This part of Scotland contains its highest mountains and has become a bit of a honeypot over the years with climbers.

One of the most famous of its mountains is Buachaille Etive More (The Great Herdsman of Etive...right)) which towers before you as you come across Rannoch Moor from the east.

Some years ago while in the area I came across some Mountain Rescue Teams scanning its flanks. Someone was lost in the hills and the Glen Coe Mountain rescue team together with teams from the RAF were combing the length of the ridge of Buachaille Etive Mor. It was already a blisteringly hot day and it being a Monday they were short on manpower. I was asked to join in the search and so found myself toiling up Coire na Tualaich with a group of RAF lads from Leuchars.

While in the Corrie we were out of radio contact with the rest of the teams and it was only when we emerged out of the corrie and on to the summit ridge that news came over the airwaves that the lost soul had been found and was in the process of being airlifted to Fort William. He had been seen wandering around in a very distressed state down at the River Coe near the Clachaig Inn the previous Saturday evening and had gone off in the dark clad only in a pair of socks and underpants. It seemed the poor soul was having some sort of mental breakdown and there had been concern for his safety since he had not returned on the Sunday morning. He was later admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Edinburgh but in the meantime he was treated at Fort William for bad sunburn, exposure, dehydration and very sore feet.

On the slopes of Beinn a Bheithir in winter

This part of the Highlands gets its fair share of snow in the winter and its always fascinating to see how the character of the mountains change from season to season. With the onset of winter they can become as challenging as any peaks in the world.

One mountain which can be quite a challenge is Bidean nam Biam (right) which lies to on the south side of Glen Coe. So high and steep are its peaks above the Glen (the Three Sisters) that its quite difficult to get a view of the summit of Bidean which is hidden behind them. The whole massif is rocky and with steep sides it demands some scrambling to get to the top.

One winter while wild camping in Glen Etive (I was a hardier soul then) Bidean was picked as our challenge for the weekend.

We set off from near Loch Achtriochtan in Glen Coe and headed up into Corie nam Bian, snow making for difficult and slow progress before we popped out through a cornice just below Stob Coire nam Biath and reached the ridge which led us to the summit.

The views all around were quite magnificent with the Buachailles to the east parading like giant white crested waves before tumbling into Rannoch Moor.

Looking west over the Buachailles towards Rannoch Moor

Sgurr na Ullaidhe from the slopes of Bidean

Loading up after a rest stop

In contrast, the summer can produce hot and sticky weather.......this being the humid west, and it was on such a day that I climbed Ben Starav, which lies to the south of Bidean, at the seaward end of Glen Etive.

Starav is a bit of a slog to be honest, with its feet lapping in the waters of Loch Etive and its summit at 1078m and the humidity of the day I chose to climb it was not helpful.

By the time I reached the summit ridge the cool breeze I was expecting had not materialised and I lingered on the summit taking in the views south to Cruachan, east to the Crainlarich hills, north to Glen Coe, the Mamores and Ben Nevis and west to the Hebrides. Immediately below, Loch Etive lay deepest blue and still and I could hear the occasional car passing along the Glen road.

Despite it being a Saturday there were no other climbers or walkers in evidence and I scrambled along the craggly ridge out to Stob Coire Dheirg gingerly placing my boots in between the pinnacles of rotten rock perched precariously above the snow-filled corrie.

Looking up Glen Etive from the slopes of Starav

Eventually I reached the col and my choice was now to either head off east to Beinn nan Aighenan, look north to the green-brown pyramid of Glas Bheinn Mhorr or surrender to the heat and humidity and seek an escape down below by the Allt nan Meirleach. The prospect of a cool bath was ultimately the deciding factor and I trotted off down a vague path in the direction of running water. Here I came across a family and their dog enjoying a splash in the numerous pools below a waterfall. They too, had decided to abandon a traverse of the Etive hills, such was the heat. After lingering a while by the ice cold snow-fed waters, I donned my rucsac and descended to Glen Etive by way of the Allt Mheuran, reaching my tent by late afternoon.

I felt guilty at having surrendered the opportunity of climbing Glas Bheinn Mhor but it was my first day in the area and the heat and humidity were an unexpected distraction. In any event I felt a little less guilty when a couple of lads appeared from across the river, having just come down from Glas Bhienn Mhor, their legs covered in ticks.

Glen Etive