Buachaille Etive Beag

19.8.99 - Glen Coe Trip, Day 1 - 8km, 920m - 199 mins

Area 3: Strath Orchy to Loch Leven

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Buachaille Etive Beag - Stob Dubh958m3143ftM201#50
Buachaille Etive Beag - Stob Coire Raineach925m3035ftM263#51
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Bidean nam Bian from Buachaille Etive Beag

This trip was one of those unforeseen last minute opportunities provided by a break in the weather the last two days we were in Scotland. Mum had offered me the use of her car on the Thursday afternoon and all day Friday. When I woke on the Thursday morning I intended to do no more than drive to Glen Coe and pitch the tent. However, the weather forecast was as good for that afternoon as for the following morning and Mum phoned to say that the car was available from 12 noon, so at some point during the morning I started to think of doing a climb that day as well as the next. It was going to be Munro Number Fifty, so it had to be worthy of the occasion, but it couldn't be too long as I would only have a limited time that day. It didn't take long to select Buachaille Etive Beag as the obvious candidate.

The ridge of Buachaille Etive Beag, looking towards Stob Dubh

So Number Fifty turned out to be about the least planned Munro I'd ever climbed. Well, the drive was sunny, fast to Stirling, slow to Crianlarich, then faster again to Glen Coe. The sky was overcast when I got there, but the tops were all clear, so I set off right away. The climb was relatively easy and pleasant. My right knee, which had been funny all week, was no trouble. I was very happy, sitting munching the celebratory Mars Bar on top of Stob Dubh. The First Fifty had taken me 27 years. I estimated that the next fifty, begun that evening with Stob Coire Raineach, should take about 4 years. This was a pretty good estimate incidentally - four years later my count stood at exactly 100!

Buachaille Etive Mor from Buachaille Etive Beag

Buachaille Etive Mor from Buachaille Etive Beag

The view down Glen Etive from Stob Dubh, Ben Starav in the centre

Having got back to the car by 6.30 and found a nice-looking camping spot nearby, I quickly got the tent up and cooked some dinner. It was only later that I noticed the "No Camping" sign on a hillock beside me - all this was NTS property of course. Well, I was packed up early in the morning and left no litter so I don't think anyone was caring.