Munros + Corbetts - 2009
08 October 2009 ....... Stob Coire Sgriodain + Chno Dearg
These two munros lie a few kilometres south of Laggan Dam, and just to the east of Loch Treig. You could get to them by coming down the track from the bridge across the middle bit of Loch Laggan, but it`s probably easier to go for the longer walk-in from Fersit.
It isn`t the easiest of walks across the lower ground south of Fersit - very rough and very wet. It got a bit drier as I headed up towards Sron na Garbh-bheinne. Climbing up Sron na Garbh-bheinne gets quite steep in places, and I got stuck when I met a band of steeply sloping bare rock - eventually I found a way up it, otherwise I would have had to drop down quite a bit to get round it.
Once I got up past Sron na Garbh-bheinne, I found a cat track that comes all the way up from the track that goes from Fersit to Corrour, so I could have had a much easier climb up.
The climb up from Sron na Garbh-bheinne to the summit of Stob Coire Sgriodain is straightforward, except that it is one of these climbs that is a series of bumps - and you don`t see the next bump until you are just about on top of the bump you`re on. So it`s a bit frustrating in that respect - however when you get this view, the summit is just in front of you.
There are some fine views from the summit - Stob Coire Easain and Stob a Choire Mheadhoin are just across Loch Treig, with the Grey Corries just beyond them.
I was very lucky with the weather - whilst I was on Stob Coire Sgriodain, rain showers were sweeping across Loch Laggan and all the hills to the north and east, however it never rained on Stob Coire Sgriodain. There was a bit of a rainbow across the hills between Loch Laggan and Loch Pattack, however it doesn`t really show up in the pictures. However much more impressive was a sudden blob of a rainbow that appeared to the north - it was amazingly bright, and was just the blob - no bow.
The lighting to the south was strange - this is looking south west across to Glencoe, and right down Glen Etive.
Finally, looking across to Chno Dearg, and a bit of the curved ridge that connects Chno Dearg to Stob Coire Sgriodain -
Away in the background of that picture you can see Schiehallion - it`s strange just how many mountains you can see Schiehallion from. I wonder if it is because it is relatively isolated from other munros, and sticks up out of some relatively low ground.
Half-way round the ridge between Chno Dearg and Stob Coire Sgriodain, and another interesting view - looking past the cairn on Meall Garbh towards a heavy shower to the north east, with Creag Meagaidh just about clear of cloud.
As I was walking away from Meall Garbh, along a quite well defined path on quite dry ground, my foot suddenly disappeared down a hole - there was absolutely nothing on the path to indicate a hole, but I sank into some really thick black gunge. After I hauled myself out of it, the surface closed over again, and there was once again little to indicate what lay below, ready to catch the next unsuspecting victim ! It was a bit weird !
Chno Dearg is a bit different from Stob Coire Sgriodain - once past the coll, the climb up is quite smooth and featureless and easy going all the way to the top. By the time I got to the summit, all the showers to the north and east had cleared away, and to the north and east it was quite clear and sunny. So I had a good view across to Creag Meagaidh, the Loch Pattack hills, and Ben Alder.
However to the west it was quite a bit more cloudy, looking back to the south east ridge of Stob Coire Sgriodain -
Zooming in a bit makes a much more dramatic view to the west, with Ben Nevis now visible beyond Stob Coire Easain and Stob a Choire Mheadhoin, and the Grey Corries.
To the south and west, the lighting was now even more strange - the cloud layer had a sort of luminosity about it - the photo gives you some idea of it, but doesn`t really catch it like it was.
Right in the middle of the picture is I think the corbett Glas Bheinn, over to the right is Sgurr Eilde Mor at the eastern end of the Mamores, and Glencoe forms the whole background, separated off by the western end of the Blackwater Reservoir. It was quite a sight.
From Chno Dearg, I came down over Meall Chaorach and Creag Dubh - nothing much of note the whole way down, except that the lower I got, the wetter the ground got. The path along the bottom back to Fersit was absolutely saturated for most of the way, and in the end I gave up trying to keep dry, and just splashed through everything. However it was a good day out, with some interesting bits to it.
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