Over The Hill

Early in the summer of 2013 we made a complete traverse of the "Fhidhleir" ridge walking into Glen Kinglas to the head of Loch Sloy and the start of the long north east ridge leading to the Corbett of Stob Coire Creagach before descending the west ridge to Cairndow on the shores of Loch Fyne. Today, with the shorter winter daylight, we would half the distance by ascending Stob Coire Creagach directly from Butterbridge - we may have halved the distance, but certainly not the effort required to gain the summit!

A few steps beyond the gated estate entrance to Glen Kinglas we crossed into the "forested" area alongside the estate track; I use the word forested loosely, as in reality it is a very rough area of scrub and mixed bushes, all lying on a steep hillside and very uneven underfoot; conditions that made for a a fairly strenuous start to the walk.

A large stile marked the end of the scrub land, but not the incessant steep hillside, which continued ahead of us as we headed for a spot on the high ridgeline just to the west of the summit of Stob Coire Creagach which, despite the grey drizzle was visible from an early stage, although whenever I raised my head to look ahead, it seemed as far away as ever; I was not having a good day on this hillside, maybe I had become too complacent recently as to my fitness; if so then this was a sharp reminder that hills can bite!

On gaining the ridge the weather was still quite wet and a stronger wind was blowing, and so we decided to make the short hop from there to the summit of Stob Coire Creagach, at 817m, our Corbett for the day, and return immediately to this spot on the ridge which offered a few rocky sheltered spots where we could hunker down and take a short break.; which is exactly what we did, spending only enough time on the summit to take the usual photos and then returning the short distance to a rocky outcrop to have a well earned lunch break..

Now on the ridge the going was much easier, as we moved westwards through low cloud, over the subsidiary top of Creag Bhrosgan and onto the top, which although not the highest, is the one from which this ridge takes it's name, Binnein an Fhidhleir, at 811m, just 6 metres lower than Stob Coire Creagach, but nevertheless, the lesser of the two.

The low cloud and drizzle remained with us throughout the descent along the west ridge, which at times required a little care with our navigation as in these misty conditions it would be quite easy to stray off our intended route due to the broad undulating nature of the upper ridge. We dropped below the cloud base at a height of about 550m, at which point we were finally rewarded with some fine views over Loch Fyne, and with a clear sight of our end point at the radio masts above the A83 at Cairndow.

Despite my exertions on the steep slopes at the start, this was a fine walk in fine company - Thanks Ian.