Now for the Grey Corries proper. It must be admitted that from a distance and without a covering of snow, these mountains somewhat resemble a row of pale slag heaps. Once on the ridge, though, one gets a very different impression. What looks at first like loose scree, turns out to be very pleasantly firm to walk on despite much of it being broken, and the excellent non-slip quality of the rock when dry enables one to swing along at a good pace. Other factors which make this ridge so pleasant are the gentle slopes and lack of much height loss between summits. There is also a marvellously distant view on a clear day, and often more snow than at first apparent when seen from the Nevis direction.

We were delighted to see a pair of snow-buntings on Stob Coire an Laoigh but could not linger to admire them. Paul kept anxiously looking at his watch, indicating that the seeds of doubt were beginning to set in. We had agreed that we must start the return traverse by 5.30 at the latest as struggling back over rough ground in the dusk or by torchlight when very tired would not be much fun in such an isolated area. It had been about 3.30 as we left Sgurr Choinnich Mor summit.

Quite determined to succeed this time, we pushed on as fast as sensibly possible, non-stop over Caisteal and the intervening summits to Stob a Choire Leith, finally reaching Stob Choire Claurigh with two minutes to spare. Here we took ten minutes for a rest, some food and one more photo before starting back. We refilled our little water bottle with snow.

The return trip was quite easy as there were still enough large snow patches to enable descents to 'flow' but not so many as to slow us on the uphill bits. Also, coming this way we had the marvellous view of the snowy sides of the hills, all the way back to Ben Nevis looming over the Aonachs.

The steep re-ascent of Sgurr Choinnich Mor was a struggle, but once over the top we could look forward to downhill all the way. We opted to bypass Sgurr Choinnich Beag, possibly not the best choice, and headed diagonally down the rough tussock-grassy slope towards the valley bottom. In our by now somewhat weary state, we realised we must keep very alert as there is no path and the very uneven ground concealed many bog holes and unexpectedly slippery places. We sucked boiled sweets from time to time which helped a lot. A large herd of deer, about fifty animals, clearly startled to see people so late in the day, took off in fright, streaming across the hillside ahead.