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- During the ascent up the side of the ridge
It was the second day of my weekend at Dornie with the Glasgow University Mountaineering Club. After a successful traverse of South Glen Shiel Ridge the day before, me and my group of four others (one being swapped out for different plans) turned out attention to the three brothers on the other side of the glen. We set off just after 08:50 at a carpark which put us on an ascent route between the Five Sisters and the Three Brothers. Climbing up, it was not long before we incidentally strayed off path. Once realising that we had strayed too far off route, we chose to continue our off-piece ascent. I marched up at a fast pace and had a snack and water break at the top, as my haste had put me into a temporary state of fatigue.
- Me having a snack break after pushing hard on the ascent, shading myself with my coat.
Despite my exhaustion, my group went on to the first munro summit, myself lagging behind for half an hour while the energy from my bourbon biscuits caught up. We reached the summit of the first munro, Sàileag, at 10:56. Visibility that day was top tier, with little to no clouds in sight, and views that stretched as far as Torridon, Cuillin Ridge, the Cairngorm plateau, and Glen Coe, Ben Nevis sticking out prominently among the mountains we could see. Wind was also at a minimum, making the combination of conditions practically perfect.
- The snowy plateau at the top of Sgùrr a' Bhealaich Dheirg (Cuillin ridge can bee seen in the background).
The five of us continued onto the second munro, Sgùrr a' Bhealaich Dheirg, at 12:09. The top plateau part was covered in a layer of snow that had been made by the sun, making the walk more picturesque. The traverse to the actual cairn was also made harder by this, as I learned when I almost slipped over into the steep hillside, which could have ended my life had I not been holding onto the rocks beside me. Nevertheless we made our back to the main plateau part, where we had lunch. At the other side of the plateau, the way down provided a stretch of snow that was safe to bum slide on, making for a fun way down as the snow had also softened.
- The view of Loch Cluanie on the way down
My group continued onto the third and final munro, Aonach Meadhoin, making it to that summit at 13:37. The next part, though, was easily the hardest part of the walk, as the immediate way down to the next part of the ridge was a steep section of snow with drops either side and a thin line of rocks in the middle. With ice axes out, my group precariously made our way down it before continuing to the subpeak of Sgùrr an Fhuarail. After that peak, we made down for the path towards the end point, the Cluanie Inn by Loch Cluanie. We came across a number of bogs and deer before we reached the end at roughly 16:15.
