Easains

Overview

The Easains is actually a ridge comprising two seperate mountains. Stob a' Choire Mheadhoin (pronounced Stob Corrie Meadow-in) is slightly shorter and a little to the north of Stob Coire Easain (pronounced Stob Corrie Easy-un). Both are Munro's, listed as numbers 46 and 39 respectively by the Scottish Mountaineering Council. As such they are regularly climbed by Munro baggers and being fairly accessible are among the more popular Munro's for the casual climber. I am putting the two mountains on a single page as they are seldom climbed seperately, as both can be summitted in around 5 hours. The ridge forms a barrier along the western bank of Loch Trieg, and on a clear day views of the Loch can be stunning. Also to the west views from the summit can range across to Glen Coe, the Aonachs and Ben Nevis. (Unfortunately the day I climbed was far from clear!)

Stob Coire Easain (Peak of the Corrie of the Little Waterfall) 3658ft, 1116m - OS Sheet 41 grid reference NN308730

Stob a'Choire Mheadhoin (Peak of the Middle Corrie) 3629ft, 1106m - OS Sheet 41 grid reference NN316736

The usual route is to ascend the along the broad ridge. There is a steep climb/scramble up the nose of Meall Cian Dearg followed by a level section which leads to a very obvious ridge. Clear paths will lead to the summit of Stob a'Choire Mheadhoin. From here you descend a stony slope to a broad col, and then ascend quite steeply, often scrambling, to reach the summit of Stob Coire Easain. Descent can be made the same way, or via a clearly marked path from the col to the north west, reaching the Allt Laire river and following it northwards back to the beginning of the trail.

The route is not difficult but can be a little hairy in high winds, as the ridge narrows quite sharply at several points with sheer drops on either side. In heavy cloud/fog conditions be careful on the summit of Stob Coire Easain as there is a sheer drop only a few feet from the summit cairn.

Getting There

The mountains are reached from the A86 road through Glen Spean. This is the main road leading in and out of Fort William. Leave the road on a small turning around 5 miles east of Roy Bridge on a narrow road signposted for Fersit. The road crosses a couple of small wooden bridges and eventually you will see on the left hand side an entranceway to some managed woods. This is a good place to leave the car. The trail begins on the opposite side of the road, crossing a small stream after which it is fairly clear the direction to take.

Red Tape

No red tape. Avoid crossing fenced in land, and avoid times when stag stalking is taking place (see below).

When To Climb

The mountains can be climbed all year round.

Camping

Camping is generally limited to proper campsites (the ground around the mountain is so boggy you probably wouldn't want to camp there anyway!) There are countless camp sites and hostels in Fort William. I can also recommend the following two hostels in Kingussie, which is to the East.

The Laird's Bothy - Telephone 01540 661334
Inish Hostel - Telephone 01540 661051

Mountain Conditions

In winter the mountains will be snow-covered, crampons and ice-axe are recommended. The rest of the year the lower slopes are very boggy so make sure you have good waterproofing on your gear. On the summits and on the col strong side winds can cause some problems.

Weather conditions can be checked on the following websites:

www.btconnect.com/geoffmonk/mountain/
www.metcheck.com/mountain.asp

Avalanche information can be found at:

www.sais.gov.uk

There are phones scattered around the highlands which give up to the minute information on areas where stag stalking is taking place. Information on the locations of these phones can be found at:

www.hillphones.info

Images

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