Travelled overnight from Maidstone and straight onto the hills. In threatening weather we parked in the car park at the end of the road in Glen Nevis, having decided that we would try for Binnein Beag and Binnein Mor, the only two Mamores still to do. The first part was uneventful, a pleasant walk up Glen Nevis to Steall. Despite all the recent rain the waterfall seemed no heavier than it had when we last saw it in a drought. Next we passed the Steall ruin, whatever that is and followed the path towards Binnein Beag. The peak, and also that of its big brother, was obvious with the only question being, where to leave the path and climb. We decided to climb diagonally up the ridge towards the pointy peak (Binnein Beag). With hindsight it would probably have been better to climb direct to the ridge but we didn't and suffered accordingly. The trouble was we were so slow and unfit that what looked like (and probably was) a simple pull up to the ridge took for ever. Admittedly there was a lot of grass and boggy terrain and we were tired but we were pathetically slow. Eventually we gained the ridge with only the final, pointy cone to climb. It did not look too high but it was steep and very rocky. There was no obvious path except for a half gully/chimney which looked as if it had been well used. I went up for this but as you got closer you could see that the apparent path was only a discoloration of the rocks. Graeme decided against and looked for a better way up. The first part was easy but then I had to scramble up slabs of rock which made me stretch and worry about banging my leg. One rock really made me stretch and at one point I did not think I could make it. When I did my legs were shaking like nobody's business and I had to rest awhile. Not long, however, as I soon discovered Graeme making his way up behind me. His route had proved even more difficult so he now was following me. Above this it was just a slog over horrible scree, two feet forward and one back. Two girls shot past, then a third who stopped to chat.They had been climbing all week and this was her last Mamore. The top came suddenly when I came across Graeme at the cairn. Great relief and Guinness.
We decided we could not face Binnein Mor today. It looked very steep and we reckoned if we had had so much trouble making the little mountain we would kill ourselves tackling the other. So back home we decided. Down the scree we tumbled, heels dug in. Must be terrible on the boots but it is the only way down off scree. At the ridge we could see it would be easier to traverse this and drop down nearer to the route falling from Binnein Mor. This was not too difficult and we easily reached the path back to Glen Nevis. This was really hard and seemed longer on the way back as we were so tired. Reached the car and booked in at the Glen Nevis campsite.
