A bank holiday weekend and the forecast for Monday was bit of wind, bit of rain and a bit of sun. Best err on the side of caution that the weather won't be good enough to do all those gardening jobs that are stacking up and head for the mountains instead. We're not short of options when it comes to great day walks in the Outdoor Capital, so I opted for one of our truly iconic peaks.

At 1022m Buachaille Etive Mor at the head of Glencoe may not be among the highest in the Lochaber area but it is one of the most imposing and most photographed in Scotland. Plus if you start from the road at Lagangarbh (where you'll also find one of the most photogenic old cottages in Scotland!) at 270m, it does take the long uphill slog out of the day. Riven by deep gullies and supported by huge ridges, big steep and rocky, standing isolated at the head of Glen Etive, The Buachaille is an imposing mountain by any definition.

I never like walking up Corrie na Tulaich - steep, loose and rocky it's like trying to go up the down escalator! Instead I prefer to head out to the right of the corrie and go up the obvious grassy slope. Towards the top of the slope we headed out further right to gain the ridge. Every now and again a rain squall would blast out of the end of Glen Coe, give us a quick soaking and then dry up again. Definitely not gardening weather! The ridge goes up and curls round to the top of Corrie na Tulaich. A few minutes later and we were at the summit. We carried on walking past the summit to reach a fine lunch spot looking straight down onto Crowberry Tower with Rannoch Moor and Glen Etive stretching out below (for another great view of Glen Etive, have a look at 'The Two Passes' blog entry from July 06).
Back over the summit and down to the head of Corrie na Tulaich and descend down all that loose ground. At least we and the scree were trying to go the same way! Back home and it looked like the weather had dried up for the day, perfect for baking a cake.

posted by ocuk @ 7:55 PM