
This was an expedition I'd been planning for about 2 years, but it always seemed to get postponed. My good friend came along at the last minute, and unfortunately she had decided to leave her expedition pack at home, and brought two smaller backpacks instead, a decision she bitterly regretted. This slowed us down quite a bit, so we had to camp on a very soggy hill at about 450m elevation, instead of the Coire an Lochan spot at 750m at the foot of Sgurr Elide Mor that I'd been hoping to get to. The next day we set off at 8am, and managed to climb the four Eastern Mamores, including a fantastic scramble up Sron a' Gharbh-Choire on the north face of Binnein Mor with some friends we met.
Unfortunately dusk was falling by the time we got back to the tents. This was a serious problem, as my friend has a congenital eye problem which is fine in daylight, but causes real problems in darkness. I had to guide her very slowly back to the car park along the rocky path, and a section that had taken us 40 minutes on the walk in took about three hours on the way out. She is a very experienced hillwalker, but I think the combination of exhaustion, dehydration and heat exposure together with panic made things worse than usual for my friend.
Area :
Ben Nevis (Fort William To Loch Leven)
This area covers the mountains between Fort William, Loch Leven (to the south) and Loch Treig (to the east). The area includes Ben Nevis and Carn Mor Dearg, The Mamores, The Aonachs and The Grey Corries. An impressive 20 Munros are split equally by Glen Nevis and the waters of Abhainn Rath. Relatively accessible from the A82, these mountains hold some classic walking and climbing routes such as The Ring of Steall in the Mamores and Point Five Gully on Ben Nevis. Includes all major peaks above 600m.