Day 356: Stob Ban (Grey Corries)

The forecast is clear sky and sun, perfect for a 20-miler deep into the Grey Corries, opening with a quiet road walk from Spean Bridge station. The River Spean, my companion on the East Highland Way, sings through the trees, tempting me to climb down to the sparkling rapids, but the day is long.

A familiar track stretches into the mountains, the end of my hike from Corrour Station.

Ghosts of their future.

Posters feature at various points along the track. What are the odds of a domestic dog surviving winter out here, living on scraps and handouts?

My destination lies at the head of the glen.

The track ends at Lairig Leacach bothy.

Early in the ascent, I’m unable to reconcile the terrain with the route on my OS app, crossing a tiny stream tumbling down the rocks, before retracing my steps. Choosing a different line up through a patch of snow, I practice traversing the slope in my crampons before sitting down to take stock.

Another hiker appears and makes his way up the rocks by the stream I rejected, giving me confidence to follow.

After a steep grassy section, the summit appears. Making a note to keep well clear of the gully, there looks to be a clear route to the left of the snow and cornices. The other hiker makes his way up a patch of snow with an ice axe, but surely I can avoid that.

Nearing the top, footsteps in the snow cross the base of a steep slope with a cornice to my right, already rippling, threatening to slide away in the warm sun. There’s no way I’d cross the slope higher up, where a slip could send me down and over the edge. The footsteps cross at the flattest point, which seems worryingly close to the cornice. I place my foot into the first footprint, but after a few steps, I lose my nerve and turn back. This is ridiculous. The ground is so level. Surely the snow I’m on would not slide if the cornice went, and neither would the weight of the snow on the slope above cause it to slide into me. I think too much. A deep breath and over I go.

There are fantastic, sweeping views from the summit. I can see this could be the start of a longer ridge walk, and that is presumably where the other hiker has ventured.

Avoiding the snow slope, I take a rougher route back round the other side of the mountain top.

Down in the glen, the rocky lump of Sgurr Innse dwarfs the bothy.

On the return walk through the woods, a remote camera faces a small bag of food hanging on a low branch, in support of the missing dog search.

A bus shelter at Glen Spean offers welcome protection as the sun sets and the wind rises. The bloody sunset is gorgeous, and I dash across the road for a quick shot as the bus arrives.

There are several West Highland Way hikers in the Black Isle Bar, and the bus the next day to Edinburgh is unusually busy – hiking season is open!

Date of walk: Thursday 19 March 2026.

Walk distance: 20 miles.

Total distance: 5,686 miles.