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..."Long, but come it will,
the golden run will come to us;
the Cuillin will rise,
genial in his white glory;
though the night is bitter to us
that cast a black shadow on the beauty,
the morning will break
on splendid battlements." SORLEY MACLEAN
- Coire An Dorus.
It was time again to venture back into the Cuillin and once more with Marty and Sandy, all of us prepared for tackling more of these magical mountain ridges full of puzzles and tantalising intrigue
What I love is the combination of both the physical and the emotional levels experienced in the blend of fear and excitement that is hard not to feel in these mountains. The Cuillin deserves many trips getting to know sections of it bit by bit, and you can't avoid your mind planning what if this? What if that? Will I try a full traverse one day?
- Might goodness, jings! Quite a drop down into the burn.
- The cloud level matching with the boulder level where we decided it best to put on our hard-hats.
- The final approach into An Dorus.
- Good steady progress, and not too difficult scrambling up. But the actual gap is small and may have varied sensations for different people. Safe to sit though and plan next moves :)
- This is us now heading northwards up onto Sgurr a'Mhadaidh after pulling out of the An Dorus notch using big shiny hand holds. There is an easier groove on the right hand side to reach easier ground. We are continuing up here on a very broken slope that has options of rugged paths and scrambles over crests. Quite a place to be and well worth recording your route up so that you will recognise rocks and features on your way down as were going to be doing.
- Mists clearing and our first sight of Sgurr a'Ghreadaidh now behind us, and the winds that had been threatening were gone :)
- There are four tops over Sgurr a'Mhadaidh and this leads the way, but that is for another day :)
- The views appear and disappear! Very pleased to be on top of Sgurr a'Mhadaidh :) :) :)
- I think Marty has the Olympics in mind here? :)
We did experience what the Cuillin can do on our way back down to An Dorus, and that is when the mist is thick, even a very small area that you have just passed through can seem completely unrecognisable. This sets minds into confusion and sometimes panic! The secret is keep calm, refocus and enjoy the thrill. Do not go rushing off anywhere though until you have relocated.
- A small glimpse down into Coir' Uisg, but no view of Loch Coruisk today. Still evocative and magical.
- Marty negotiating his way back down to An Dorus.
- Sandy following Valerie to a place of safety to regroup, now on the slopes of Sgurr a'Ghreadaidh.
- Marty climbing up out of An Dorus. A tricky wee scramble, but one that bothered us more for the way back? We would likely want to put a safety rope in place for the down climb later? Always options to be considering and the solutions depend on your nature of the party and the conditions of the day.
- Sgurr a'Ghreadaidh above and our first sight of the Wart!
- Skirting round above Eag Dudh.
- Making good progress now after the manouvres in An Dorus.
- Clouds clearing again and more sights of scale and grandeur, Sgurr Eader da Choire somewhere down there!
- Now looking back across the Eag Dubh slot and An Dorus to the Munro summit we left 45 minutes ago. Sgurr a'Mhadaidh briefly exposed :)
- On top of Sgurr a'Ghreadaidh, all of us delighted especially after the winds experienced in Glen Brittle overnight. My mind was thinking, I wonder, shall we continue onto to the south top via the arete, pass the three teeth and climb Sgurr Thormaid before summitting Sgurr na Banachdich for a second time??? But again that will wait for another day :) :) :)
This is the point in the day when our plans changed! Not for any real reason other than intrigue about descending Eag Dubh. We had met a couple of lads that had emerged out of it earlier as we passed, and we had a little concern about setting up a safety rope for the down climb into An Dorus just a short distance further ahead. It would have been fun to pass through An Dorus again, but Eag Dubh won our vote today and it proved reasonably easy, though great care is required! There are small sections of down climb within Eag Dubh to be very sensible with and it is worth noting too that although less airy, some may feel very enclosed inside this dark rocky mountain crack. The following pictures tell the story of Eag Dubh
To my mind the essentials of the day:
1. Listening to great advice beforehand that I am so lucky to have received.
2. Assessing our group capabilities continuously.
3. Having the Harvey's map of the Cuillin (two scales available front and back).
4. Having made reference to and recorded pages of the SMC Skye Scrambles Guide.
5. Proper gear, foods and water.
A special, special landscape that presents beauty and danger unfolding days of quality atmosphere and light