Stob a' Choire Odhair is a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

mountain situated eight kilometres north west of

Bridge of Orchy Bridge of Orchy ( gd, Drochaid Urchaidh) is a village in Glen Orchy in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is named after the crossing over the River Orchy, which was constructed by British Army during the pacification of the Highland Clans following ...

on the border of the

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute ( sco, Argyll an Buit; gd, Earra-Ghàidheal agus Bòd, ) is one of 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod (14 July 2020) ...

and

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

council areas.

Overview

Stob a' Choire Odhair reaches a height of and is classed as a

Munro A Munro () is defined as a mountain in Scotland with a height over , and which is on the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) official list of Munros; there is no explicit topographical prominence requirement. The best known Munro is Ben Nevis ...

and a Marilyn is an unpretentious mountain that is overshadowed by its near neighbour

Stob Ghabhar Stob Ghabhar is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands, part of the Black Mount group. It is a Munro with a height of . Stob Ghabhar lies northwest of Bridge of Orchy and stands on the border of the Argyll and Highland council areas. Over ...

, one of the finest mountains in the southern

highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Albania * Dukagjin Highlands Armenia * Armenian Highlands Australia *Sou ...

. It stands in the

Black Mount Black Mount (also Blackmount) is a mountain range located in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is situated between Glen Orchy and Glen Coe. Its four Munros include Stob Ghabhar, Stob a' Choire Odhair, Creise and Meall a' Bhuiridh. The hills of Ben ...

deer forest, an area that derives its name from the dark peat hags of the moorland that surround the mountain. Stob a' Choire Odhair along with Stob Ghabhar are well seen from the

A82 road The A82 is a major road in Scotland that runs from Glasgow to Inverness via Fort William, Highland, Fort William. It is one of the principal north-south routes in Scotland and is mostly a trunk road managed by Transport Scotland, who view it a ...

as it crosses the western end of

Rannoch Moor Rannoch Moor (, gd, Mòinteach Raineach/Raithneach) is an expanse of around of boggy moorland to the west of Loch Rannoch in Scotland, where it extends from and into westerly Perth and Kinross, northerly Lochaber (in Highland), and the area of ...

and they are often climbed together and make a natural days walk. The hills name translates from the

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

as "Peak of the dun-coloured corrie".

Geography

Stob a' Choire Odhair's summit stands at the meeting of three ridges. Its western ridge links to the Munro of Stob Ghabhar which lies three kilometres away via a col with a height of 668 metres. The north eastern ridge drops very steeply to the moorland of the Black mount and Rannoch Moor. The south eastern ridge links to the mountains subsidiary peak of Beinn Toaig (834 metres) via a col with a height of 802 metres. Beinn Toaig also has a long NE ridge which runs parallel to the one of Stob a' Choire Odhair. There are two corries either side of the 802 metre col, to the north is Coire Odhair while to the south of the col is Coire Toaig which has a very good stalkers track up it which leads directly to the main summit.

Historic roads

The lower eastern slopes of Stob a' Choire Odhair carries two old roads which were important historical links to the north of Scotland. An old military road built by Major William Caulfeild was constructed in the early 1750s as part of the pacification of the Highlands after the

1745 Jacobite rising The Jacobite rising of 1745, also known as the Forty-five Rebellion or simply the '45 ( gd, Bliadhna Theàrlaich, , ), was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took pl ...

. Slightly further east is the line of an ancient

drovers' road A drovers' road, drove ''roador droveway is a route for droving livestock on foot from one place to another, such as to market or between summer and winter pasture (see transhumance). Many drovers' roads were ancient routes of unknown age; oth ...

used to herd cattle to market, this road was improved by

Thomas Telford Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE, (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotla ...

in 1803 and carried the main road down

Glen Coe Glen Coe ( gd, Gleann Comhann ) is a glen of volcanic origins, in the Highlands of Scotland. It lies in the north of the county of Argyll, close to the border with the historic province of Lochaber, within the modern council area of Highland ...

to Fort William until 1933 when the present road was built further east. Telford's road now carries the route of the

West Highland Way The West Highland Way ( gd, Slighe na Gàidhealtachd an Iar) is a linear long-distance route in Scotland. It is long, running from Milngavie north of Glasgow to Fort William in the Scottish Highlands, with an element of hill walking in the r ...

Ascents

Stob a' Choire Odhair is usually climbed in conjunction with the adjacent Munro of Stob Ghabhar, the starting point for this walk is Victoria Bridge at the western end of

Loch Tulla Loch Tulla ( gd, Loch Toilbhe ) is a small loch at near Bridge of Orchy and Glen Coe in Scotland and in the central highlands. It contains salmon some of which are bred locally. The loch is 2.5 miles in length and an average 0.5 miles in width, w ...

at grid reference . The direct route from here utilises the very good zig zag stalkers path up Coire Toaig directly to the summit. The ascent of the mountain can also be included in the Clachlet Traverse, a high level route from the Inveroran Hotel near Bridge of Orchy to the

Kings House Hotel The Kings House Hotel is an inn at the eastern end of Glen Coe, at its junction with Glen Etive in the Scottish Highlands. The inn, in an isolated position about 2 km east of the head of the glen towards Rannoch Moor, facing Buachaille Etiv ...

in Glen Coe. Despite having less height than its neighbour Stob Ghabhar it is the better viewpoint offering an extensive prospect across Rannoch Moor and the Bridge of Orchy Munros.

References and footnotes

* ''The Munros'', Scottish Mountaineering Trust, 1986, Donald Bennett (Editor) * ''The High Mountains of Britain and Ireland'', Diadem, 1993,

Irvine Butterfield Irvine Butterfield (1936–2009) was an environmentalist, hillwalker and author of several books about mountains and the outdoor environment who took a significant role in the running of organisations with such interests in Scotland. He was a go ...

, * ''Hamish's Mountain Walk'', Baton Wicks, 1996,

Hamish Brown Hamish Brown Order of the British Empire, M.B.E. Royal Scottish Geographical Society, FRSGS is a professional writer, lecturer and photographer specialising in mountain and outdoor topics. He is best known for his walking exploits in the Scottish ...

, * ''The Munros, Scotland's Highest Mountains'', 2006,

Cameron McNeish Cameron McNeish FRSGS is a Scottish wilderness hiker, backpacker and mountaineer who is an authority on outdoor pursuits. In this field he is best known as an author and broadcaster although he is also a magazine editor, lecturer and after dinn ...

, Footnotes {{DEFAULTSORT:Stob A' Choire Odhair Munros Marilyns of Scotland Mountains and hills of the Southern Highlands Mountains and hills of Argyll and Bute