The Buachaille from Beinn a Chrulaiste

I had a ludicrously early start this morning though with hindsight I wish I had been even earlier. The plan was to get some nice low light shots with the sun risig in the sky to the east with the moon setting in the west
Setting off on the hill at a little before 7.00 am I still caught up with two walkers in front of me. The first was a man hell bent on getting a nice picture for his lounge wall. He had driven through the night from Darlington. Any place in the Lake district would have presented a much shorter commute but the lure of a magical Glen Coe morning clearly was a much bigger prize. He was perched with his tripod on the lower slopes just above the snow line.
The next man was stopping with even greater frequency than me to take photos, though, without a tripod. I spoke briefly with him and continued upwards. We met again. I was at the top taking more photos and giving Caley some oatcakes and cheese (my lunch) because he seemed to be looking for calories (and he isn't a greedy dog) when he arrived. We had a more extended conversation. I imagined he had a long commute to get to the mountain. Glen Coe is within easy reach from the Central Belt of Scotland and I thought he may have come from Glasgow or Edinburgh.
"Where have you come from this morning?"

"Spean Bridge" (a village next to Roy Bridge)
 
Mr A is a teacher at Lochaber High School and has previously taught L our older son in earlier terms. We jointly enthused about the fabulous morning and views and he also concurred that an even earlier start would have been favourable.

Glen Coe is a spectacular valley where every mountain you encounter seems to surpass the one before. In this environment Beinn a Chrulaiste is the ugly duckling. There are no pinnacles, soaring ridges or technical difficulty in its sub 3000 feet ascent. In truth my last climb of Bohuntin Hill was more strenuous despite presenting half the height gain. However there is no better place to fully appreciate the Great Herdsman, Buachaille Etive Mor at the southern entrance to the glen. It was included in more than two thirds of my images today. It is one of the most famous Scottish mountains. Looking north the hulk of Ben Nevis is most prominent but my eye was drawn to the graceful Stob Coire na Ceannain at the east end of the Grey Corries. Its profile is almost identical to that when viewed from our front window.

Please excuse the heap of extras