Buachaille Etive Mor (Stob Dearg , Stob Na Broige) - Glencoe - Oct 2003

Buachaille Etive Mor Information

Ah Buachaille Etive Mor, my first Munro and what a way to start.  These hills lay claim to be the best Munro's in Scotland and I have to agree.  Stob Dearg is un-mistakable for anyone traveling up through the Glen as it towers over you in the left hand side with its very daunting face.  The add on of Stob Na Broige makes this walk very rewarding and if you get the weather for it then you will definitely have a good walk.  Most easily accessed from Kingshouse these hills are still within daytrip distance from Glasgow making them a popular batch of hills.  If you want to start you Munro Bagging on a plus then I recommend the Glen Coe hills or Buachaille Etive Mor in particular.

Buachaille Etive Mor Route

Start off by parking Altnafeadh Cottage ( there's a wee car park on the left with about space for about 6 cars or so.)  Next head down off the other side of the car park and follow the path to the base of the hill.  it quite obvious where you are going.  You want to head up the small valley that runs up the side off the hill don't worry the path leads you straight up there anyway.  Its a steep climb and limited views to start with until after about 2 hours or so until you get out of the valley.  This is where you split go left and follow the ridge to the top of Stob Dearg there is a lot of boulders so watch your ankles.  Take in the brilliant views you get from here of the Aonach Enoch and Bidean Nam Bian.  It is a very impressive summit where you can see all around, its very "braveheartish" ( what a word).  Next head back down where you came to where the path forked and follow the ridge going left at the fork.  Again its very obvious where you are going.  You will soon get to the first summit, this is Stob Na Doire.  This is where I stopped, I didn't plan on doing all the Munros at this point but was just out for a stroll up a hill,  but another half an hour or so walking along the same ridge past Na Doire will take you to Stob na Broige, you can see the summit.  Ah now here comes the fun bit getting down.  You could retrace your steps all the way back to there the path forks and go back down the way you came or if you are like me you can make it fun.  Just before the summit of Stob Na Doire there is another valley just to the left of the one you came up on  you can go down here which is a lot more fun as the valley is more open and is a bit more exciting.  For the top half there is a lot of scree and rocks you need to scramble down over.  I don't think there was a path which also made it fun, go where you want but watch out the scree can be dangerous.  The bottom half of the valley is grassy and makes a nice change for the soles of your feet that's for sure.  Once you reach the base of the hills there will be a river in front of you River Coe I do believe so turning right and following this river will lead you back to the Car Park.

The weather for this day was fantastic.  My whole Glen Coe weekend had amazing weather just what you need for your first Munro.  Visibility was excellent.  Hmm cant wait to finish to do the other Glen Coe hills if these were anything to go by.      

Buachaille Etive Mor Photos / Images / Pictures

                     On Stob Dearg Summit ridge                          Going over to Stob Na Doire. Such good visibility