Glen Shiel round-up

Well, that's it. Nine days and a very satisfactory 25 new Munros. For the first few days the weather was pretty grim and I had thoughts of returning to Aberdeen, but a couple of drier and clamer days combined with some cracking hills put things into perspective again. Highpoints included The Saddle, The South Ridge of seven in a day, and closers A' Chralaig and Mullach Fraoch-choire just for the snow! A bit of a rest before I go out again, but I will be there. Thanks for all the comments, it was really appreciated. Munro you soon!

Glen Shiel Hills: A' Chralaig (33) and Mullach Fraoch-choire (49)

Walk date: 12/05/07
My Munro #'s: 129 and 130

Pronunciations - translations - heights:
A chraalik - basket or creel - 1120m
Moolach froech-chora - heather-corrie peak - 1102m

Statistics:
Duration - 07:15-12:00
Distance - 15.5km
Total ascent - 1209m
Weather - low wind but it still had an influence on temperature, light snow/cold rain at height.
Team - solo
Other hikers: none at height, 2 in glen not going for the hills, 4 on way up from afar


A wider route down, but otherwise on track:





Hiking Expedition '07 - Glen Shiel area - Day 9 (Sun 13th)

With this pair including the highest and the third-highest of all the hills from this Glen Shiel break, it perhaps shouldn't be a surprise that I left them until last! With an expected five hour duration and then a drive back to Aberdeen it also required a 07:15 start!

The route itself is straightforward enough; from the carpark beside the forest just to the east of The Cluanie Inn, walk along the road for a brief spell before turning onto the farmer's track that heads up An Caorann Mor. However, the time to get to know this track is later on. For now, look for a big white stone on the first turn, literally just a few metres in, as beside it a thin path begins to tail off NE up Fuaran Mor Chluain. The path is so thin that it cannot be easily seen from the framer's track, but it does offer a rapid ascent onto the broad ridge, which then provides easy walking and ascent, taking you all the way to A' Chralaig, the last 100m of which on this day featured a non-negligible amount of snow underfoot, but thankfully the path itself stayed obvious and clear.


First signs of the white stuff on A' Chralaig:



A thin path in snow with big drops? Excellent!



The mighty 3m tall cairn of A' Chralaig:



The ridge is then followed without difficulty to Stob Coire na Cralaig and its small cairn and then a steep descent and rise again to Na Geurhain and Mullach Fraoch-choire. Despite having seen this scary looking section from Sgurr nan Conbhairean on day one, and my guidebook talking of scaling pinnacles, the route onwards actually offers no real challenges as the path gently weaves its way around the impressive features. On a clear day the no-doubt steep drops all around might add a little more interest of course!


Pinnacles, outcrops, but a good path too:



I'll take the safe path around this lot:



After a good hug of the cairn, the last for this expedition, I returned to the col between the summit and Stob Coire na Cralaig where a cairn-marked path descends into An Caorann Mor. This becomes indistinct at times, but is quite fast and leads to the also indistinct path along the glen, which fortunately at the sheep pens marked on the OS 1:25,000, turns into the aforementioned farmer's track, and then a rapid stomp home to Munro victory!!


Cairn and shelter of Mullach Fraoch-choire:



The obligatory self-portrait at my last Glen Shiel cairn:



On returning, a safer path does off to the right here:



Finally below the cloud, looking north to Fionngleann:



Deer on the lower slops of Mullach Fraoch-choire:

Creag nanDamh(274),Sgurr anLochain(131),Sgurr an DoireLeathain(122),MaolChinn-dearg(168),Aonach air Chrith(109),DruimShionnach(160)&Creg a'Mhaim(218)

Walk date: 11/05/07
My Munro #'s: 120 to 126

Pronunciations - translations - heights:
Creag nam dav - rock of the stags - 918m
Skoor an lochan - peak of the little loch - 1004m
Skoor an dira lehan - peak of the broad thicket - 1010m
Moel chan dyerack - bald red hill - 981m
Oenach ayr chree - trembling hill - 1021m
Drim heenanach - ridge of the fox - 987m
Crayk a vaim - rock of the large round hill - 947m

