Sunday, April 21, 2019

Steall Hut meet, 13-14 April

A crew of nine AMCers headed west the other Friday, with a four hour drive and easy half hour stomp up Glen Nevis landing us at the Steall Hut, maintained by Lochaber Mountaineering Club. Those who arrived in the daylight got to appreciate the hut's dramatic location, with the huge bulk of Ben Nevis and Carn Mor Dearg to the north, the Mammores to the south, and the 120m high Steall Falls just a stone's throw away.

Looking west down Glen Nevis, with the Steall Hut in the distance (Simon Ulyett).
Steall Falls (Alex Brown).

Those who arrived later on had the alternative pleasure of negotiating the wire bridge, fully laden, in the dark.
Crossing the cable bridge (Hazel Meehan).

Saturday's forecast promised sunshine and south-easterly winds, and both were delivered in abundance.
A gorgeous morning (Hazel Meehan).

Derek and Hazel set off up the glen, targeting a 'missed munro' of  Sgurr Choinnich Mor via two tops. Having made it up the first top, Sgurr a Bhuic, and part way along the bealach to Sgurr Choinnich Beag, they decided that the strong crosswinds were only going to get worse, and called it a day.

Derek on the way up Sgurr a Bhuic, all smiles before the wind really hit! (Hazel Meehan)

Back to the west, Mark, Joe, Greg and Mark were also getting buffeted by the winds up high. They opted to ascend Carn Mor Dearg before taking the CMD arete around to Ben Nevis, taking in the summit and its two tops. There were a couple of hard snow patches to negotiate, and the wind was cold and relentless, but it was deemed to be a fine day out.

Negotiating some early bogs in the glen (Mark Moynagh).

Mark on the way up Car Mor Dearg (Greg Blower).
Greg, on the summit of Carn Mor Dearg, with the arete round to the Ben behind (Mark Moynagh)

On the opposite site of the glen, Simon, Steve and Alex completed the classic horseshoe of the Ring of Steall. While the clear air and sunshine made for spectacular views, the peristent strong winds rushing over the ridge were cold and hard work. Sudden gusts had them hunkering down on several occasions, while one particularly strong blast ripped Alex's sunglasses off and away down the mountain! Nonetheless, in the sun and the lee of the wind, the pauses for snacks and photos (of which there were many) were genuinely pleasant.
Up on the ridge (Alex Brown).
Looking across to Stob Ban (Simon Ulyett).

Heading up towards the 4th Munro, shortly before being blown to the ground! (Alex Brown)
A great day for panoramas. Ben Nevis centre right (Simon Ulyett).

One of many very picturesque lunch spots (Alex Brown).

We picked a fairly unpleasant descent route, but it did afford stunning views across the glen, past the hut to the Ben (Alex Brown).

With all parties safely back in the hut, the evening meal was tackled with typical AMC culinary prowess. Keen to avoid carrying out any unnecessary weight, excellent food and drink were efficiently dispatched into bellies with little regard for the blocked toilet situation.

Replenishing reserves (Hazel Meehan).

Sunday morning brought more cloud and even more wind, and few were keen to get up high again. Some headed straight back east via coffee stops in Fort William, with others following suit after some short excursions. Simon and Mark walked up the glen, turning back after an hour or so of intermittently losing the path and sinking into bogs. Alex followed the same route on a run, and also succumbed to the frequent boggy ground before too long.

Looking west from a few miles up Glen Nevis (Alex Brown).
A great couple of days and back in time for dinner!

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