Читать книгу Ben Nevis and Glen Coe. 100 low, mid, and high level walks онлайн

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I put ‘some of’ so as not to annoy the lovers of Snowdonia, or the English Lakes, or Skye, or Torridon. There’s a lot more of Lochaber than there is of Snowdonia; it’s one and a half times as large as Lakeland. It’s a whole lot easier to get to than Skye. Still not convinced? In that case…

Follow me first onto one of the less celebrated summits, Ben Starav at the bottom of Glen Etive. Its long ridge (Route 73) is stony with moss, and leads into an easy scramble over blobby boulders of grey granite. But now drop into the green valley on the left and enjoy another aspect of it all. Steep grass and granite slabs shut out the sky. Below the path a gloomy ravine, with the flash of a waterfall. And at the valley foot, under green birch and dark pine, the cuckoo calls, and white water slides over granite that mysteriously is now coloured pink.

Next, let’s visit Bidean nam Bian. The rocks now are volcanic, grey-blue andesite and pinky-grey rhyolite, all of it great to climb on if you’re a rock climber. Enter Bidean up one of its three ravines, each with some of that great climbing rock hanging impressively overhead. It’s steep, and it’s gloomy, and it gets steeper, until all at once you emerge onto Bidean’s ridge, with bright sky around you.