Brothers Ridge, Ciste Dhubh

[gman]

Brothers6-3-2013actual.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

Think MWIS had 90% chance of cloud free Munros and this turned out to be accurate - just the top 10% of the hills were in cloud Time & distance include bike ride from Cluanie Inn to the start of the walk.


Got on the bike about 8:20, not much traffic at this time. Slight climb initially then it's all coasting downhill Just under 20 mins later was at the start of the walk, steep grass:


I was about 400m altitude here:


Path was a bit wet & muddy further down, stonier towards the ridge:


Made it to the ridge, er... no views. Turn right for Brothers:


Or left for Sisters:


Soon reached first cairn, Saileag:


Then onwards:


Towards Sgurr a'Bhealaich Dheirg:


Great ridge walk with scrambly bits that can be bypassed, I opted for the scramble to compensate for clag:


Sun came out, looking back to descent from Saileag:


Cairn at top of Sgurr a'Bhealaich Dheirg:


Narrow ridge with steep drop either side leading to true summit, had the ice axe out for this:


Then back along the narrow ridge and continued to Aonach Meadhoin:


More scrambly bits:


Cairn:


Then down to narrow ridge leading to Sgurr an Fhuarail, wind now blowing a bit and this section seemed like it was still in the middle of winter:


Top of Sgurr an Fhuarail and decision time: add on Ciste Dhubh? Seems pretty close and it's a 3 hour drive to get here so why not?


It's not on the ridge so quite a bit of descent/reascent:


Am Bathach, Corbett leading to Ciste Dhubh:


Boggy bealach then steep grassy ascent:


Can see the Cluanie Inn from here


Gradient eases and hill gets narrower further up:


Brothers ridge looks clear of cloud now that I'm over here!


Cloud suddenly lifted and got a great view of the top...which predictably disappeared as soon as I got the camera out:


Cairn:


Cloud briefly cleared again, view back down from cairn:


Back to boggy bealach, can see the Cluanie Inn from here so obvious which way to go. Path initially on the left of the burn, then cross over to the right:


Faint track, gets muddy further down:


Then joins a landrover track leading back to the Inn:

[PeteR]

Think MWIS had 90% chance of cloud free Munros and this turned out to be accurate - just the top 10% of the hills were in cloud

Careful, they'll be using this as a disclaimer on their forecasts soon

Cloud suddenly lifted and got a great view of the top...which predictably disappeared as soon as I got the camera out:

I think we've all been there a few times.

An enjoyable read though and some good pics, despite the weather

[simon-b]

Great pictures, gman. The ridges and summits look well good coming in and out of the cloud. I'm looking forward to coming back to Kintail at some point to do these.

[Graeme D]

This looks like not too shabby a day after all! Some great colour contrasts in some of the photos. Rather annoyingly I have done everything either side of Saileag but not Saileag itself. It's not the sort of hill I'd want to make a special trip to Kintail for, so given that I still haven't done Ciste Dubh, I will concoct a route that combines both. Can't believe it's almost a year since I stood at that bealach and turned left for the Sisters!

[gman]

It's a long journey for one Munro, don't think Saileag on its own would have the drawing power! Thinking about doing the Sisters from west to east which would let me cycle downhill to the start , but it would mean descending the steep path to the road

[Lightfoot2017]

Fantastic report gman Love the detail and practical advice, allied to photos. Well done.

Hoping to do these four this weekend, and your report, combined with others (Rodmeister, GillC) should be a big help.

[jayedubya73]

gman

8 years after your post, just wanted to say thanks for the GPX file. I did this walk at the weekend and it was spot-on. The drop before Ciste Dhubh was pretty significant, but its very well worth hooking this 4th munro onto the brothers ridge.

Thank you again

john