North Glen Shiel Ridge

Sunday 7th June 2009

The day after my walk over the Five Sisters of Kintail I went for a walk along the ridge just to the east of the sisters. This ridge is grassier than that along the Five Sisters, but is still delightfully narrow with outcrops of rock near the tops of the Munros. I started at the top of Glen Shiel near the isolated Cluanie Inn where I immediately headed off up the steep slopes of a hill opposite. This was a long climb up a tedious grassy slope during which the weather went through various shades of rain and snow, but I was compensated for my effort with increasingly good views over Loch Cluanie and down Glen Shiel. Eventually I reached the top of the nameless 854m hill at the start of the ridge that terminates on the Five Sisters and walked along the wonderfully narrow ridge to the top of Sgùrr an Fhurarail. The ridge beyond the top continued to rise steeply up to the Munro, Aonach Meadhoin.
Beyond the Munro, I continued along the ridge down to a bealach and steeply up to a second Munro, Sgùrr a' Bhealaich Dheirg. In order to get to the actual summit of the Munro I needed to scramble along a fantastically narrow rocky ridge to a wonderful looking cairn perched high above the corries with very steep drops on either side. After clambering back to the main bulk of the hill I walked to the end of the summit ridge where it overlooks the western continuation of the ridge and there I stopped to have my lunch while it snowed around me. The views from my vantage point through the snow were sensational with mountains 360° around me and as far as my eye could see. This is a great area for walking in.

Descending once again along a narrow ridge I made my way to the third Munro of the day, Sàileag, which is the least appealing of the three Munros that I was walking over this day as it has a grassy summit. I sat for some time at the summit gazing towards the Five Sisters (all six of them!) on the ridge beyond while listening to the Turkish Grand Prix on the radio. The mixed weather of earlier in the day had cleared to reveal some good sunny weather and excellent views. I was not in a hurry to leave the ridge as I just relaxed in the sunshine until the grand prix had finished when I finally returned to Sgùrr a' Bhealaich Dheirg along the ridge. This time I was really able to appreciate the narrow ridge which was dull on the descent from Sàileag but on the ascent to Sgùrr a' Bhealaich Dheirg side was great, gloriously rocky and even a little scrambly, which I attempted but eventually I chickened out of it. I love a bit of scrambling but I have a healthy fear of heights that puts a stop to me doing any scrambling that isn’t easy, and at least keeps me out of mischief!

On the other side of the Munro I took a grassy ridge south slowly descending off the mountain-side via Meall a' Charra. Near the end of the ridge I veered to the left and dropped down to cross the burn, Allt Coire Tholl Bhruach, and walk across the hillside around the bottom of the hill I’d climbed at the beginning of the walk. Staying above the road I returned to the Cluanie Inn where I waited for a bus. I had anticipated a fifty minute wait for the bus but only after the bus was ten minutes late did I realise that that bus only ran in July and August. Ultimately I had a two hour wait for the bus at Cluanie Inn, so it was at this point that I thought it might be a good idea to take my car to Scotland next year! This was a good walk with some fantastic weather, but if I could make any criticism it is that it was too short for the amount of time I had between buses. The ridge may not be up to Five Sisters standard as it was predominately grass, but it was still brilliant walking. The whole of Glen Shiel is a sensational place to walk and I know I’ll be back again.

The Five Sisters

Saturday 6th June 2009

After a couple of days spent resting my leg it was a relief to be back on a mountain, and thankfully I didn’t have any more trouble with my leg. I had spent the previous day travelling from Aviemore to Glen Shiel so I could complete a walk that I’d failed to do last year when I was in the area because of bad weather. I caught a bus from Shiel Bridge and got off at a car park half way up the valley where I found a faint path through bracken up the steep, steep side of the valley. I was relishing the chance to walk on a natural path after the many manufactured paths that I had been walking along in the Cairngorm Mountains. Before too long I managed to get up to the pass, Bealach an Làpan, where I was suddenly hit by a stiff, bitterly cold wind that had me wrapping up against it. Proceeding along the fabulously narrow ridge, I was soon feeling better than I had all week, with a strong leg again, and a wonderful mountain range to walk along. The views across to the South Shiel Ridge at this point were quite striking and although the views of the Five Sisters themselves at this point were partly hidden by the ridge itself they still promised wonders to come.

The walk up to the first top, Sgùrr nan Spainteach, was wonderfully rugged along a narrow ridge with a lovely little scramble at the end of the ridge. This is a fabulous top, but is hidden behind the five sisters so is not included in their numbers. As I walked along I joked to myself that this was their sixth sister that the others don’t talk about (in fact this could be their Spanish cousin as, for historical reasons, the name means ‘Peak of the Spaniards’). A steep climb set amongst absolutely gorgeous rocky terrain brought me to the top of the first Munro, Sgùrr na Ciste Duibhe, and the first sister. From the summit I had tremendous views along the ridge and down Glen Shiel to Loch Duich and beyond. The sisters are defined as those peaks that can be seen from the shores of Loch Duich, so since I could now see the lake I was definitely on the Five Sisters. Bizarrely while I was at the summit it started snowing. The wind had dropped slightly since I’d first got onto the ridge, but it was still as cold as ever. It was strange seeing snow in June, but at the top of a mountain any sort of weather is possible.

A steep descent and re-ascent along the backbone of the sisters brought me to the second Munro, Sgùrr na Càrnach, and the second sister. For a mountain to be considered a Munro it has to have a deep drop to a neighbouring Munro, which in practice means that walking from one Munro to another requires repeated, tiring climbs. Another descent and a very steep climb brought me to the top of the third Munro and sister, Sgùrr Fhuaran, the highest point on the Five Sisters ridge. This is the Munro that I’d climbed a year ago when bad weather forced me to do a shortened version of this walk. On that occasion I couldn’t see anything from the summit, but now after the short-lived snow showers I was getting some good weather and able to enjoy incredible views as I had my lunch over the remaining sisters with Loch Duich in the distance.
A steep descent brought me onto the continuation of the ridge over the fourth sister, Sgùrr nan Saighead, not a Munro, but still a deliciously narrow ridge with fabulous cliffs to my right. The weather had improved so much by now that I stripped off my waterproofs and I had to put sun cream on while enjoying the sunshine on a great walk along the narrow ridge. After walking over the multiple tops of the fourth sister I left my route of last year at Beinn Bhuidhe (the fourth sister’s north-western top) and walked down to a bealach and onto the fifth sister, Sgurr an t-Searraich. This involved a much longer walk before I could reach the summit, though it wasn’t steep as the fifth sister doesn’t even top three thousand feet. You could call this the shy, little fat sister. Most people miss her out as I had done last year, but I wasn’t going to leave anybody out this time even if she has no redeeming qualities. Once I had reached the top I dropped steeply down the western slopes to find a good path beside the stream, Allt a’Chruinn. This path, my route from last year, took me all the way down to the road where a long walk took me back to the youth hostel.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable walk on fabulously rugged mountains and deliriously narrow ridges. It occurred to me that the best parts of this walk were actually away from the Munros. I had a fantastic time walking over the fourth sister, Sgùrr nan Saighead, partly due to the good weather I had at that time, but also due to the narrowness of the ridge and the sheer cliffs to my right side. Let us not forget the best one of the lot: the sixth sister, the Spanish sister, Sgùrr nan Spainteach, which is gloriously rugged, full of rocks and cliffs, along a narrow ridge. This was a fantastic walk with variable weather over awesome mountains and a great ridge.