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Arranging to do a walk weeks in advance of the actual date is a pretty big gamble given the unpredictable nature of Highlands weather! But sometimes the gamble pays off. I'd thought about doing the Brothers Ridge solo before but knew the 2 car option would be preferable ... so when I saw JimmySquirrel's post last month on the WH Meeting Up board looking for anyone who wanted to do one of the Kintail ridge hikes when he was up on holiday, and saw it coincided with one of my days off, I dropped him a line, and we tentatively agreed to do the Brothers Ridge if the weather was even half decent...
12th April came ... and so did the sunshine
Asides from the ascent and descent which were mostly clear, there was still a nice amount of snow for the majority of the walk - Had crampons with us, but never needed them, and only used the ice axes to get to/from the 2nd (and most spectacular!) summit, Sgurr a Bhealaich Dheirg. We followed the WH route, so nothing unique to describe on that front, but thought I'd put a few photos here to at least give people an idea of current snow levels in the Kintail / Glen Shiel area (and surrounding areas - the views were superb!) in case anyone's heading there this weekend ...
- Looking back from the Brothers to the Five Sisters
- panorama of the South Glen Shiel ridge opposite
- The second summit looked okay from a distance ....
- ...it looked a bit more daunting close up...
- View back from the summit cairn, ready to crawl'n'ice axe back along ..!
- Views were clear all round, including SE towards Ben Nevis
- Aonach Meadhoin's summit cairn had a much less precarious approach :)
- End of the winter wonderland, the Cluanie Inn in sight
A great day out, thanks JS!!