Statistics:
Duration - 08:00-16:30 to bike, back to car at 18:00
Distance - 22.4km to bike, 40.3km back to car
Total ascent - 1971m
Weather - a little cool in morning, then wind dropped but had light snow/sleet for rest of day.
Team - solo
Other hikers: 3 whilst on tops, 2 ascending as I descended


So long it had to go to two pics, taken route in red:

Hiking Expedition '07 - Glen Shiel area - Day 7 (Fri 11th)

Wow! Now, that's what I call a day out, and with a munro list so long I almost couldn't get them all in as a title! Fantastic, to be on the top of your seventh munro only six and a half hours after setting out. Anyway, after an early rise I drove up to The Cluanie Inn and dropped the bike off just before the bridge at the end of the loch. Noticing as I did with some worry that the south ridge had had a dusting of snow overnight! Ach well, I thought, I'll get up there and see what it's like with the option of dropping down via one of the many escape routes if necessary.

Parking down at the same carpark I'd used for The Saddle (down at Malagan Bridge), I set off across the grass towards Allt Mhalagain, anticipating having to follow it upstream in order to avoid too adventurous a crossing. However, I immediately found the wide and very solid bridge I had completely missed on The Saddle day! This path then steadily rises and moves through some boggy sections before hitting good rock. After a tame river crossing a sharp turn SE from a cairn marks the final push up onto the ridge.

The start of the south ridge, seven munros coming up:

The good paths continue but its a further 1.5km on top before the first munro is received, Creag nan Damh, itself being not much more than a gentle mound. Continuing on it's a little disturbing to find a drop right down to 729m before any height is gained again, but this is sweetened by discovering the non-Munro Sgurr Beag can be bypassed by a solid 'cynical-bagger's' path on its south side.

That's one, Creag nan Damh:

Non-Munro but impressive Sgurr Thionail to the south:

The bagger's path round Sgurr Beag:

Onwards and a fair climb gets you onto Sgurr an Lochan before repeating the process for Sgurr an Doire Leathain with its slight NE detour to the actual summit.

That's two, Sgurr an Lochan:

Some impressive features even in cloud:

That's three, Sgurr an Doire Leathain:

A huge snowbank clung here to the corrie slopes and I found myself thinking that the time for white-out was upon me, but the grass all around thankfully stayed green as I progressed. Maol Chinh-dearg soon comes and goes as the half-way point, but the best is next up with Aonach air Chrith. This is the highest peak of the day and takes a fair bit of fun effort getting up, the approach being narrow, rocky and steep. The use of hands came into play for me, but it really is fun and nothing that a walker used to heights wouldn't enjoy.

That's four, Maol Chinn-dearg:

Loch Quoich looking fine to the south:

I can see the pub from here! The Cluanie Inn below:

Wet but steady weather toward the day's end:

That fun route up Aonach air Chrith:

That's five, Aonach air Chrith:

After that my thirst was up and Druim Shionnach and Creag a' Mhaim, flat and wide and a solid mound respectively, came easy.

That's six, Druim Shionnach:

Some rocky routing toward Creag a' Mhaim:

That's seven, Creag a' Mhaim:

On a high from having all seven in the bag, I wasn't quite prepared for the effort involved in closing the day's proceedings. First of all was the drop in height from Creag a' Mhaim. This is on a good path, but I found it a punishing descent on tired knees. Next up was a 5km drudge on the private road taking you back to the A87. Why they can't allow the public's cars to this point is beyond me. To avoid this, it might be possible to drop off Creag a' Mhaim to a point further down the road, but that would be a rough descent over tough heather.

Loch Loyne and that bloody paved road:

Nevermind, after reaching my bike, I fuelled up on much needed refreshments and then made my very slow way back on the car on my trusty but sadly knackered steed. No matter at the end anyway, as I was still bouncing from increasing the week's tally by 50% (14 to 21) in a single day!!

