Stuart had already walked the rest of the Grey Corrie range and wanted to get the last hill of Stob Ban ticked off.
I drove to Dufftown early one Sunday morning for the 6.15 am agreed set off time for the drive up Speyside and past Loch Laggan to the Village of Spean Bridge.
I quickly transfered my rucksack and boots into Stuarts car, followed by a short drive along the road to Austin's house, but on arrival- there was no lights on in the house and we waited a minute or two, but nothing!
Austin had slept in and was still in his bed, but ten minutes later the three of us were on our way to Spean Bridge.
The forecast was best in the west for that day and we had high hopes of a decent cloud free summit.
By 8.45 am, we were walking away from the car up the Glen towards the base of the hill near the Lairig Leachach Bothy.
A good well surface vehicle track made for good progress.
Soon the Bothy and our first glimpse of Stob Ban came into view- a cloud free summit is always an inspiration to want me to get up that hill!
We took a look inside the Bothy and was going to use it for a brief rest and snack stop, but three young lads were in residence and we decided to cross the stream first and then have a stop.
A small cairn past the stream marked the path for the ascent. Steep, muddy through grass and heather, the path wound its way up towards the first top before taking easy easier angle before the final summit pull- It was a relatively short climb, with a long walk in.
We made it to the summit in good time and stopped to have lunch to soak up the views.
This was a new Munro for Stuart and Austin. I had previously been here back in April 2000 when I ascended this hill first and going on to bag the rest of the Grey Corries in one outing- that was a tough day!
We descended by the same we as we had came and the walk took us just under six hours.
A great day out.
