Bidean nam Bian

A beautiful day in Glen Coe today. I was driving over to Comrie to see S+M and thought I would nip up Bidean on the way for a bit of exercise. I had intended to follow the usual route into Coire nan Lochan and up the NE ridge of Stob Coire nan Lochan and from there onto the summit of Bidean itself, but on arriving in Coire nan Lochan my eye was drawn to a seductive looking snow gully going straight to the N face of Stob Coire to the summit. A beautiful grade I snow plod , not a climb more of a walk with very steep steps. It's official name is Broad Gully and as I ascended I passed a rope of three people on the ridge to my right, on Dorsal Arrete, a climb that I did with K some forty  years ago.  Today's blip is looking up to the summit of Bidean nam Bian from the ridge between Stob Coire nan Lochan and Bidean. It has a truly Alpine aspect.

From there I went over to Stop Coire Sgreamhach and then retraced my steps to the Bealach Dearg at the head of the Lost Valley. A steep descent from the coll (I think steeper than Broad Gully) took me down into Lost Valley of Coire Gabhail, one of my favourite glens in Scotland.

I couldn't resist adding some extras: the first is looking up Broad Gully from Coire nan Lochan, Broad Gully is the snow gully on the left (some of the little black dots in the Gully are climbers); the second is looking down Dorsal Arete from above; the third is another walker arriving at the top of Bidean, looking north (Ben Nevis is the top left); the fourth is looking over Loch Etive from Bidean and the fifth is some other walkers starting the descent into the Lost Valley from Bealach Dearg.