The connoisseur’s route from Glen Nevis campsite turns left at the ‘Halfway Lochan’ and contours round beneath the north face of Ben Nevis. It looks an entirely different mountain from this angle, and the walker’s route involving staggering up the steep ground onto Càrn Mòr Dearg, from where the view is really quite good (if it’s clear, as it was for us). From here, the CMD arête is surely the finest way to approach the highest ground in the UK. Not content with that, we started the Ring of Steall the next day but had to turn back just before the half way point due to walking boot (and knee) failure. But we did have a close encounter with a ptarmigan.