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Another wait for a weather window, this so called summer has been very frustrating, especially for those of us who set ourselves 'reasonable' targets
I advertised the fact that I was heading out & got 2 interested parties Tommy & Jelena. Tommy was planning to kip in his van in Glen Shiel and meet us at the start. I had arranged to pick up Jelena in Inverkeithing at 6am, the plan being to start walking at 9am
This meant Jelena getting up at 3.30AM and then heading north into Fife, very commendable
The drive north was uneventful and I pointed out numerous Munro's on the journey along with the parking & start points, sorry to bore you Jelena
Hope you manage to make the short drive to Creag Meagaidh when you are up at Pitlochry
We arrived at the start point ahead of schedule & Tommy was sitting in his van and waiting patiently, after brief introductions we kitted up and set off. The weather looked OK but out to the west it looked a bit threatening
After the short walk along the main road, we reached the small signpost indicating the start of the walk so we then headed uphill. The path was generally pretty good and improved as we got higher, the gradient was unrelenting but not too steep.
The initial ascent with Loch Cluanie in the background
Jelena enjoying the climb
Looking down on Loch Cluanie & across to the South Glen Shiel Ridge
Our first sight of our first target and it's monster cairn
The final part of the ascent up to A'Chralaig
Very impressive cairn
Jelena appearing out of the clag
Tommy surveying the way ahead
Once we reached the summit of A'Chralaig (the highest summit it Kintail), unfortunately the clag was interfering with the views so not too many photo's were taken, apart from a few of the monster cairn. I did consider climbing to the top for a photo but it wasn't overly warm so after a quick bite to eat we set off to our next destination. Jelena set off first and seemed to be on a mission and she said she was struggling on the first climb
Jelena well ahead
As we set off leaving the monster cairn behind little did we know what lay ahead, initially the descent was a rocky, then we started the long walk along 3 different ridges to Mullach Fraoch-choire. The first part was along a wide ridge, then we descended onto a narrow ridge & the final ridge was a bit like a mini Aonach Eagach. The views for the next hour (between the summits) were incredible, with umpteen summits and steep glens to make you want to stop for more photo's
Tommy about to reach the first part of the descent
The way ahead, not zoomed
The final ridge looking very impressive
The second ridge, with a good path
Looking back, Tommy & Jelena catching me up
Looking back to A'Chralaig
Jelena posing
Looking back
Jelena appearing
Tommy racing uphill onto the final ridge
Once we got onto the final ridge and the approach to Mullach Fraoch-choire we stopped umpteen times to get numerous photo's.
Jelena with a superb backdrop
Tommy waiting for us
Looking back
Tommy leading the way
Don't look down
Hands needed
Posing
Posing
Looking back
Loch Shiel
Zoom to Skye in the distance
Looking back to A'Chralaig
Summit of Mullach Fraoch-choire
Group photo
A couple of caves?
On the second ridge towards the summit of Mullach Fraoch-choire we noticed the small cairn that indicates the descent route. So once we had taken numerous photo's we commenced the journey back to the vehicles, which meant backtracking along the pinnacled ridge to the start of the descent.
The descent was straightforward initially, a zig zag path makes the steep gradient seem fairly easy. The next bit was down steepish grassy slopes, we all had slipping mishaps, luckily Tommy & I managed to prevent ourselves from hitting the deck. Just as I mentioned the fact, Jelena slipped onto her backside
It was now a matter of trying to pick our way across the boggy damp ground, it was such a shame that the bogfest tried to ruin what had been a fantastic walk. The last 3km of the walk back are on a track which enabled good progress to be made and it wasn't too long before we were back on the road walking back to the vehicles.
These 2 hills have everything any walker could ask for, nice steep ascent, fabulous views, broad and narrow ridges, a bit of scrambling and unfortunately a bogfest
A big Thank You to my 2 companions for the day, I really did enjoy the day
As usual the forecast isn't great for the next few days, was hoping to head to Fort Bill but that may have to wait
So the next outing could be the gathering of the WH clan, really looking forward to that (as usual), let's all hope the summer weather arrives soon