Glen Noe trip…the light fantastic

If I had to pick out a least favourite hill from my first round of the Munros it would have been Ben Cruachan. Crazy, eh? Isn't it one of the most beautiful of all hills, with a view to match? Well yes, but it was one of those rainy, claggy days, and we saw nothing. But more to the point, our route combined two things which, for me, are always a bit of a turn-off: a straight-up from a main road, and a walk past a hydro scheme. And yes, this is hypocritical of me, since I drive on main roads, and we even have running water in our house. But I go to the hills to get away from civilisation if I can. Cruachan had to have better.

Well it does, and it's called Glen Noe. It was late September 2010 - a real Indian summer - and we had parked up the van overnight in the car park of Inverawe Country Park. Bikes off the back first thing in the morning, and off we went along Etiveside to Glennoe House. Only three miles, and easily walkable, but with a full pack the bike can be a real foot saver. So, bikes stashed just above Glennoe House, and about half a mile up the glen we came to the most perfect campy spot.

Nice, eh?

There are some days when the light seems super-translucent…

…and everywhere you look makes you stop and just stare. But this was late September, and even if it felt like summer, the light would not last that long. So, thoughts turned to moving. Up the shaded side of Meall Riaghain seemed best.

C coming up onto Meall Riaghain, with Etive and Beinn Sgulaird beyond.

And now the view ahead, to Cruachan on the left, and Stob Dearg nearest. All that glitters isn't gold, though, and a lot of the bright patches were actually verglas, which made the route up Stob Dearg hairier than it might have been.

When the conditions are like this in late September, it feels to me as if we don't want to move in case we disturb things.

On to the summit of Cruachan.

It was past four by now, and we had the summit and the rest of the ridge to ourselves. A short while later we reached Stob Diamh.

Shadows were lengthening in Glen Noe. This was taken from Sron an Isean, and our route back to the Glen went straight down from here.

Always a bit unnerving when you can't see the whole route down to the glen. But where there's a willful walker…

…there's a way. Down through the shadows…

…and back into the glorious sun.

The last light…

…had left the Glen by now, but as we got back to the tent…

…there was just enough warmth left in the air for a sheep-shocking skinny-dip, a tot of Macallan and tea. Clean, fed, and water-of-lifed: did we feel good? Think about it! But would the light still be there for us in the morning?

No worries! Nothing had changed in the air. So, the plan for day two was Beinn a' Chochuill and Beinn Eunaich. Straight up the shallow slopes of Aonach Bhreac, the views across to Cruachan were fantastic.

And the higher up the ridge we got, the more improbable Cruachan looked.

We weren't the only ones admiring the view. Ben More and Stob Binnein basking in the background. In the foreground, if I'm not much mistaken, is a brown-backed feather-wing. Trust me, what I don't know about birds you could write in a bird-watcher's guidebook.

Statutory summit shots of Beinn a' Chochuill with Glen Kinglas beyond…

…and Beinn Eunaich with the Ben beyond…

…and then back the same way. It was half-four by the time we got back to the tent - but plenty of time to linger and still cycle out in the light. If there seem to be as many photos of the tent here as there are of Cruachan itself, that's probably about right, since the star of the show was really the camp spot in Glen Noe. I know there's nothing original about the routes we took, but since we saw no-one during those two days in Glen Noe, it felt original. And for me it's that feeling that counts.