When Elsewhere Beckons

Still feeling the burn from the hike I’d done the previous day, I stood waiting for the bus at the same spot in Tyndrum 24 hours later, getting off at Bridge of Orchy once more. This time, intending to head in the opposite direction from Ben Dorain and Beinn an Dothaidh and make my way up Stob a’Choire Odhair.

The first part of the route follows the West Highland Way, crossing the bridge over the River Orchy and continuing over the hill to reach Inveroran, where there’s a car park for those arriving by car and where the trail officially starts.

Soon after crossing the bridge, there’s a left turn to leave the West Highland Way and continue along the river before the trail heads further into the glen on a gently ascending path leading towards the two Munros: Stob a’ Choire Odhair and Stob Ghabhar. The initial stretch through the glen is a beautiful walk, with excellent views of the cascades down the flank of Stob Ghabhar and the pleasant burn to keep you company along the way.

For this hike, I only did Stob a’ Choire Odhair, but those interested can continue along the ridge to the second Munro as well. To be honest, by the time I reached the summit, my body was pretty adamant that there was no fourth hill in me for this trip, and I was already a little uncertain about the mini Aonach Eagach required to reach the second peak. I’ll be sure to come back soon and do an out-and-back of Stob Ghabhar next time.

There were already two figures further ahead of me that morning, which I could see up on the hillside as I was approaching the start of the real climb. Right after crossing the stream by a small cascade, there’s a narrow path through the shrub to look out for. It leads up the south side of the mountain and almost straight to the summit. At the start, there are the occasional longer switchbacks before continuing more directly up the hill. It’s an easy path to follow and hard to go wrong.

A particular highlight during the ascent was looking up to Beinn Toaig and seeing two deer running along the ridge.

Nearing the summit, the crest is covered in loose rock, so the actual path is a little more difficult to discern, but the objective is easy to spot, and following the general direction was good enough.

This is one of the lower Munros, reaching 945 metres; however, the views from the top are still brilliant. I particularly enjoyed seeing a new landscape. With each hike, I seem to make my way a little further along the train line, and this was my first glimpse of Rannoch Moor and the other Black Mount summits to the north: Creise and Meall a’ Bhùiridh.

Deciding to take a different way down, I followed the rocky path to the bealach, and I would absolutely recommend this descent, especially for those preferring a less steep route. The path is easy to follow as it winds down the hillside. It does involve several large steps down, but nothing too difficult. This is also the path to take if continuing up to the next Munro.

Reaching the bealach, the path down into the glen was a little trickier to spot at first, so I followed the map on my phone. Once found, it was a pleasant walk back down to where the paths had diverged earlier. From here, it’s back to following the burn to the river and retracing the outward journey to Bridge of Orchy.

Arriving with almost another hour to spare before the bus back, I again sat in the Bridge of Orchy Hotel Bar and indulged in a delicious sandwich and cider before my short hiking trip came to an end.