Great day for 5 on North Sheil & Jakes 100th
Posted: Sat May 07, 2016 5:08 pmToday was a first for me in being that it was my first adventure across the Great Glen
so being so it also means earlier start to the day
With the alarm sounding at 3am I was up quickly and with everything packed the night
before it was just a matter of giving the dogs a small walk and we could set off
the luxury of an early start means the roads are quiet and it make for a smooth journey
and enjoyable journey
I arrived at the layby at Lundie at 6.45 and gave the dogs a small feed ,
we were then ready to set off on our first ascent of the day at 7am
The weather was perfect for the walk just a light cool breeze and the sun was shining
- Looking toward Cluanie Dam from start of the Ascent
- Some local residents
The lower part of the path once I turned up at the Mobile Mast was very boggy in parts
but once past this the path I actually quite good and allows for easy progress
- Looking towards the South Sheil Ridge
- My walking partners with the ridge in the background
In little over an hour we reached the summit of Carn Ghluasaid and with a few pics
we turned towards the path over to Sgurr nan Conbhairean
That was covered in some low cloud when I looked , Again the path is good and makes
for easy ascent
- Summit of Carn Ghluasaid
- Towards Sgurr nan Conbhairean
- Some very impressive cornising
- Looking back over to Carn Ghluasaid
The final pull up to the summit of Sgurr nan Conbhairean was slippy with wet moss
but soon we reached the 2nd summit which was now out of the shroud of cloud
- Summit of Sgurr nan Conbhairean with Mullach Fraoch Choire in the background
It turned a bit chilly now and I pulled on a light fleece and headed down to the path
and headed of along the path to Sail Chaorainn
This is an easy walk and we progressed along quickly and were soon at the summit
This was jakes 100th Munro in just over 11 months since I started taking him with me
- Jake proudly at his 100th Summit
- Mullach Fraoch Choire
I had been looking at the map for descent and decided I would have a look at a gully
that is a short way past the summit ,and after looking decided that it looked safe for a descent
though it was very steep with very loose scree it is wide enough to allow you to pick your
route with care
- The descent gully from halfway down the pic does not show how steep it is
- You can see the gully where I descended from Sail Chaorainn here in the dip just past the summit
Now down in Gleann na Ciche we crossed the Allt na Ciche this wouldn't be possible
after any heavy rain or wet period ,even today after a dry spell I had to look for
a place to get across,once on the other side it was now time to sit down for the first time
and have some food and water ,I will say it was a perfect setting on such a great day
to listen to the water rushing past and watch the deer in the hills was great
Both dogs also decided it was the perfect spot for a swim also
After about 20 mins we set off again and headed up on a bearing to traverse along
the face of A'Chioch keeping about 500m up I headed round into Coire na Cralaig
and crossed the Usige na Cralaig just above where it splits 3 ways into 1
Again this would be difficult in wet weather
Here there is a good ridge though steep ,more so as coming off Sail Chaorainn
you lose all your height so the ascent to Mullach Fraoch Choire is relentless
and getting to the path is a fair old haul with a lot of stops
As soon as I reached the path I met the first walkers of the day
They seemed concerned about the dogs making it over to the summit
But I said there is a bypass ,getting to the bypass there has been a lot of landslip
and it was quite awkward on a lot of very small loose scree and a fair drop below
but we got there and reached out 4th and most impressive cairn of the day
- Mullach Fraoch Choire summit
- Looking along towards the final summit A'Chrailaig
- Loch Affric
We headed back along to descend I went kept high just below the pinnicles
where the footing was a bit more solid
Reaching the path again let us get a bit more pace on and on starting the ascent
I met a German lad with his wife and kid they sail it was a bit cold I was not surprised
they were all in shorts and T-shirts
The final asce was through knee deep wet snow that at this time of the day on heavy legs
was a pain but slog on we did and I was more than pleased when we reached the summit
where again I met some walkers who took a pic for me
- Summit of A'Chrailaig
- Nevis and CMD
- The Cluanie Inn Zoomed in from descent
I headed down the descent path and then took a bearing towards Cruachan Coille a Chait
to keep high with the dogs away from the road towards the old military road
well on reaching that I decided it would be far easier walking up the verge at the roadside
I wish now I had done that straight away and it would have saved a great deal of time
I met another walker a gent from England in his camper
He said how lucky we were to stay so near all the Munros and I suppose he is correct
we are lucky ,to get up at 3 am and home at 9pm is a blessing
Summed up this was a great day and I look forward now for a few trips back to Glen Sheil
