The Devil's Ridge at the End of The Cuillins
Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2014 9:07 pm
Out on the Cuillins for the second time this week, but arrived at Glen Brittle some 3 hours later than on Monday, so after a lie-in until 7:30 , we headed off up towards Coir' a' Ghrunnda.
We were planning a very ambitious route, heading up to Loch Coir' a' Ghrunnda, along the ridge to Gars-bhienn via Sgurr nan Eag, then back along to Sgurr Dubh Mor and Sgurr Alasdair, for a quick descent down the Stone Chute and back to the campsite.
So we headed off up the path to Coire Lagan, then turned off and went across Allt Coire Lagan and round Sron na Ciche, straight into the morning sun! We then headed up the path into Coir' a' Ghrunnda, which was a lot harder than Dad was expecting!
Headed up past Loch Coir' a' Ghrunnda, which was very low, and onto the slopes of Sgurr nan Eag
Reached the ridge, which wasn't obvious exactly when, then headed up in the frost to the first summit of the day, Sgurr nan Eag
Headed down the south slope of Sgurr nan Eag
Contact me for prices and conditions
Headed up to Sgurr a' Choire Bhig
The ridge turned into more of an arĂȘte, which surprised us both. It reminded me somewhat of The Devil's Ridge in the Mamores that we did in August.
It's a real shame that Gars-bhienn doesn't have a title of any sort, so many people don't do this ridge. Even the guide books and websites for the Cuillins don't describe this section of the ridge, and if you have time to spare, we'd definitely recommend you make the trip out to the true end of the ridge.
Anyhoo, we reached the summit with fair ease. It was amazing to be able to look back at the entire ridge, knowing that you're right at the end.
Had some lunch (jam sandwiches ) and then headed back along the ridge.
It was back over the summit of Sgurr nan Eag, and then over towards Sgurr Dubh an Da Bhienn.
It was now for the second of our out-and-back excursions, this one to Sgurr Dubh Mor. It was starting to get on in the day, so descending down to the north side of the ridge (very loose scree), we could see frost and ice forming already . The scramble up to Sgurr Dubh Mor is fairly hard, we had Steven Fallon screenshotted but didn't really need it, then we reached the summit plateau (compared to what we'd just done). Headed along to the far away summit, because I'd read apparently it's the true summit, so we did the photos there.
Headed back the same way onto Sgurr Dubh an Da Bhienn (feel like a rapper every time I say that ), then headed down into Bealach Coire an Lochain. From here we used Steven Fallon's advice to avoid the TD gap and head round the screes below Sgurr Alasdair.
Headed round, and it was up a tough chimney to the summit of Skye, for a record 3rd time (it was already mine, beat twice for Ben Lomond for Dad).
Descended in the setting sun down the Stone Chute (it's dark in the shadows!) and into Coire Lagan.
Met some walkers coming down from Sgurr Mhic Choinnich, so headed down to the campsite with them, where we met the girls, who'd been at Oronsay for the day
We were planning a very ambitious route, heading up to Loch Coir' a' Ghrunnda, along the ridge to Gars-bhienn via Sgurr nan Eag, then back along to Sgurr Dubh Mor and Sgurr Alasdair, for a quick descent down the Stone Chute and back to the campsite.
So we headed off up the path to Coire Lagan, then turned off and went across Allt Coire Lagan and round Sron na Ciche, straight into the morning sun! We then headed up the path into Coir' a' Ghrunnda, which was a lot harder than Dad was expecting!
Headed up past Loch Coir' a' Ghrunnda, which was very low, and onto the slopes of Sgurr nan Eag
Reached the ridge, which wasn't obvious exactly when, then headed up in the frost to the first summit of the day, Sgurr nan Eag
Headed down the south slope of Sgurr nan Eag
Contact me for prices and conditions
Headed up to Sgurr a' Choire Bhig
The ridge turned into more of an arĂȘte, which surprised us both. It reminded me somewhat of The Devil's Ridge in the Mamores that we did in August.
It's a real shame that Gars-bhienn doesn't have a title of any sort, so many people don't do this ridge. Even the guide books and websites for the Cuillins don't describe this section of the ridge, and if you have time to spare, we'd definitely recommend you make the trip out to the true end of the ridge.
Anyhoo, we reached the summit with fair ease. It was amazing to be able to look back at the entire ridge, knowing that you're right at the end.
Had some lunch (jam sandwiches ) and then headed back along the ridge.
It was back over the summit of Sgurr nan Eag, and then over towards Sgurr Dubh an Da Bhienn.
It was now for the second of our out-and-back excursions, this one to Sgurr Dubh Mor. It was starting to get on in the day, so descending down to the north side of the ridge (very loose scree), we could see frost and ice forming already . The scramble up to Sgurr Dubh Mor is fairly hard, we had Steven Fallon screenshotted but didn't really need it, then we reached the summit plateau (compared to what we'd just done). Headed along to the far away summit, because I'd read apparently it's the true summit, so we did the photos there.
Headed back the same way onto Sgurr Dubh an Da Bhienn (feel like a rapper every time I say that ), then headed down into Bealach Coire an Lochain. From here we used Steven Fallon's advice to avoid the TD gap and head round the screes below Sgurr Alasdair.
Headed round, and it was up a tough chimney to the summit of Skye, for a record 3rd time (it was already mine, beat twice for Ben Lomond for Dad).
Descended in the setting sun down the Stone Chute (it's dark in the shadows!) and into Coire Lagan.
Met some walkers coming down from Sgurr Mhic Choinnich, so headed down to the campsite with them, where we met the girls, who'd been at Oronsay for the day