What will probably prove
to be my last major trip of the year saw Matt & I ranging far and wide as
we attempted to tackle some of the Cuillin Ridge on Skye, the Five Sisters of
Kintail and some Killin hills, all within the space of an October week.
Sgurr a’ Mhadaidh, Sgurr a’ Ghreadaidh and Sgurr na
Banachdich
Sgurr a’ Ghreadaidh
First-off, we headed for
Skye where we were received with (mostly) clear blue skies, light winds and
plenty of dry rock on which to get Matt intimately acquainted with the Skye
Ridge.
We started with my
favourite part of the ridge: the central section encompassing Sgurr a’ Mhadaidh, Sgurr a’ Ghreadaidh and
Sgurr na Banachdich. The usual start
from the Glen Brittle youth hostel was unusually quiet and there were few distractions
to slow our progress along the familiar path up into Coire a’ Ghreadaidh.
Coire a’ Ghreadaidh
The scree leading up to
the notch of An Dorus (the door)
appeared to be more stable than usual and we made good time to just below the
skyline where we peeled off left to climb the short distance to our first
summit of the day: Sgurr a’ Mhadaidh (918m;
peak of the fox).
Sgurr a’ Mhadaidh
From this airy viewpoint (well
they all are around here!), we picked our way back to the scree-filled gully
and climbed up to An Dorus itself. A
self-absorbed fellow climber had rather unhelpfully chosen to have his lunch
right in the notch itself. A few
pleasant words (liberally laced with some unpleasant thoughts) were required to
get him - and his nice new camouflaged rucksack - out of the way! Bless…
Once clear of this
temporary impediment, we quickly regained the ridge, traversing around the
yawning gash of Eag Dubh (black notch)
and slipping deftly past the imposing rock tower of the Wart as if it wasn’t
there! In no time at all we were
admiring the wholly inappropriate diminutive cairn that crowns one of Skye’s
finest peaks: Sgurr a’ Ghreadaidh (973m;
peak of torment).
Matt Gliding Deftly Over Sgurr a’ Ghreadaidh
It was decision time for
Matt and he wisely chose not to call it a day, but to continue along the
sublime summit ridge of Ghreadaidh to its South Top, a mere 100m away. It’s an interesting (i.e. narrow, tricky and
exposed) 100m though and one that lives long in the memory. In these wonderfully dry and near windless
conditions, it offered little resistance and we were soon descending on the
other side to a surprisingly grassy bealach where lunch was taken.
Suitably refreshed, we
then traversed around the left-side of the Teeth (3 rock pinnacles that
straddle the ridge hereabouts) and climbed up and over the sharp rock pyramid
of Sgurr Thormaid (927m; Norman’s Peak). A steep, but straightforward descent led to a
narrow bealach before the final climb up a short scree slope and on to Munro No
3: Sgurr na Banachdich (965m; peak of
smallpox).
Sgurr na Banachdich & Sgurr a’ Ghreadaidh
Late afternoon sun saw us
descending into Coir’ an Eich, down pesky scree slopes, until easy grass slopes
welcomed us back and we regained the outward path back to the youth
hostel. A quality mountain day if ever
there was one.
Sgurr Mhic Choinnich
Sgurr Mhic Choinnich
Just the one hill today,
but what a wee gem it is. It’s not for
the faint-hearted though! Matt was game
so we started from the Glen Brittle Memorial Hut and took the excellent path up
past the Eas Mor (big waterfall) and
Loch an Fhir-bhallaich to the junction with the main Coire Lagan path at the ‘Matterhorn
Rock’.
The corrie was sunless –
and correspondingly cold at this time of an October morning - so we moved
quickly up into the upper corrie, past the eponymous lochan and skirted around
the sweeping scree slopes before gaining the distant skyline.
The next 45mins took us
gingerly along the airy and exposed ridge high above Coire Lagan on the one
side and Loch Coruisk on the other until we reached the small pile of stones
that marks the summit: Sgurr Mhic Choinnich (948m; Mackenzie’s Peak).
The return is no more
straightforward so it was another 45mins back to the foot of An Stac where we
descended back down into Coire Lagan and returned the way we had come. There are a number of tricky steps on the
Choinnich ridge so do take care and think twice before tackling it in the
wet. Navigating along it is not as easy
as you would think either.
Five Sisters of Kintail
Following the thrills of
the Black Cuillin, we transferred across to the mainland and spent the next
couple of nights in Kintail. Here we
planned to play catch-up on some of Matt’s unfinished Munros. And so we did.
