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Stob Ban (3278ft) |
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A pleasant sunny mornings drive from Glencoe to Fort William, then through Glen Nevis brought us to the start of the fourth walk, and the third Munro of the week. Parking is available before Polldubh bridge, on the right, (smallish car park, though not marked on OS maps) with a small roadside parking area just over the bridge and right. |
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The walk started by crossing
the style to the right of the one leading to the river bank path. Once
over the style the track heads south and follows the Allt Coire a'
Mhusgain
climbing gently into the glen. After a couple of hundred yards the
path became a little indistinct and a ‘wee’ bit boggy. |
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It wasn’t long before we were
between the ridges of Sgurr a Mhaim (left) and the 'craggy' slopes of Stob
Ban. Here the path started to move away from the
banks of Allt Coire a' Mhusgain
and gradually rose up the
left side. |
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The path eventually
turned up the hillside and zigzagged gaining height ..... however we missed
the rather obscure left turn. There is a path that continues to follow the course of Allt Coire
a' Mhusgain, which we
followed, and took us to an area that required careful negotiation past a gully.
Nice scenic waterfall close by. |
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Once back on the higher path, we
continued to the foot of the pass below Stob Ban and Lochan Coire nam
Miseach, then
followed the winding path up to the pass. The route up Stob Ban looked
rather daunting, very steep and rocky to the south, with a sheer drop to the
north. As always, paths often look worse from a distance ...... however, a
cautious approach was taken with the option of turning back if too exposed.
Route finding was not a problem as it was, yet again, a beautiful sunny day. |
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The path climbed a steep bank
before levelling out to the foot of the rocky section. From here it was a
steep climb which, in a couple of places required the use of hands, though
more for stability than scrambling. However, there wasn’t any place where
I felt exposed to the drops. (...... my 'head for heights' must be improving!) |
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On reaching the end of the
rocky section, it was a walk up a small incline to the top of Stob Ban
..... and the third Munro of the week completed. Another guy could
be seen heading out to the ridge leading to Mullach nan Coirean, the first
person we had seen since setting out. So, it was time to sit in the sun and enjoy the peace and
tranquility. |
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After lunch, and a few photos, it was on the feet and
down the rocky path to the pass. The ascent route was then followed back to Polldubh
bridge and the car. |
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| North side of the approach to Stob Ban | Looking south onto the West Highland Way | Rocky descent from Stob Ban | View north into Glen Nevis |
Copyright © 2002 'Sandy Saunders Productions'. All rights reserved.