Walkhighlands

Back in May,a motley gang of us visited Kintail for the first time,kipping at the Ratagan hostel and walking the five sisters then the South Shiel ridge the next day.Our preparation for these hikes was probably no the best,sitting in the hostel or the pub scooping large amounts of beer,whisky,vodka,rum and whatever else we could get our mitts on made for serious hangovers on the hikes ,not good at all Now it was time for our return ,this time staying in the trekkers lodge at the Kintail Lodge hotel,would we have learned our lesson and stay of the booze this time?.............well naw After a drive up on Thursday night and a qiuet-ish night in the digs,myself,Charlie,Kev and Chris set of early to tackle the brothers ridge and possibly tag on Ciste Dubh at the end.Starting at the Saileag end with a car dumped at Cluanie we started the steep climb up to the Bealach an Lapain.Steeeeeeeep as anythin' this climb,but we pressed on and were up at the Bealach in good time,brief views over to the Saddle and the south shiel ridge were had but much of the day was spent in the cloud but we still really enjoyed this walk,some narrow bits on the ridge we had to take extra care on what with the snaw and that but still soft enough not to need crampons for the day at least.The clouds broke briefly now and again letting us get some good pics and views.A brief ponder on Sgurr an Fhuarail on whether to go on to Ciste Dubh or head down to the Cluanie inn for a beer and burger chips was had(guess what won that contest )and we were down in about 6 and 3 quarter hours.Back to the hotel then where it started to get a bit messy.Gavin and Ian joined us at night in the hotel bar where there was a halloween party on .Fast forward to Saturday morning and most of us were feeling severly under the weather.Today's walk was Carn Ghluasaid,an easy enough start to this one normally but i was struggling big time,lagging behind the rest of the gang,felt a bit better though when i caught up with Gavin who looked even worse than me Lesson not learned yet again Still no point moaning about it so onwards and upwards to work the hangover away.Gradually started to feel better as the day wore on,a good walk this,quite tough in the snow again and had to don the crampons once or twice.Weather a bit better than yesterday especially toward the end when the views down to Nevis etc. really opened up.8 hours all in ,no bad considering how we felt at the start and we all headed back to the hotel for more of the same(except one of us who might never actually drink again )A great weekend again,Chris done really good on his first winter hikes and Kev got round another 6 Munro's no problem Trekkers lodge was good as well We shall return

brilliant Pigeon, bit of everything there. Can't wait to get up to Kintail. But sadly, will have to!!

Great stuff pigeon - at first my mind was boggling a bit at how you'd join these hills up in the dark with over 14hrs until I realised you were up for 2 days That initial climb to the Bealach an Lapain certainly looks steep - and it all looks so different to just a month or so ago. Had hoped to get to the Cluanie 5 this year but other things got in the way - hopefully next year. All in all - looks a good trip despite the weather and at least you did get some views - cheers

haha the hangovers eh .. i m the same have great difficulty learning my lessons

Good report and pics

Great report and amazing photos Pigeon looks pretty hairy along that ridge

That looks like great fun and that ridge looks like a fun experience

Nice one pigeon and the gang.. that looks a hellufa walk up at the start the walk along the ridge is a cracking picture well done.

Oh the mystery bug strikes again

Glad to see it didnie spoil your weekend though.. looked awsome

Nice one pigeon. Some good photos there, even though the clag was about on the tops at times.

These are two good rounds and I'm jealous you did them in the snow. I'll have to return to them again - maybe ones for later this winter

Not sure I would want to be heading out with a hangover though Makes your efforts all the more impressive though

mrssanta wrote:brilliant Pigeon, bit of everything there. Can't wait to get up to Kintail. But sadly, will have to!!

Thanks mrssanta,it's great up there,spoilt for choice,which ones will you do first

rockhopper wrote:Great stuff pigeon - at first my mind was boggling a bit at how you'd join these hills up in the dark with over 14hrs until I realised you were up for 2 days That initial climb to the Bealach an Lapain certainly looks steep - and it all looks so different to just a month or so ago. Had hoped to get to the Cluanie 5 this year but other things got in the way - hopefully next year. All in all - looks a good trip despite the weather and at least you did get some views - cheers

That would have been a big hike RH Missed Ciste Dubh this time so will try again in the sping or summer,might try and tie it in with A'chralaig and Mullach Fraoch choire

Collaciotach wrote:haha the hangovers eh .. i m the same have great difficulty learning my lessons

Good report and pics

It's good at the time Collaciotach

soapy27 wrote:Great report and amazing photos Pigeon looks pretty hairy along that ridge

Fudgie wrote:That looks like great fun and that ridge looks like a fun experience

Cheers soapy,Fudgie,had to be careful but yep,great fun likes

quoman wrote:Nice one pigeon and the gang.. that looks a hellufa walk up at the start the walk along the ridge is a cracking picture well done.

Cheers quoman,it's steep but after about an hour of pain it's not so bad

basscadet wrote:Oh the mystery bug strikes again

Glad to see it didnie spoil your weekend though.. looked awsome

Seem to get the mystery bug a lot this time o year BC

PeteR wrote:Nice one pigeon. Some good photos there, even though the clag was about on the tops at times.

These are two good rounds and I'm jealous you did them in the snow. I'll have to return to them again - maybe ones for later this winter

Not sure I would want to be heading out with a hangover though Makes your efforts all the more impressive though

Cheers pete,two great trips we've had up here now and plenty of reasons left to go back

Great stuff, can,t wait to get up some wintry hills myself, question though, where did the dog stay ?

McLEOD wrote:Great stuff, can,t wait to get up some wintry hills myself, question though, where did the dog stay ?

In the trekkers lodge at the Kintail lodge hotel,sleeps six people in 2 twin rooms and two singles,ideal base and cheap too,if you can get six people works out a 15 pounds per night

Cracking stuff pigeon, great efforts everyone......good to see that Gavin was on for a few pints too!

Enjoyed that, pictures and the report. Sometimes feel that some of my pictures on the hills don't capture the steepness but that first picture certainly does.
And that looks a tasty ridge in the snow and ice !!