First glimpse of the Saddle and the route down from Faochag
Once we got out of the car we were a bit surprised at the strength of the wind, but it would keep us cool on the route up. From the A87 the path is clear and zig zags easily up to the coll between Biod an Fhithich and Meallan Odhar. For some reason I seemed to be walking more slowly than was usual even for me, but then I'd had a month off the hills with a gut problem that had been reluctant to clear up so I put the slowness down to that and assumed I would gradually speed up.
Sleeping beauty or Rip van Winkle?
Glen Shiel to the west
Glen Shiel to the east
After a brief rest we carried on until we got the first full views of the Forcan Ridge, by which point we were high enough to be feeling the wind again.
At this point there was a family conflab – to Forcan or not to Forcan? For: it looked great, it would be a challenge, the conditions were dry and great visibility. Against: very gusty wind, I didn't seem to be moving easily in the hills (and to be honest am a well known coward
). Outcome: we'd go for the bypass path. It was with a mixture of relief and disappointment that I headed for the bypass – the other two were very gracious in missing out what would have been the most interesting part of the route for them. 
The bypass path itself isn't a doddle, it follows the remains of a drystane dyke though a boulder field, and then up a fairly steep ascent though more boulders and scree before coming out just below the trig point from which we accessed the main summit. Once at the top the morning's hard work to get here was all worth while – the views were just stunning (once the humans move
).Pleased to be here
Twin peaks
Beinn Sgritheall and the Cuillins
Ladhar Bheinn
The Ben
Saddle and sisters
The wind was still too strong to want to have lunch high up so we set off down the path for some shelter and food.
The route down
The un-Forcan-ed Ridge
It was only when going down that the problem I'd been having all morning became painfully clear – some over enthusiastic gardening had caused a back problem. So what to do? We could come off the hill the way we'd come or continue up Sgurr na Sgine.
Sgurr na Sgine
Sgurr na Sgine looked relatively benign and although I knew the descent off Faochag would be hard I didn't really fancy descending the way we'd come up either. So Sgurr na Sgine here we came
– no more disappointments for this walk. With hindsight I'm happy with this call but at the time what it meant was a very slow (and for me uncomfortable) walk, which was perhaps rather unkind for my companions 
Still the day was lovely and the views worth the effort. 
North Glen Shiel siblings
After a photo shoot and tea break on the summit of Sgurr na Sgine we set off for the final part of the walk.
Ladhar Bheinn and Knoydart
Sgurr na Ciche
Loch Quoich Hills
South Glen Shiel Ridge
Northwest view from Sgurr na Sgine
Cheesecake perhaps
Father and son
Coming off Sgurr na Sgine I chatted to a walker from Skye who seemed to climb these hills often, and added his warning about the bone crunching nature of the descent to all those I've read on WH.
The Saddle and Forcan Ridge
Faochag and the route down
A final view of Beinn Sgritheall and the Cuillins
All I can say about the descent was that it was slow painful and best not pondered on. One bright spot – I noticed a large white heather plant – I've never seen white heather growing in the wild before – but that could be because I don't usually move at this speed. (No photo – didn't have the energy to get the camera out of the bag). We were over taken, or at least caught up, by everyone else who was doing this route that afternoon, but that meant we got down to the car with a bit of welcome banter.
After a quick de-boot we were off into Inverness and a well earned fish supper before home and an email to the dog sitter to let her know all was well. And the back – well 10 days later still a bit stiff, but not impeding some gentle hillwalking.
Good to know about the by-pass path in case of gusty winds. Well done on that steep descent with your back!
