An Unexpected Twist...

Our second night took us to the beautiful landscapes of Glencoe. I have driven through Glencoe many times over the years, and I never get tired of looking up at the rugged mountains and sheer slopes.

The Wee White House (Lagangarbh Hut) with Buachaille Etive Mòr in the background.

My dad and I decided that we would park the car somewhere in Glencoe and climb a mountain to do a summit camp and we remember back to our West Highland Way trip, that The Devils Staircase was a good climb and had beautiful views from the top.

So, Stob Mhic Mhartuin was our chosen summit.

According to many online sources, The Devil’s Staircase earned its name from the soldiers involved in General Wade’s road-building programme, who quickly learned that hauling heavy materials up this steep stretch was anything but enjoyable. The name lived on years later when workers from the Blackwater Dam project made the journey to the nearest pub after payday. For those based in Kinlochleven, the walk to the Kingshouse Hotel proved far more challenging than expected. The return trip was even tougher, as tired and unsteady legs often failed them, and on cold winter nights it was said that the devil himself would “claim his own.”

We took a slow drive from Rhu Point to Glencoe, which took a couple of hours. We parked up, sorted our kit, and off we went. The Devils Staircase is not a Munro, however, sitting at 707m, it is classed as a Simm. It is a fairly steep climb with rucksacks on, but since we had done the WHW a few years ago, we knew that was to be expected. This hike takes roughly an hour. Hiking up was nice, we took our time to allow us to take in and appreciate the views, and for my dad to get some filming done.

The weather was pleasant. Not sunny, but not pouring, bearing in mind, this is March, so I guess, it was pretty good for March.

We had a few laughs on the hike up, and bumped in to a few hikers that were coming down from the summit.

We reached the top, set up our tents and sorted our kit, and made ourselves some well earned food and a cup of tea!

We were also spoiled with fantastic views of Glencoe and beautiful blue skies.

We spent the evening relaxing and watching the world go by, it was so peaceful. There was no wind, no noise, no distractions, nothing. It was wonderful. We called it a night, and retreated to our tents to get cosy, as it was getting a bit cooler and we got ourselves a cosy hot chocolate to warm us up, and then drifted off to sleep.

I woke up having had one of the best camping sleeps I have probably ever had, I was comfy, very warm and didn't wake up or fidget at all during the night, which if you are a camper, you will know, that a sleep like this is pretty much uncommon.

When I woke up, I was really warm and it still felt dark, but I checked my watch and it was 06.15am... it should be light by then.

I unzipped my tent and had the most unexpected but one of the most breath-taking views I have seen...

It surprisingly snowed overnight, after the beautiful blue skies and sunshine we had last night, it was a surprise to wake up to snow. No wonder I was so warm with all that snow piled around my tent!

It didn't feel overly cold, so we made some coffee and watched a beautiful unexpected sunrise over the Glencoe valley.

Within half an hour after the sunrise, the skies changed massively... it was clear that more snow was about to start falling. So we got moving.

and then after descending the mountain a bit, the skies cleared up again and looked like it fast forwarded to summer.

Look how beautiful The Buachaille is covered in a dusting of snow.

Isn't it amazing to see how all the gullies and ridges stand out and how much the small details of mountains are amplified when it's dusted with some snow.

Magnificent.

Once we got out the snow storm, it was actually quite a lovely hike back down. We took off our dirty boots and packed the car. Before we headed off, we got some cool shots for socials.

"Scotland’s wild beauty calls tae those seekin’ adventure, but it rewards the weel-prepared. Step oot, respect the land, and always return wi’ a tale tae tell."