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As so often, today had a mixed weather forcast. A bit of sunshine in the morning, some showers over lunch and proper rain for the rest of the day. The Kintail Sisters had been on my list for a while and since we had two cars for a change, we thought this linear walk should be doable with an early start.
Leaving one car at the parking Alt a'Chruinn, we drove up to the parking at the start of the Five Sisters walk. Only one other car there - that's quite a surprise given that the small parking lots along the road to Cluanie are usually well packed during this time of the year. It did make me wonder whether we may have had the wrong weather forecast after all.... But, as they say, don't look a gift horse into the mouth!.
So, off we went up the steep slope up to the Baleach. Although muddy in places, the trail must have received a recent makeover as long sections had a fresh layer of small rocks on them so as to make the walk up a lot easier. There is one point when you reach the fence where you have to pay attention to the cairn indicating the way up to the ridge. You could easily miss it if you are enjoying the level trail along the fence for a bit too long.
Once on the ridge, the route was supposed to level out a bit. That's generally true, but all the tops along the ridge are actual tops and certainly require a good deal of (steep!!!) up and down on a rocky trail. Every now and then a bit of scrambling is required and in wet weather as we had today at times, the rocks to turn quite slippery.
Having said that, the ridge walk comes with stunning views in all directions and even on a day as today when the rain set in you still have awesome views. We were lucky though that we only had rain and the odd sunny patch around us and now clouds were coming in.
The trail is quite varied and the views ware changing frequently. I would recommend to walk the ridge towards Alt a'Chruinn though as this way the views towards the Loch are ahead of you which makes the descent quite enjoyable. The ridge gets quite narrow in places, but only in one place to the extent that you need a head for heights. We did have strong winds though, luckily mostly from behind us or from the north. With strong winds coming from the South you might find yourself struggling a bit not to be blown over the edge.
The descent after the last munro is quite gentle, although it does come with the one or other steep section over boggy ground. You do want to keep an eye out for the little river to your right as the trail along it is in very good shape and a pleasure to walk on after the long up and down sections on which you don't get many options to stretch your legs or relax your muscles. The trail goes all the way into the village and allows to fully enjoy the views into the valley and across the Loch.
Really enjoyed this walk and definitely one I would do again - hopefully with sunshine next time around