Fearing deteriorating
weather, we were pleasantly surprised with what came our way for a traverse of
the Five Sisters. We had the hills to
ourselves and took just over an hour to gain the ridgeline at the Bealach an
Lapain from the floor of Glen Shiel.
A cool breeze was all we
had to contend with in otherwise dry and clear conditions which continued,
rather helpfully, all day! Consequently,
the peaks came reasonably quickly and uneventfully as we traversed over them
one-by-one to the loud accompaniment of roaring stags in the glens below. Sgurr nan Spainteach (990m; peak of the Spaniard) was as interesting and enjoyable as ever
and we were soon negotiating the little rock step that leads past the landslip
and up on to the summit slopes on Sgurr na Ciste Duibhe (1027m; peak of the black chest).
Looking West Towards Sgurr na Ciste Duibhe
From here onwards, we had
the great vista westwards along Loch Duich and across the sea to Skye for
company. The stags were still roaring as
we fairly painlessly negotiated the shapely cones of Sgurr na Carnach (1002m; rocky peak) and the Sisters’
crowning glory: Sgurr Fhuaran (1067m;
peak of the wolf). As ever (lucky
me!), the views from the latter were fabulous in every direction and both near
and far. It’s always a struggle to leave
the summit behind and head home.
Still without a soul in
sight, we descended from Sgurr Fhuaran and continued along the Five Sisters
ridge traversing past Sgurr nan Saighead and Beinn Bhuidhe before leaving the
ridge. We dropped down into Coire na
Criche and followed the excellent path alongside the Allt a’ Chruinn and down
to the roadside where a 2nd car should always be waiting!
Ciste Dubh
This delightful wee hill
has yet to give me a view despite repeated attempts. It offers a short (4hrs) hill walk, half of
which is along a deteriorating track up the boggy glen of An Caorann Beag. The track starts 50m E of the Cluanie Inn and
is good at first.
Curious Onlooker
One red deer was in no
rush to run away and gave us quite a stare as we passed. The track peters out about 2Km up the glen
and that’s a good opportunity to cross over the Allt a’ Chaorainn Bhig and
intercept the equally boggy path that leads up to peaty Bealach a’ Choinich at
600m.
Bealach a’ Choinich
The approach walk over,
the real climbing now begins with a short, but steep, 150m grassy slope that
leads on to much better ground. A good
path traverses alongside one top and
over another. It then drops slightly
before climbing steeply, but quickly, to the summit cairn of Ciste Dubhe (979m; black chest).
No view! But then you knew that. I did too…
Just an about-turn and back to the Cluanie Inn - once again to the
accompaniment of rutting stags all around!
It was still a good half-day and the summit ridge is always
entertaining, whatever the weather.
A Wet Night in Killin
Twenty minutes out from Killin,
our intended destination for the end of the week, everything changed. A phone call announced the failure of the hot
water supply at our lodge and Jon decided (wisely) that his recent bout of flu
was not conducive to hillwalking so he wouldn’t be joining us for the weekend. Even in mid-October, finding
short-notice accommodation in the
Highlands can be a problem. We did,
however, secure a room in the Killin Hotel for one night which brought us
valuable thinking (as well as eating and drinking) time!
Given deteriorating
weather (it couldn’t last for ever) and the absence of the others, I suggested
we drive over to Atholl and take in Beinn a’ Ghlo before calling it a week and
heading home. And thus it came to pass...
Beinn a’ Ghlo
Beinn a’ Ghlo (On Another Day)!
The great weather we had
enjoyed earlier in the week departed with a vengeance and Friday saw us
battling over the 3 big summits of Beinn a’ Ghlo in wild winds and almost
continuous rain.
As usual, we took
advantage of the high start from Loch Moraig above Glen Fender and headed up
the Shinagag track. We entered cloud at about 700m and the ferocious winds
really took hold on the summit of Carn Liath (975m; grey hill).
Thereafter, we battled our way over this fine mountain massif, taking in
the Munros of Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain (1070m; height of the corrie of round blisters) and Carn nan Gabhar
(1121m; hill of the goats) before
turning for home.
No views, just wind and
rain and a little unplanned diversion in thick mist... We were soon back on track though and splish-sploshing
our way down from the Bealach an Fhiodha below Airgiod Bheinn. We picked up the peaty path that threads
across the SE slopes of Carn Liath and eventually intercepts the Shinagag track. This we followed on the dirtiest of late
afternoons as we scuttled home for some long-anticipated chilli-ginger salmon
and a glass of Deuchars! Beinn a’ Ghlo
has certainly proved to be a bit of a handful this year.
Check out my plans for this coming winter at:
http://www.hillways.co.uk/winter-hillwalking.htm
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