The Mamores

Saturday
I parked at Gray Mare's Tail carpark in Kinlochleven, and set off without too much of a definite plan. I knew that I wanted to camp high, and had my sights set on doing a couple of the Munros at the Eastern end of the Mamores. At the time it seemed like a good idea not to park at Mamore Lodge Hotel - although with hindsight it would have saved me an awkward descent.


The path out of the carpark rises steeply up to where it joins the landrover track to Luibeilt. Shortly after, the path around Sgurr Eilde Beag became visible and took me up to the lochan where I thought I may camp. Once I'd decided that doing the whole range in 2 days would be hard work, I homed in on a vague plan to do Sgurr Eilde Mor and Binnean Beag on Sat, and then Binnean Mor and Na Gruagaichean on Sunday. In my quest to keep the rucksack weight down, I'd conveniently decided against taking the guide book with me, and as I got to the lochan, I realised that none of the paths were obvious! The other "problem" was that the descent between the lochan and the path to Binnean Beag was far bigger that I'd expected.

I set off to climb Sgurr Eilde Mor, and was soon overtaken by a group who seemed to know the route (always helpful!). About 1/2 way up I decided to abandon the rucksack, and was able to continue at a far quicker pace. The path near the top was steep, and the loose rock made it hard going. Eventually I reached the summit to discover that the group that had overtaken me were celebrating one of their number having completed all 284 Munros!

The descent down the top section was een hairier than going up, but I managed to collect my rucksck and make it back down to the lochan where I set up camp.

Sunday
Having had a fitful night's sleep, I managed to lie in until 8.30. My plan was to follow a path (marked on the map) up to the ridge between Sgurr Eilde Beag and an unnamed top. Once on the ridge I would be able to see Binnean Mor and Na Gruagaichean and decide between these. Not having brought a daysack with me, I set off with my compass in my camera bag and my platypus in my hand. Talk about travelling light!

The path to the ridge was clear, until about 3/4 of the way up when it traversed a snow field. Crossing this was okay, but 50m below the ridge I met another one - except this time it was vertical! Having come this far, I wasn't going to turn around, so I found a couple of sharp roks that I could use to assist with handholds and started kicking steps into the snow. Once safely on the ridge, I decided that I need to find an alternative way down!

As I walked to the unnamed top, I could see the path clearly on both ridges. I opted for Binnean Mor and soon reached the summot. I got chatting to a local who helped me out by describing a better route for my descent back to camp.

I headed back to the unnamed top and took the other ridge to Na Gruagaichean. This ridge was rockier than the previous one, but still had an obvious path. All the while, on both ridges, I had a great view of a cloud free Ben Nevis and Carn Mor Dearg Arete in one direction, and Bidneam Nam Bian and Glencoe in the other.


The descent back to camp meant retracing my route back to the unnamed top (again!) and then along the ridge to Sgurr Eilde Beag, with the red cairn marking the path down.

I'd packed up everything bar the tent in the morning, so it didn't take too long to strike camp and begin the long trek down. By this time both my feet were aching and it was tempting to stay another night, but I resisted the urge.

I descended to Loch Eilde Mor by a different path to the one i'd walked up. This way meant a long walk along the lochside track. The steep descent into Kinlochleven was a killer - next time I definitely park at Mamore Lodge!

(Technical Data: distance = 24km, ascent = 1850m)