Ciste Dhudh

Friday 2nd September 2016

During my first walking holiday in Scotland, back in 2004 when I did the West Highland Way, I bought a copy of Ralph Storer’s “100 Best Routes on Scottish Mountains” and ever since this has been my inspiration whenever I have been in Scotland. This definitive guidebook has directed me up over a hundred Munros and more than ten years later I am still working my way through that book. When I first came to Glen Shiel, in 2008, I was astonished by the huge number of walks in this area that Ralph Storer describes, and I knew at the time that I was going to be returning to Glen Shiel many times over the following years. Eight years after first coming to Glen Shiel I was back again and still attempting to do all the walks described by Ralph Storer in the area, starting with walk number forty-four: Ciste Dhudh. This walk actually goes over two mountains: one a Corbett, Am Bathach, which is a mountain between two and a half and three thousand feet high, and the other is the Munro, over three thousand feet high, that lends the walk its title.

The weather continued to be unkind to me on this walk as it was throughout this holiday. I couldn’t believe how lucky I had been three months before when I was in the Cairngorms as I’d enjoyed fabulous weather, but now Scotland was reverting more to its usual weather with strong winds and frequent rain. At the start of this day it was pouring with rain, again, as I drove up gorgeous Glen Shiel to a small layby just beyond the Cluanie Inn for my walk up Ciste Dhudh. I started the walk once the rain had stopped by climbing the wet, muddy, grassy slopes of Am Bathach from the road and before too long the sun had come out. I was more than happy to see the sun and embraced it warm-heartedly by lathering up with sun cream in anticipation of sunny weather all day, but I was being far too naïve as unfortunately the weather was very changeable on this walk, and the sun did not stay out. It was looking great at this point with the sun glistening on Loch Cluanie behind me and the hills around the top of Glen Shiel basking in the sunshine.

It wasn’t long before it started raining again so I had to put my waterproofs back on and traipsed up the hill onto the summit ridge with the two tops of Am Bathach in view before me and Ciste Dhudh hiding in the dark background behind. The rain continued to fall as I made my way along the ridge over the southern top and over the summit of the Corbett. My map indicates a cairn on the first top, but when I got there it seemed to have vanished only to appear on the actual summit after I had crossed the interesting, grassy ridge in the wet, miserable conditions. During the long descent from the summit, Ciste Dhudh had been brooding under dark clouds and I wondered if the weather was ever going to improve. However before I reached the bottom of Bealach a’Chòinich I glimpsed a hint of blue sky and literally jumped in the air for joy! By the time I was at the bottom of the pass the sun had come out and the rain had stopped. After crossing the complex, boggy bealach, I had gorgeous sunny views behind me of Am Bathach and the Munro of Aonach Meadhoin, which was being illuminated gloriously.

Despite the fabulous views the ground under my feet was saturated, which made for a tricky ascent as it was difficult to get a grip on the steep, boggy ground. (Actually Ralph Storer doesn’t recommend doing this walk in wet conditions due to the steep grassy slopes.) As I climbed the slopes of Ciste Dhudh, strong, cold winds began to blow that forced me to keep away from the top of the narrowing ridge and keep my eyes firmly on the ground to be sure of my footing. Strong winds had plagued me during the previous day on a narrow ridge and once again I was unable to enjoy a great mountain due to the weather, even though the sun was shining. There is nothing you can do to counter strong winds, which makes them really frustrating. Even though the sun was shining I was still wrapped up in my waterproofs as protection from the cold winds as I kept going along the narrow ridge, but I feel as if I wasn’t really being able to enjoy the spectacularly ridge as much as I could have done due to the wind. Keeping my head down I continued climbing the narrow ridge until eventually I reached the summit cairn of the Munro, Ciste Dhudh, where I had my lunch.

I could see rain falling in the distance around me, but while I was at the top of Ciste Dhudh I was in an oasis of sunshine with fabulous views. The top of Glen Affric was looking fine, but the best views were to the west towards the Five Sisters of Kintail looking picturesque seen from behind rather than from their usual vantage of Mam Ratagan and I couldn’t help thinking that the Five Sisters looked better from this direction, even if only for the novelty. Even though it was only lunch time Ralph Storer’s route now directed me to come down off Ciste Dhudh and head back towards the car, which I was loathed to do since the weather seemed so good, but there seemed little alternative. With hindsight, I think I could have returned to Bealach a’Chòinich and climbed the long slopes of Sgùrr an Fhuarail to reach the Munro of Aonach Meadhoin. This would have made a good round of An Caorann Beag, but instead I descended steep, grassy slopes to the top of An Caorann Mór. Ahead of me was the steep slopes of Mullach Fraoch-choire and I briefly considered climbing up there, but when I saw how steep the grassy slopes were I turned right at the top of the pass and headed towards the road down the valley on a boggy path that eventually improved.

The biggest problem with this walk was that it was too short, although Ralph Storer had said that it would take six and a half hours and I finished the walk in not much less than that. The rain returned during my long descent down the valley, which maybe justified my sticking to the proscribed route. The fantastic weather that I’d enjoyed on Ciste Dhudh was now a distant memory with the miserable weather of Am Bathach soon reasserting itself. The long descent gave me time to reflect on this walk and the two mountains that were climbed on it, one a Corbett and the other a Munro. I had enjoyed the ridge walk on Am Bathach, despite the rain, and the ridge on Ciste Dhudh was spectacular despite the strong winds. The sun came out, once again, before I reached my car and since there was still a lot of the afternoon left I drove down Glen Shiel and up Ratagan Pass to the usual vantage point for the Five Sisters of Kintail. This fabulous chain of mountains was looking majestic sitting in the dappled sunshine, but I still wondered whether the view from the other side with no houses or roads in sight was not better.