

P1020983 by 23weasels, on Flickr
By this time the weather had cleared, rain had stopped and there was even a wee glimpse of blue sky...astonishing. The initial going was easy up the track and we gained an altitude of over 400m without having to struggle through heather. We walked around the conical form of our first hill, Creag a'Mhaim and started an easy ascent up the path.

P1020984 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Behind us rose the North Cluanie Hills I'd been up on Saturday,

P1020985 by 23weasels, on Flickr
over to our left, Loch Loyne glimmered sliver like molten lead

P1020987 by 23weasels, on Flickr
and we got views south to the Loch Quoich hills which glowered darkly back.

P1020989 by 23weasels, on Flickr
I was in a pretty foul mood, mostly due to anxiety about the safety of being on the ridge if big gusts of wind caught us, but although we sometimes had to stop and pause while a gust passed over us, the conditions weren't too bad at the top of Ca'M, which relieved me a little.

P1020990 by 23weasels, on Flickr
The next hill, Druim Shionnach, is reached by a broad ridge which narrows towards its summit and walking the couple of km along there were views down to coire nan leac, with ciste dubh and the Brothers visible to the north.

P1020991 by 23weasels, on Flickr

P1020992 by 23weasels, on Flickr

P1020993 by 23weasels, on Flickr

P1020994 by 23weasels, on Flickr

P1020995 by 23weasels, on Flickr

P1020997 by 23weasels, on Flickr
It did get a little rough and rocky here and was possibly the scariest place with the wind blasting across us.

P1020998 by 23weasels, on Flickr

P1020999 by 23weasels, on Flickr

P1030001 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Having reached the top we looked along the ridge to Aonach Air Chrith which has a wonderfully notched ridge heading northwards. Looked interesting!

P1030002 by 23weasels, on Flickr

P1030004 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Over the other side of the road the Brothers and Sisters ridges looked inviting.

P1030006 by 23weasels, on Flickr
We headed round a'Chioch coire towards the third top of the day.

P1030008 by 23weasels, on Flickr

P1030011 by 23weasels, on Flickr
The north ridge looked even more fun the closer we got to it - one for another day!

P1030012 by 23weasels, on Flickr

P1030013 by 23weasels, on Flickr

P1030015 by 23weasels, on Flickr

P1030016 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Next along the line was Maol Chinn-dearg which was about 3 km further on. We could see the clouds gathering to the west and knew we were not going to finish the walk with clear skies


P1030017 by 23weasels, on Flickr

P1030018 by 23weasels, on Flickr

P1030021 by 23weasels, on Flickr
There's a wee rocky bit to get over then it's back onto the ridgewalk.

P1030022 by 23weasels, on Flickr
To the south, Loch Quoich came into view, with its hills closer than I'd have imagined.

P1030023 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Looking back towards Aonach Air Chrith

P1030024 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Summit MCD

P1030025 by 23weasels, on Flickr
The mist was starting to descend, cutting our view of the tops of the next hills in the group. We walked to Sgurr coire na feinne

P1030029 by 23weasels, on Flickr
and along to the next Munro, Sgurr an Doire Leathain

P1030030 by 23weasels, on Flickr

P1030031 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Sgurr an Lochain was next

P1030033 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Coire an Lochain

P1030034 by 23weasels, on Flickr

P1030035 by 23weasels, on Flickr
This was a big hill, unfortunately obscured from view by clag, but showing a few scary looking craggy drops...

P1030036 by 23weasels, on Flickr

P1030037 by 23weasels, on Flickr

P1030038 by 23weasels, on Flickr

P1030040 by 23weasels, on Flickr
We headed on to the last of the day, knowing that this was a bit further walk, with a drop of 300+ metres to the bealach. Passed some rocks that had been compressed and folded back on themselves sometime in the dawn of time...

P1030041 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Am Fraoch Coire

P1030042 by 23weasels, on Flickr
We could see some of Creag na Damh through the clouds, though the top remained swathed

P1030043 by 23weasels, on Flickr

P1030044 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Finally we made it to the top - seven in a day - and a pretty easy day at that - had been a relatively effortless time - at least up til now

P1030046 by 23weasels, on Flickr
There's a wee scramble up a rocky crag after the summit - only difficult if you had a dog with you, methinks.

P1030048 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Conditions worsened somewhat now with the mist rolling in, and we were about to begin the most gruelling part of the day, the descent back to the road.

P1030049 by 23weasels, on Flickr

P1030050 by 23weasels, on Flickr
We could see the raod wending along the floor of the glen, I even fancied I could see my car, but did it ever seem to get any bleeding closer?

There are a few stream crossings and boggy parts along the way. After what seemed like several years we got close enough to the road to believe that we might one day reach it. The path passes a wooden post - hint - keep to the right of this and it takes you along a fainter path to a wee bridge, go straight on and you are faced with a final - and considerable - river crossing. We learned this the hard way


P1030052 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Finally we made it back to the car and drove to the Clachan pub in Dornie for a well earned pint. Good day, with much better visibility and overall conditions than the forecast predicted
