Hills: Meall a' Bhuiridh, Creise and Stob a' Ghlais Choire
Date: Saturday 23rd June 2018
Company: Just Myself
Distance: 13.7km, Ascent: 1325m
Time: 6Hrs 45Mins


There was considerable indecision this morning regarding which hill, or hills, to ascend. I therefore browsed through sections 1 to 4 of the SMC Munros book hoping for some inspiration. Given I was driving a fairly large van, I was not inspired to ascend hills where the car parking was described as minimal. On spotting Meall a' Bhuiridh and Creise, I knew there was a massive car park for these at the Glencoe Mountain Resort. I therefore drove from my overnight parking spot at Bridge of Orchy to the Glencoe Mountain Resort.

Click here to see a map of the route undertaken

From just beyond the car park, I followed the signs marked "Footpath" to ascend immediately below the chairlift.

Glencoe Mountain Resort:


Buachaille Etive Mor from car park:


During the ascent I had a laugh with some on the chairlift with shouts aimed at me such as, "walk faster" . While there were plentiful people on the chairlift, I was the only one ascending via this path.

Looking back to car park during ascent beneath chairlift:


Nearby there is a fairly new road heading up the hill and an excellent quality bike track. The footpath is however fairly awful and walkers are not permitted to walk on the bike track. Glencoe Mountain Resort money is obviously spent on income generating sports which do not include hiking.

Ascent next to chairlift:


After reaching the top of the first chairlift I made my way towards another chairlift called Cliffhanger Chairlift.

Cliffhanger chairlift:


I then followed a fairly faint path alongside an old disused chairlift which I was fairly sure was not the tourist route up the hill.

Huts passed during ascent:


I had a quick look at the map for the easiest line of countours as I suspected the tourist route ascent would likely be there. I was correct and soon picked up a reasonable path ascending Meall a' Bhuiridh.

View during ascent:


The final few hundred metres of ascent was via lots of scree. There is however a zig-zagging path which makes the ascent a bit easier.

Lots of scree on upper slopes of Meall a' Bhuiridh:


I followed the line of danger signposts, alerting skiers to nearby cliffs.

During the final ascent I met and chatted with a man who advised that he had turned back with his dog owing to the wind. This did not bode well but I decided to carry on anyway to see for myself.

Looking across to Stob a' Ghlais Choire and Buachaille Etive Mor:


I was a little suprised to reach the summit cairn so soon as I thought I still had another 50-100m to ascend. A pleasant surprise.

At the summit of Meall a' Bhuiridh:


At the summit of Meall a' Bhuiridh:


After taking a few photos at the summit I commenced the descent towards Creise. The wind was indeed blustery as I made my way down the ridge.

Descent from Meall a' Bhuiridh towards ridge between Clach Leathad and Creise:


Looking back at descent from Meall a' Bhuiridh:


As I progressed along the ridge, I could see two walkers ahead.

On the ridge between Meall a' Bhuiridh and Creise:


The ascent onto the ridge between Clach Leathad and Creise was easier than it looked from a distance.

Ascent:


Looking back to Meall a' Bhuiridh:


The only hands-on was at the section just below the top - easy Grade 1 scramble.

Final ascent to gain ridge between Clach Leathad and Creise:


On reaching the wide ridge, I followed it towards Creise.

Looking back to Meall a' Bhuiridh:


Heading towards Creise:


View during walk to Creise:


It didn't take long to reach the final clopes of Creise where again I could see the two walkers ahead of me.

Final ascent towards the summit of Creise:


At the summit of Creise:


Meall a' Bhuiridh from the summit of Creise:


I was really impressed with the great views of Buachaille Etive Mor. These views would get even better as I made my way towards Stob a' Ghlais Choire, a Munro Top.

Just beyond the summit cairn I met the two walkers and stopped for a nice chat. It turns out the couple were from Lossiemouth, not too far from home .

Buachaille Etive Mor from Creise:


Heading out to Stob a' Ghlais Choire:


The walk out to Stob a' Ghlais Choire was straight-forward.

Heading out to Stob a' Ghlais Choire:


Looking back to Creise:


At Stob a' Ghlais Choire I was met by a party of around twelve - a Facebook Meet Up group from Glasgow. Instead of continuing on to make a circuit, I decided to return via the same route as I would then have some company for at least part of the walk. We walked together as far as the low point of the ridge between Creise and Meall a' Bhuiridh before we parted as I stepped-up a few gears to get back.

At the summit of Stob a' Ghlais Choire:


Descent below chairlift:


Descent back to car park:


On eventually getting back to the van it was great to use the showers at Glencoe Mountain Resort which cost only £1 for 5 minutes. There is also great 4G in the car park so I am still there writing up this report .