M28 | 1130 m. | 3707 ft.
Translation: Big peak
Pronuncation: beenyan mor

Day 2 of our 2008 Scotland walking weekend. Thomas had cooked us a lot of good food and we let the evening end with beer and fire! We had earned that. After we had hiked the big shepherd the day before, we turned to our local mountains on 05.10 so to speak. The Mamores were right in front of our front door and we had a direct view to Na Gearanach, which means “The Girls”. Also this day should remain memorable in many ways.

We saved some altitude meters and drove with the cars to Mamore Lodge, where we could park for an acceptable final fee. Especially Thomas suffered from knees and muscles and every saved meter came in handy. In a good mood and much more important – in the best weather – we marched off. Only Thomas didn’t, he shot off and soon had a few hundred meters between him and us. Something he had probably had breakfast, which we didn’t have. Nevertheless we took the opportunity to explore and look at the area around Kinlochlewen from a different perspective. The view of Loch Leven was as impressive as the appearance of the Blackwater Reservoir. But now it was time to catch the nags again and to point out to Thomas in time that the path would not continue to meander idyllically towards Loch Eilde Mór, but that also today 2 Munros were waiting for the ambitious climber. And that meant – right – ascent.

We then crossed the terrain towards Sgor Eilde Beag on an excellent Stalkers Path, which opened up the steepest parts in serpentines. Here it turned out that Thomas was really suffering and had to grit his teeth to survive here. A condition that unfortunately should not change throughout the day. Nevertheless, after almost 1.5 h we reached the first summit of the day, the 956 m high Sgor Eilde Beag. The first Munro should be climbed another 1.5 h later. From here we hiked on the beautiful ridge to the 1062m high Triangle-Top, which led directly to Binnein Beag. Thomas secured the back flank as usual and so we used the 3rd Munro of this holiday for a long break for eating, drinking and communication. The view to the neighbouring mountains like Sgurr Eilde Mor was magnificent and also Ring of Steall and Ben Nevis presented themselves flawlessly on this day.

The excitement was great as the girls were and indeed the terrain proved to be challenging. It was bumpy and very steep and challenged us with repeated ascents and descents until we finally reached the 4th Munro of the 2008 campaign at 2pm. Congratulations, combined with stretching and eating exercises completed the probably last Munro of this year. From now on it was downhill, first quite steep, then a bit more leisurely again. From Baerlach between Stob Core a’ Charin and Na Gruagachean we could again use a good path to descend into the valley. We then returned to the track that led us to the mountain in the morning and arrived back at Mamore Lodge safe and sound and exhausted. And now even the last sceptic realized that the 3 pounds were well invested!

A great tour, for the boys Munros No. 3 and 4, and for Cord and me there are now 2 Mamores-Munros left to dig. We’re looking forward to it!


Description These two very contrasting mountains are at the east end of the Mamores, overlooking the upper reaches of Glen Nevis. Binnein Mor is the highest and finest peak of the Mamores, with a classical mountain shape formed by narrow ridges sweeping up to the level summit. To the north-east, steep spurs enclose two little corries. Binnein Beag is a complete contrast, being a small and almost perfectly conical hill standing out from Binnein Mor towards the Water of Nevis.The approach from Mamore Lodge is quite long, but has the advantage of following a track and good stalker's paths for much of the way. Go east from the lodge across the Allt Coire na Ba and before reaching Loch Eilde Mor take the stalker's path which climbs north-east to Coire an Lochain. Continue north below the east face of Binnein Mor to reach the col, where there is a small lochan, between it and Binnein Beag. Climb up and down the slope of boulders and scree on the south side of Binnein Beag. From the lochan climb the narrow ridge between the two small corries on the north and north-east faces of Binnein Mor. An excellent scramble leads to a point 200 metres north of the summit. Traverse south along a level ridge to the South Top, then descend south-east to Sgor Eilde Beag and just further south reach the top of a stalker's path which zigzags down the steep hillside to rejoin the outward route.