Bidean nam Bian
30 September 2007
It had been a few years since I had ascended the Munro Bidean nam Bian
and was wishing to check out a couple of the routes. I parked in the
large car park on the south side of the A82 at the Pass of Glencoe
just east of the helipad. This is a popular car park and is
frequently full of cars belonging to walkers, climbers and tourists.
In fact it appears to be a regular stopping point for tourist buses to
allow their passengers out to take photographs of the mountains.
Quoted message said:From the car park I descended to the River Coe and walked west along
the north bank until I reached the footbridge which I used to cross
the river. I then followed the footpath that headed into Coire an
Lochan. This path has had a lot of work carried out on it and is a
steady climb and with the rocks used as steps it was like climbing
stairs for long sections.
Higher up the condition of the path deteriorated with loose scree and
boulders but I continued up the south-east side of the stream, through
rocks to a grassy corrie with a few lochans. The weather was
difficult to predict as the cloud base continued to change, sometimes
I saw the summit of Stob Coire nan Lochan and other times it was in
the cloud.
At the grassy corrie I crossed over and climbed onto the ridge between
Gearr Aonach and Stob Coire nan Lochain before climbing the north-east
ridge of Stob Coire nan Lochain, which was rather stony and narrowed
in places. On reaching the summit cairn there were no views due to
the cloud cover so I left the summit and headed for Bidean nam Bian.
It was a relatively easy descent to the bealach which was followed by
a more challenging ascent of Bidean nam Bian involving some loose rock
and paths where the loose stones had been cleared by walkers and
erosion. There were no views during the ascent although I was aware
of the rocky outlines to the west. I eventually reached the summit
cairn still in the cloud.
I returned to the bealach between Bidean nam Bian and Stob Coire nan
Lochain which was a bit awkward as was the descent from the bealach
towards Coire Gabhail. The cloud lifted for a while and I could see
my route ahead and the rocky outcrops I had to avoid. Lower down I
found the path again but it had been badly eroded by small
landslides.
Once in the glen I stopped for lunch while I watched and listened to a
nearby stag as he kept his hinds together. He was constantly on the
move so no wonder they start to loose weight during the rut.
After lunch I descended the path on the west side of the Allt Coire
Gabhail to the 'Lost Valley', where the Clan MacDonald hid their
cattle. It is now full of small stones with a large boulder at the
bottom end concealing access and egress. Beyond this boulder I had
to scramble over large rocks until the stream, which had been running
underground reappeared. Thereafter I followed a path at the side of
a steep embankment back to the River Coe and the short stroll to the
car park.
Time taken - 5.25 hours.
Distance - 9.5 kilometres.
Height climbed - 1220 metres.
Photographs taken on this walk can be seen at:
http://www.caledoniahilltreks.com/gallery07/bidean_sept07/index.htm
Lindsay
www.caledoniahilltreks.com