No, that’s not the colour of the hills, it’s the environmentally friendly way of getting to them. I had two Corbetts to bag in the Mamore Forest area that were awkward to get to without a lot of driving and retracing of steps. A much better plan was to use public transport to climb them in a big cross-country trip. I took a train to Corrour and headed towards Loch Treig. There’s a lot of construction work along the path for the building of a new small-scale hydro-electric scheme. From the loch I followed the river south westwards to Staoineag bothy; it’s a well-kept bothy with a slightly spicy smell from the wood panelled walls although I wouldn’t advise trying to use the river stepping stones marked on the map unless you’re a gazelle. From the bothy I was soon climbing the nose of the first Corbett, Glas Bheinn; it was a delightful climb with over two miles of gently ascending grassy ridge. The summit was a superb viewpoint with views of the Grey Corrries, the Mamores, the Glencoe hills and even, far on the horizon, Schiehallion.
I came down off the hill to a rough track which led to the outfall of Loch Eilde Mor, crossed the dam and pitched my tent by the end of the loch. The next morning I was up very early and soon on the track past the Mamore Lodge hotel, now sadly closed. The nearby woods were filled with the calls of cuckoos. After a short stretch on the West Highland Way I climbed westwards up a rough but good stalker’s track all the way to the top of Beinn na Caillich. From the summit I could see my second quarry, Mam na Gualainn, a mile and a half away. Again, a delightful grassy ridge walk soon had me to the top of the hill. It was another excellent viewpoint with close views of the Mamores, the Glencoe hills and far to the north, Knoydart. There was still a lot of snow on the big tops, which could give some winter walking conditions in the middle of June.
It was an easy descent south westwards off the hill to pick up a path that led down to the Kinlochleven road at Callert. I had made better time than expected so hurried for three miles along the road to North Ballachulish to catch an earlier bus back to Glasgow. The advantage of being an Ancient was that I could use my bus pass to get all the way back home for free. Unbeknown to me at the time, I was passed on the Kinlochleven road by Charlie Ramsay, Murdo McEwan and Graham Nash on their way to support Jez Bragg on his Ramsay’s Round attempt – what a small world!
Nigel Rose