Don’t Stob at just one peak... take on the twin sister too
Easains trek will reward efforts with great views
Another Munro that comes with a twin, and I imagine everyone who climbs Stob Coire Easain will also climb its sister, Stob a’ Choire Mheadhoin. Indeed, the pair are often collectively referred to as “the Easains”.
The hills lie south of the A86 and Roybridge on the edge of some truly wild country. The vast, empty-feeling Rannoch Moor is a short distance south. The mountains are similar in height – Stob Coire Easain at 3,658ft is just 33ft taller than Stob a’ Choire Mheadhoin.
The summits are only 0.6 miles apart, separated by a high col at 3,150ft. From particular viewpoints in the south they do indeed look like twin peaks – Stob Coire Easain is a more satisfying climb from the shared col – steeper, rougher with a couple of wee rocky steps.
The views from the top are magnificent – the Grey Corries, the Aonachs and Ben Nevis, are incredibly impressive looking west. South, Rannoch Moor appears endless. The easiest approach to the hills is from Fersit – a hamlet several kilometres down a scenic singletrack road from the A86. It lies just at the head of gloomy looking Loch Treig – a deep trench of a loch, like a land-locked fjord with the Easains forming a very steep western wall, the Munro of Stob Coire Sgriodain doing similar in the east. The loch is a reservoir, dammed in 1929 and flooding the old settlements of Kinlochtreig and Creaguaineach. At one time, they’d been large cattle markets.
As part of the Lochaber hydroelectric scheme, the loch was linked to the aluminium smelter in Fort William by a 15-mile tunnel hacked through the mountains. The loch has long been associated in folklore with malicious sprites like kelpies and water bulls. In 1933, divers working on the hydro project asked to be moved to other jobs after they claimed to have seen terrible creatures in underwater caverns.