Photographs and map of a traverse of the Corbett Beinn a Chrulaiste in Glencoe above the West Highland Way

The West Highland Way on the Devil's Staircase

The name was given by the soldiers
who were part of the road building program
of General Wade.

The carrying of building materials
up this stretch of the road was not popular!
The name was perpetuated when some of the workers
building the Blackwater Dam
chose to travel to the nearest pub
at the Kingshouse Inn
after their wages had been paid
- the journey to the Kingshouse Hotel
proved more difficult than expected
and the return journey even worse on unsteady legs
- on a cold winter’s night,
the devil often ”claimed his own“.

West Highland Way - Kingshouse to Kinlochleven

Kings House Inn in Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland

The Kingshouse in Glen Coe

The Kingshouse was built in the early 1750’s
as a barracks and safe house for travellers.
Lord Breadalbane one of the powerful chiefs
of Clan Campbell owned the inn.

The Kingshouse: ‘Hello’ I am the innkeeper Donald McInnes.
I was encouraged to take on the Kingshouse in the early 1770’s
after a distinguished career in King George’s army.
But making a living here has proved a lot more difficult
than I had been led to believe!
Breadalbane shows little interest in repairing the roof
or putting glass in the windows.
The furniture I procured at great expense
is already worn out by the inclement weather.
Drovers can put up with these conditions,
but the growing number of travelling gentry
expect comfortable accomodation
and the finest of food at their table.
I should not be telling you this,
but recently I have had to resort
to the illegal trade in whisky and salt.
How else can a man make his living
in this God-forsaken place.

( Note: Click here or on above for large format copy )

Map of Beinn a Chrulaiste

in Glencoe

BEINN a'CHRULAISTE - ROUTE DESCRIPTION:

Location: Glen Coe
Map: OS Landranger41 ( GR220563 )
Distance: 6 1/2 km ( 4 miles )
Time: 3 hours
Terrain: Hill path

Beinn a’ Chrulaiste is the great rounded lump of a hill which sits across the road from Buachaille Etive Mor and, while it is not an eye-catching mountain like its neighbour, it does afford fabulous views of that iconic peak and the rest of the Glen Coe massif. Many people opt for the ascent from the King’s House Hotel but the approach from further West at Altnafeadh is perhaps the finer.
Start from the large layby on the A82 at Altnafeadh where the West Highland Way footpath climbs over to Kinlochleven via the Devil’s Staircase. From the eastern end of the layby a path leads on to the West Highland Way which is followed alongside the road over two wooden bridges to the end of a small forestry plantation. Climb up the side of this plantation to pass beneath the power lines and head for a gate in the fence which can be seen up to the right. Go through this gate then immediately step over the fence beside it and climb the hillside past some wooden posts to pick up a rough hill path which ascends the edge of the slope overlooking the road.
Height is gained rapidly and fabulous views begin to open out with Buachaille Etive Mor on the other side of the road continually drawing the eye.
The steepness soon eases and the path swings away from the edge to pass over the minor bump of Stob Beinn a’ Chrulaiste where the view extends north to the peaks of the Mamores and Ben Nevis.
Continue in the direction of these peaks for a short way to bypass a boggy area and some peat hags then swing around and follow the rough path east up grassy slopes to the rocky summit of Beinn a’ Chrulaiste ( 857m; 2811ft ).
It is worth walking around the ﬂat summit area to savour the views before probably settling on a perch looking across to the magniﬁcent Buachaille Etive Mor. Although the route back retraces that of the ascent, Glen Coe and its attendant peaks are now spread at one’s feet, making this perhaps a more ﬁtting way to leave the mountain.

Location: Glen Coe
Map: OS Landranger 41 [GR 216 574]
Distance: 5km [3 miles]
Time: 1hr 30 minutes
Terrain: Good paths

Sometimes the shortest of walks can reveal stupendous views and this route to the summit of Stob Mhic Mhartuin on the north side of GlenCoe is a perfect example. Surrounded by some of the most dramatic mountains in Scotland, Stub Mhic Mhartuin is just a bump, but its ascent allows that great Glen Coe sentinel, Buachaille Etive Mor, to be viewed from a different perspective than the usual shortbread-tin vista from the east -with the conical tower of Stob Dearg rising above the River Coupal.
The route starts from the layby on the north side of the A82 at Altnafeadh. At weekends this can be particularly busy and there is overﬂow parking on the south side of the road. It's in the vicinity of the track that leads down to the foot-bridge that takes you over the River Coupal to Laggangarbh cottage. From the east side of the car park, follow the path signposted West Highland Wayalongside the burn. It follows the line of the old military road that was constructed in around 1750, much of it on the route of the old drove road used to herd cattle from the Highlands to the lowland markets. This section of the military road was built under the command of Major Caulﬁeld, successor to General Wade. It ascends to the Devil's Staircase, the zigzags carrying the road up the steep gradient below the col between Stob Mhic Mhartuin and Beinn Bheag.
As you ascend. the massive Blackwater Reservoir starts to come into view to the north-east. Built between 1905 and 1909 with dynamite and pick axe, and at the cost of many lives, the reservoir served the now closed aluminium smelter in Kinlochleven.
However, it is the other side of the glen that dominates the view, in the shape of the vast, dark depths of Buachaille Etive Mor’s north-facing Coire an Tulaich, with the tiny white cottage of Laggangarbh below. If this feels a little claustrophobic — and even these eastern and more open reaches of Glen Coe have that effect on some people — then arriving at the col below Stob Mhic Mhartuin is positively agoraphobic.
Suddenly, the landscape opens up with a sweeping view down to the wooded glen of the River Leven and across to a backdrop of the Mamores and the whaleback plateau of Ben Nevis beyond. The north side of the Leven, almost directly ahead, was the site of a prisoner-of-war camp during the First World War. lt must have been a dismal location in winter.
From the cairn at the col a smaller footpath leads left up the broad ridge to the top of Stob Mhic Mhartuin and further ﬁne views down the length of Glen Coe, ﬂanked by the peaks of the Aonach Eagach ridge to the north and the rocky spurs and summits of the Three Sisters, Stob Coire nan Lochan and Bidean nam Bian to the south.
From the summit return to the col and descend the Devil’s Staircase back to the road.