This little stroll in the beautiful Loch Quoich area was suggested by Simon, as was the Skye outing that this was the warm act for
The trip to Skye was arranged before Christmas and even though it took me a few months to break the news to Mrs F it has finally arrived Simon suggested we hire Paddy McGuire after reading/studying "Rockhoppers" WR and no sooner had Simon asked me if I was interested I jumped at the chance
My original plan, which was vague in the extreme was never to include Skye as the hills are far too pointy, but the chance of giving them a shot was too good to miss 
The five of us Me, Simon, Jimmy, Andy and Karen had agreed to meet up at the start point at about 9.30am which for anyone that hasn't ventured out this way involves a 20+ mile drive towards Kinloch Hourn on a single track road. Andy had driven up from Bristol overnight arriving at the back of 3am and caught a few hours shut eye in his car
I left Fife at 6.30am, the other 3 had been sensible and were already a wee bit nearer (on Skye).The meeting point was a small layby/clearing just the other side of the bridge that crosses Glen Quoich. Once we were all assembled we set off by walking a short distance along the road and then followed a good stalkers path that wound it's way gently uphill.
DSCF1554 by Martin Beswick, 4 random folk spoiling an excellent backdrop
DSCF1553 by Martin Beswick, Low(ish) level shot of Loch Quoich
DSCF1551 by Martin Beswick, Electric pylon ruining an excellent view 
DSCF1549 by Martin Beswick, the locals keeping an eye on us
DSCF1635 by Martin Beswick, South Glen Sheil Ridge
DSCF1633 by Martin Beswick, looking south westish
DSCF1569 by Martin Beswick, the target
DSCF1631 by Martin Beswick, Looking back on where we had been
DSCF1567 by Martin Beswick, stunning shotOnce we reached Sgurr Coire nan Eiricheallach we could see the way ahead along what looked like a nice ridge, we also spotted a few snow patches that would have to be negotiated
DSCF1565 by Martin Beswick, 
DSCF1564 by Martin Beswick, 
DSCF1563 by Martin Beswick, 
DSCF1558 by Martin Beswick, Karen showing the boys how it should be done
DSCF1601 by Martin Beswick, action shot, bit of gentle scrambling
DSCF1592 by Martin Beswick, the 2nd snow field
DSCF1585 by Martin Beswick, 
DSCF1582 by Martin Beswick, Jimmy trailblazing ahead
DSCF1577 by Martin Beswick, Karen taking in the viewNext stop was the summit, which really did offer supreme all round views, just to tempt anyone who hasn't been out this way here are a few summit shots
DSCF1624 by Martin Beswick, 
DSCF1627 by Martin Beswick, the Ben not in cloud for a change
DSCF1625 by Martin Beswick, 
DSCF1616 by Martin Beswick, summit group shot on the timer, should have zoomed a wee bit We opted to try and follow Cameron McNeish's descent route, having been convinced by Simon, mainly because we didn't fancy descending across/down the snow fields.
There wasn't much of a path to follow down, it was just a matter of heading down the shoulder. We struck a problem when we reached a gully, so after surveying the surrounding terrain the choice was head back up & cross the gully near the top or pick our way down the grassy slope. No brainer really, down the grassy slope we went and it turned out to be a doddle. We could see the track in the distance that was marked on the map, which eventually leads back to the road.
Once on the road it is just a matter of strolling by the loch side for 3km to the cars and chatting about what another great day it had been
Once we were all changed the plan was to set off in a 'convoy' across to Skye with Karen dropping Jimmy off at Kintail Lodge to retrieve his wheels, but as usual Simon was dithering so we left without him, however he did catch us up
Next installment has already been posted as that was a rather dramatic introduction/welcoming to Skye
