but approached from Glen Nevis they have lost none of their rugged appeal. There is an air of seriousness about them. Like many grand old men they need to be approached with care.
Starting from Glen Nevis, follow the popular walk through the gorge, past the beautiful Steall waterfall, to the little wooden bridge over the Allt Coire Giubhsachan. Turn north just before the bridge and climb steeply alongside the burn with its attractive waterfalls to reach a huge open corrie. One side of this great amphitheatre is hemmed in by the southeastern edge of the Ben Nevis/Carn Mor Dearg horseshoe, whilst on the other side looms the great bulk of Aonach Mor and the craggy southwest ridge of Aonach Beag. Follow the path to the head of the corrie, where it climbs to a small col between Carn Mor Dearg and Aonach Mor 18715 72078 (2hrs 40mins).
Head east up a steep spur to arrive on easier ground at the southern end of Aonach Mor’s broad plateau, then head north up the gentle incline of the plateau to Aonach Mor’s summit cairn at 19310 72942 (3hrs 50mins). There is little difficulty in finding the right line onto the plateau in ascent, but (for anyone using this as an escape route) finding the right descent line in poor visibility is not nearly so easy. An error in navigation could lead to dangerous ground if you try to descend either too far to the north or too far to the south. Start the descent at 19243 72210 and keep a close eye on the aspect of slope to make sure you aren’t being lured off the right line.
From the summit of Aonach Mor, head south along the plateau, then south-southeast to cross the col between the two Aonachs. A glimpse over the edge to the east here will often reveal patches of snow that have stayed in the shelter of these gullies right through the summer. There is some wonderful mountain scenery to admire on both sides. Climb the stony ridge to the summit of Aonach Beag, which despite its name is actually the bigger of the two hills. The cairn is some way back at 19713 71487 (4hrs 50mins).
Glen Nevis
Aonach Beag from Sgurr Choinnich Mor
The summit of Aonach Beag is dome shaped, and the whereabouts of the southwest ridge is not immediately clear from the top. Trusting your compass bearing, however, will soon bring the ridge into view. A path leads down, occasionally dodging round obstacles and always staying well to the left (east) of the main cliffs. It returns, steeply at times but without difficulty, past the old ruin to the little wooden bridge at Steall. From here it is plain sailing along the tourist path back to the car park.
THE GREY CORRIES
The surface rock of the Grey Corries is mainly a shattered grey-white quartzite, which gives the covering of scree from which the hills get their collective name. From a distance they seem to be shrouded in a pale grey cloth or a capping of snow. The extensive screes on these hills have been formed since the last Ice Age by the repeated action of water freezing and thawing; the water expands like a wedge in tiny crevices in the rock, shattering it into ever-smaller pieces. The whole area has also been subjected to extensive geological folding.
There is no doubt that the best way to experience the excellent ridge walking of the Grey Corries is to climb them in a single expedition, starting at Corriechoille and finishing at Glen Nevis (23km, 8hrs 15mins). This provides a superb day’s walking, covering the whole length of the ridge, with no technical difficulties on the way and fairly easy route-finding as most of the ridge is well defined. There are some fine situations and good views throughout, weather permitting. However this does require the use of a vehicle at either end of the walk, or perhaps the help of an accommodating driver, and for this reason I have split the ridge into two walks here. True, it would be possible to tackle the ridge in one outing from Corriechoille, going as far as Sgurr Choinnich Mor, then returning back along the ridge to the starting point, but this would make for a very long and arduous day, with the need to regain a lot of height over Stob Coire Easain late in the day. If you cannot arrange for transport in Glen Nevis, it would be better to tackle Sgurr Choinnich Mor separately from Glen Nevis on another day, giving two good outings instead of one.
ROUTE 3
Stob Ban (977m), Stob Choire Claurigh (1177m), Stob Coire an Laoigh (1116m)
| Start/Finish | continue south along private track |
| distance | 21km |
| Ascent | 1420m |
| Difficulty | river crossing must be made just above the dam to the north of Beinn na Socaich |
| Time | 7hrs 30mins |
| Maps | OS sheet 41; Explorer map 392; Harvey’s Superwalker map Ben Nevis; Area Map 1 |
| Access | Hillphones, tel: 01397 732362 |
| Parking | by the old tramway (at 27019 72989) south of Corriechoille Farm. This is a private track, and whilst no objection is made at present to parking here, it would be well to check that this is acceptable in future. |
| Hostel | Independent Hostels at Inverroy and Tulloch |
| B&B/Hotel | Spean Bridge |
| Camping | Inverroy; Roy Bridge |
| Pronunciation | Stob Ban; Stob Horrer Clowree; Stob Korrer an Lui |
| Translation | White Peak; Peak of the Clamouring Corrie; Peak of the Corrie of the Calf |
To the east of the Aonachs a fine group of hills called the Grey Corries stretch out across the Killiechonate Forest above Glen Spean. The Grey Corries offer excellent ridge walking with some good views across the central Highlands.
The point where the old tramway crosses the track is not obvious at first, but leave cars at GR 27019 78989 and continue along the gated track through the spruce forest into the well-defined pass, the Lairig Leacach. The track crosses to the east side of the Allt Leachdach for about 3km, then crosses back again towards the top of the pass before arriving after another 1.5km at a small bothy (1hr 40mins).
One route from here crosses the Allt a’ Chuil Choirean then climbs the northeast spur of Stob Ban. However, when the river is full it is much easier to follow its heathery north bank and head in a west-southwesterly direction straight up to the col between Stob Ban and Stob Coire Claurigh. The final slopes are grassy and quite steep, and lead to a small lochan. This lochan, marked on the map at 26519 72851, is obvious when you have found it; however after heavy rainfall there are one or two small pools just before you reach it, which may lead to confusion. From the lochan head south-southwest over an undulating ridge until the path steepens over scree and blocks to reach Stob Ban summit at 26652 72402 (3hrs).
Retrace your steps to the lochan then head north up a broad ridge, veering off to the northwest at about 26466 73683 where grey quartzite blocks begin to litter the hillside. The cairned summit of Stob Choire Claurigh is at 26209 73862 (4hrs).
The Grey Corries, with Stob Coire Easain on right
The ridge leads off to the southwest from here and is well-defined throughout most of its length, as is the undulating pinky-grey path along its crest. It may not be easy in poor weather, however, to identify exactly where you are on the ridge. The path crosses a