A surprise at the end of the day was this bloody toe!

Glen Shiel Hills: Aonach Mheadhoin (135), Sgurr a' Bhealaich Dheirg (96), Saileag (205) and Ciste Dhubh (173)

Walk date: 10/05/07
My Munro #'s: 116, 117, 118 and 119


Pronunciations - translations - heights:
Oenach vain - middle hill - 1001m
Skoor a vyaleech yerak - peak of the red pass - 1036m
Saalak - little heel - 956m
Keesta doo - black chest - 979m


Statistics:
Duration - 08:45-17:10
Distance - 22.9km
Total ascent - 2009m
Weather - warm at start, light rain here and there. Wind picking up toward end of day.
Team - solo
Other hikers: 2


If you're combining, repeating hills is a certainty:

Hiking Expedition '07 - Glen Shiel area - Day 6 (Thurs 10th)

With the forecast that this would be the least good of the remaining days here, I postponed the South Shiel ridge for another day, and took on this North Shiel ridge, with the otional add-on of Ciste Dubh. As I made my way from the car however, I found myself taking off the layers and worrying that I hadn't put sun-block on as the sun shone warmly down! This made for a very warm ascent to Sgurr an Fhuarail, over an initial flat and boggy grassland and then steep grass slopes, neither of which came with a path. Other travellers must have come this way however, as once on top a good path suddenly appears and is then present for the entire ridge.

Cluanie Inn and Loch from the rise to Sgurr an Fhuarail:

More up and down than I had expected takes you onto the rocky backbone of Aonach Meadhoin, a massive wide chunk of a mountain with the cairn being almost its only feature. Moving off toward the day's highest point, Sgurr a' Bhealaich Dheirg, the path makes its way over some fun outcrops of rock, but these can be easily avoided by the obvious adjacent path. Once up at height again, the summit itself is a short walk northeasterly along a rocky spur capped by an impressively solid cairn given its position. The way is absolutely fine, but I can imagine that adding in snow, ice and wind would make things a little spicier.

Aonach Mheadhoin and its bleak top:

Those outcrops on the way to Sgurr a Bealaich Dheirg:

Great views north along Allt Cam-Ban:

The rocky cairn of Sgurr a' Bhealaich Dheirg:

Once back on the main path, some easy walking leads toward another cairn, the path heading down westwards just before reaching it. Saileag is then soon reached with just some minor up and down relative to what's gone before. Whether I was to go for Ciste Dubh or not, my initial route was to retrace my steps to Sgurr an Fhuarail, but given that the weather had been mainly good and that my time on this break was running out, the decision was pretty much already made in the positive. Thus I set about losing a depressing 400m down to Bealach a' Choinich.

Poor Saileag's cairn is a little lacking:

Ciste Dubh from Sgurr an Fhuarail:

At the bealacah some refreshments were taken in before a return to climbing, which unfortunately started with a steep and extremely boggy rise, but one which soon enough became solid and good underfoot. The route to summit was then straightforward and just required the effort to be put in. The top, which is often described as sharp, is indeed 'pointy', but at no point requires use of hands and is basically a walk, incidentally ending in a rather cute stacked cairn.

That pointy top of Ciste Dhubh:

Best cairn of the day award goes to Ciste Dhubh:

I didn't hang around on top and was soon trying to find a path off Bealach a' Choinich back toward The Cluanie Inn. A path does develop, but on this day at least it was mostly bog. This was on the eastern side of Allt a' Chaorainn Bhig, but paths on the western side initially seemed no better. However, once the western side turned turned into a wide farm track and my eastern side started to veer a little too eastward, I decided to jump the river and take the low road right back to my lovely little car, happy that I had successfully added an extra hill on an already satisfying day.

