The Five Sisters of Kintail

The Five Sisters of Kintail

Lynn was fast approaching her 100^th Munro and needed a few days in Kintail to seal the deal!  The original plan had been to capture all 7 of the South Cluanie Ridge Munros in a day, add the Five Sisters of Kintail and pick up anything else the weather allowed over another couple of days.

Ah, Sunny Kintail.........

However, as what has become a rather wet and windy summer refused to play ball, we ended up, as always, compromising and grabbing what we could.

Creise

So, after pausing on the way up to climb Creise (and necessarily, Meall a’ Bhuiridh) above the Glen Coe ski complex, we decided to use the best day of the 4 traversing the Five Sisters ridge.  This was in the hope of seeing something of the amazing views that this always enjoyable traverse can give.

Saileag (on a good day)!

Leavin  the car at the end-point, and benefiting from a kindly lift part-way up Glen Shiel from David, we headed up the usual path (not as steep or as long as it looks from below) to the skyline at the Bealach an Lapain (730m).  It was a muggy old climb that soon entered thick cloud which was to linger for the next couple of hours.  On impulse, we decided to turn right instead of left and invest an additional 45 mins of our day adding a 4^th Munro to the day’s haul: Saileag (956m; little heel).  It didn’t take long, wasn’t very steep and we saw nothing!  But it was still Lynn’s 95^th Munro so was well worth climbing!

The North Cluanie Ridge

Back at the Bealach an Lapain, we reverted to Plan A and continued westwards along the ever-tightening ridge over various bumps and dips to Sgurr nan Spainteach (990m; peak of the Spaniard).  No Munro, but we wouldn’t have long to wait.  A steep, if short, descent to negotiate an interesting landslip followed by a modest re-ascent and a short boulder field brought us to our 2^nd Munro of the day: Sgurr na Ciste Duibhe (1027m; peak of the black chest).

Sgurr na Ciste Duibhe

By now, the cloud was beginning to noticeably thin and we were getting glimpses of Loch Duich far below and some of the surrounding hills.  By the time we had paused for some lunch at the intervening bealach, there were clear signs of a sunny afternoon to come.  First though, we had to climb up and over Sgurr na Carnach (1002m; rocky peak) and the ridge’s crowning peak: Sgurr Fhuaran (1067m; peak of the wolf) before the cloud started to leave us for good.

Sgurr Fhuaran

Descending from Sgurr Fhuaran, everything got better quickly and there then followed what has become a typically warm, bright and sunny traverse around Sgurr nan Saighead and Beinn Bhuidhe before dropping into Coire na Criche and following the delightful Allt a’ Chruinn back down to the waiting car.  Lovely!

West From Sgurr Fhuaran

Loch Duich From Coire na Criche

The following day, Lynn achieved her 100^th Munro on the South Cluanie Ridge.  Weather precluded us attempting a full traverse of all 7 peaks, but we managed the easternmost 3 and we celebrated her first century on Druim Shionnach - typically, in thick cloud!  The following day, in bright sunshine, we climbed Schiehallion on the way home thereby completing Lynn’s 102^nd Munro and ensuring we achieved the major aim of the trip.  Phew! 

 Check out my plans for similar walks at: http://www.hillways.co.uk/summer/summer.htm