffs. There were some steep drops on the eastern side of the connecting ridge but all quite safe. From the col the ascent of Aonach Beag was fairly easy and straightforward; a bit steeper than the final ascent of Aonach Mor but there wasn't a great deal of re-ascent to do and there were no navigation problems. I got to the top, a flattish rocky area with a small cairn, at 3.05. Someone had arranged some stones on the ground by the cairn, spelling out '100' - presumably their 100th munro (or 100th birthday). It was my 157th. (munro!) Summit cairn on Aonach Beag Any idea who left this message? There were still no views to be had because of the cloud and with no obvious path down on that stony surface I set off and followed the compass SW. Shortly after leaving the top it began to rain - funny as I'd said to the couple staying at the B&B over breakfast that I didn't like setting out in the rain but didn't mind if it started on the way down. Anyway I soon picked up a path and emerged from the cloud as the land dropped down. Then came a long, steep descent through grass and craggy outcrops, down the SW spur and back to the valley of the Allt Coire Guibhsachan by which I'd ascended. The rain stopped about halfway down and I didn't get too wet. From there a straightforward return and I was back at the car by 17.40. Ben Nevis as seen from the descent of Aonach Beag Walking back along Glen Nevis: The Falls of Steall I managed to get B&B at RowanLea in Fort William, overlooking the Loch but quite a way out. It was run by a bloke called Alastair Cameron and he was only charging £16 for the night. This was because he couldn't be bothered to cook breakfast - you just got cereal and toast. Still, it sounded ok to me. I went back to Fort William for food but all the eating places were too crowded for my taste so I got back in the car and drove out to the Hotel by the Caledonian Canal locks - Neptune's Staircase they're called. There I had a pint of Guinness, a really excellent tomato and red pepper soup, and some macaroni and salad. I called in at Safeway on the way back and got a couple of Tiramisu for afters. There was a bloke ahead of me at the checkout, the archetypal single male going by the items in his basket: a white loaf, shampoo, two pot noodles and a bottle of Smirnoff. Back at the B&B Alastair asked if I wouldn't mind having breakfast at 7.20. A strange time but I didn't mind. His observations on Munros were that he wouldn't go up mountains on holiday, he'd spend the time in the pub.