The mid-level hills are more demanding. They tend to offer arduous half-days, somewhat tougher but less rockily rewarding than the higher ground. Chase after them though for good views achieved in solitude, or on a windy day or one with poor-quality soggy snow on the bigger hills.
On mountains of 900m and upwards, bare rocks and stones replace the clinging heather or grassy tufts. Or else you’re on a path; popular ways lead to all the Munro summits. The high ground may be comparatively easy but it is also serious. On the ridges of Bidean nam Bian you’re several hours’ walk from any shelter, and that walk will involve finding your way down between crags.
Fancy backpacking, but not sure how it all fits together? Worried you might pack too little gear into the big rucksack – or, even worse, too much? The treks and through routes are full-on in terms of big scenery, lochs and rivers, and real remote country. But at the same time they are fairly easy-going in terms of tracks and footpaths, and a couple of bothies just in case you did manage to lighten your pack by leaving behind the tent poles.
But let’s be hopeful and suppose you remember the tent poles (and even the tent itself), get the weight below 25lb/12kg without leaving out anything that really matters, start early, and keep the speed sensibly low. Then Glen Coe and Glen Nevis could turn you from a boring Munro-bagger into a backpacker for ever.
Within the various sections, the through routes are described from south to north so as to get the bad weather beating on your back. In the northern part of the area, routes web in and out around Corrour station at the edge of Rannoch Moor. The overview maps let you link them into expeditions of up to a week.
These overview maps also mark deer-stalking estates. In Scotland there is a legal right of access to virtually all open country, provided that access is taken responsibly. In certain areas, responsible access means – during three months of autumn – adapting your walking so as not to disturb deer stalking. Over Ben Nevis itself, and in Glen Coe, there is free access year-round; in places like Black Mount and Etive, where deer are hunted for sport, helpful phone lines or agreed routes are available. Full details are in Appendix B.
Wild camping below Castle Ridge on the exciting side of Ben Nevis (Route 10)
When to go
April is still winter on the summits, but low-level routes already offer good walking then and in May. The leaves are breaking and birds are at their noisiest. Low-level routes are also excellent in October as the birch leaves turn gold.
May and June are enjoyable at all altitudes. July and August can be hot and humid, with less rewarding views and midges infesting the glens. West Highland midges can be pretty grim; the trick is to keep moving, and when you stop, stop high.
Midges hang on until the first frost, normally some time in September. October often brings clear air and lovely autumn colours. In between times there’ll be gales. Deer stalking (mid-August to mid-October) causes only minor disturbance to hillwalking in this area; with a little care and consultation, you can have hill days here during the stalking season more readily than anywhere else in Scotland (see Appendix B).
Winter is a time of short days and often foul weather. Snow often lies on the high tops from December to April, with patches in the corries obstructing some routes even into June. Well-equipped walkers skilled in navigation and with ice axe love the winter most of all, for the wonderful crisp snow along the ridges of Bidean and the 100km views through the winter-chilled air.
The grand winter ridge of Ben Starav (Route 73)
WEATHER AND SNOW CONDITIONS
The most useful and accurate Internet forecast is at Mountain Weather Information Systems www.mwis.org.uk. This site has links to snow reports from various Fort William climbers and guides. The Scottish Avalanche Information Service issues forecasts of snow conditions and avalanche risk daily for Glencoe and for Lochaber (Ben Nevis area) from December through to Easter at www.sais.gov.uk.
A webcam for Ben Nevis is at visit-fortwilliam.co.uk/webcam. For Glen Coe, see the Meall a’ Bhuiridh ski area (or not, if the cloud’s down) at www.glencoemountain.co.uk/webcams.html.
Safety in the mountains
In Glen Coe and Lochaber you’re usually within a few hours of a road; but the downward ground may be steep with crags. Safety and navigation in the mountains is best learnt from companions, experience, and perhaps a paid instructor; such instruction is outside the scope of this book. Those experienced in smaller, less steep hills will need some extra fitness and endurance, and a level of map expertise that enables you to get away safely when the headwind that’s cutting you off from your descent route is also going to shred your map should you attempt to unfold it.
The international mountain distress signal is some sign (shout, whistle, torch flash or other) repeated six times over a minute, followed by a minute’s silence. The reply is a sign repeated three times over a minute, followed by a minute’s silence. To signal for help from a helicopter, raise both arms above the head and then drop them down sideways, repeatedly. If you’re not in trouble, don’t shout or whistle on the hills, and don’t wave to passing helicopters.
To call out the rescue, phone 999 from a landline. From a mobile, phone either 999 or the international emergency number 112: these will connect you via any available network. Reception is good on most summits and ridges, but absent in places without direct sightlines to Fort William, Glencoe village or the mast behind Kings House. Sometimes a text message can get through when a voice call can’t. For this you must pre-register your phone with the emergencySMS service (www.emergencysms.org.uk).
Given the unreliable phone coverage, it is wise to leave word of your proposed route with some responsible person (and, of course, tell that person when you’ve safely returned). Youth hostels have specific forms for this, as do many independent hostels and B&Bs. You could also leave word at the police stations at Glencoe or Fort William.
Being lost or tired is not sufficient reason for calling the rescue service, and neither, in normal summer weather, is being benighted. However, team members I’ve talked to say not to be too shy about calling them: they greatly prefer bringing down bodies that are still alive…
There is no charge for mountain rescue in Scotland – teams are voluntary, financed by donations from the public, with a grant from the Scottish Executive and helicopters funded by the Department for Transport. You can make donations at youth hostels, tourist information centres (TICs) and many pubs.
Maps
The mapping used on lower walks in this book is from the Ordnance Survey’s Landranger series at 1:50,000 (enlarged in Routes 49 and 58). For high mountain walks, too, these maps were for about 40 years the only ones available, and are perfectly satisfactory: Sheet 41 is Ben Nevis and Glen Coe with part of Black Mount and Glen Etive; the rest of Black Mount and Glen Etive, southwards to Ben Cruachan, are on Sheet 50 (Glen Orchy) – annoyingly, the two sheets don’t overlap.
The Harveys Ben Nevis British Mountain Map, at 1:40,000 scale, covers the whole area as far south as Loch Tulla and the head of Loch Etive. Just 15 of the routes here (notably, Cruachan) aren’t on it. It is beautifully clear and legible, marks paths where they actually exist on the ground, and is made of plastic so robust that one lightweight gear guru uses it as his groundsheet.