Glen Shiel Hills: The Saddle (121) and Sgurr na Sgine (223)

Walk date: 09/05/07
My Munro #'s: 114 and 115

Pronunciations - translations - heights:
The saddle - the saddle - 1010m
Skoor na skeena - peak of the knife - 946m

Statistics:
Duration - 08:45-16:00
Distance - 17.4km
Weather - periods of soaking precipitation, but not constant. Warm enough in breaks to enjoy!
Team - solo
Other hikers: 7 (guided group)


There was no chance of The Forcan Ridge for me:





Hiking Expedition '07 - Glen Shiel area - Day 5 (Weds 9th)

The name of The Saddle conjures up some dark feelings of foreboding, mainly due to its accepted approach, the mighty Forcan Ridge. After my Aonach Eigach day, I was not at all feeling gusty over the prospect. However, despite these two hills both being grand affairs with front doors to match, The Forcan Ridge for The Saddle and the impressive Faochag for Sgurr na Sgine, they each have the same convenient and very approachable side door in Bealach Coire Mhalagain.

My day started with parking just southeast of Malagan Bridge along the A87. This soon turned out to be wrong as the more convenient start is the carpark just to the northwest, opposite the little island in the river as drawn on the 1:25,000 OS map. From there the good path leading over Cnoc Dubh Achadh Arsgalain is clearly seen. For my own part, I had tried for the spot where the old military road (a bog in a line) meets Allt Mhalagain only to find the river in far too heavy flow. Not seeing a bridge (I later found one just a few dozen metres upstream on my South Shiel Ridge day...), I retreated to the road, crossed by the road bridge, and then made rough progress across rough and boggy grass to intersect the good path as it started to climb. Ach well, better late than never...


How'd they know I was here? Early morning neighbours:



Going was good on the path and without too much trouble, Bealach na Craoibhe was soon reached. Despite what the OS map shows, the path does continue from the bealach toward The Saddle, with a small cairn marking the decision point between The Forcan Ridge and Bealach Coire Mhalagain. As my decision had already been made I followed the continuing good path over boulders along a wall right to the bealach.


The Forcan Ridge from its start:



After some needed refreshments, the first significant rain/snow of the day hit. Although it only lasted for 10 minutes or so, the incoming cloud completely obscured the way on and I ended up losing the path when it became indistinct over boulders and bog. Nevermind, I made a line for the safe grassy slopes to the south of the summit and with a bit of effort found myself quickly enough on the broad back of The Saddle.


Heading up onto The Saddle from the corrie:



Having rejoined the path (it goes high in the corrie; head for the wall above you when coming from the bealach, then follow it to its western end where the path is clearly seen ascending), I strolled along and was very quickly on the first of The Saddle's two peaks. This southwesterly one is the trigpointed version, but most baggers make their way north easterly to the second, more pointy version, just to make sure. The second looks mighty, but a good path leads up the back of it and a tap of the cairn is soon made.


The first of The Saddle's summits; trig-point version:



The cloud being in obscured most of the classic views to The Forcan Ridge while I was up there, but from what shapes I could just about make out it actually looked fun, but fun that I was fine without having.


'Slopes' below the second summit:



Back towards the first summit from the second:



The Forcan Ridge peeking through the cloud:



A bit clearer, including the second summit:



Rolling cloud on my return to the bealach:



Moving on, I followed the path back to the bealach where the rain duly returned as I continued still on a path up onto the wide ridge between Faochag and Sgurr na Sgine. This ascent path goes over a few boulder fields and the path can be lost, but as long as you're going up, you're fine!


Sgurr na Sgine in clear view:



The path is soon re-found on top anyway and a little weaving brings you to Sgurr na Sgine. At this point, not only did it stop raining, but some fine views opened up all around as the cloud broke for the first time since the bealach.


Clearing views from Sgurr na Sgine:



South from Sgurr na Sgine:



The panoramic from Sgurr na Sgine:



Back toward the summit as I made off northwest:



The lower section of The Forcan Ridge:



The upper section of The Forcan Ridge:



Although Faochag looked easy enough despite its impressive profile my return was as ascended as I wanted the simplest return and was a little worried about a potential river crossing at the end of Faochag (if I'd have found the bridge earlier it would have not been an issue!). Time to check out The Cluanie Inn for a pint...