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Fiona what views you have?

Fiona what views you have?


Postby Fife Flyer » Sun May 22, 2016 1:11 pm

Munros included on this walk: Sgùrr Fiona (An Teallach)

Date walked: 20/05/2016

Time taken: 6 hours

Distance: 13.5 km

Ascent: 1310m

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Day 2 of the Martin and Pauline adventure in the north west, we hoping for much, much better things and we were not to be disappointed 8)
As we were staying overnight in Ullapool we knew we would be in Dundonnell fairly early, especially as we had agreed to have breakfast at 7.30. The hotel was in need of a bit of TLC, but as it was only costing about £30 it was worth it just for the breakfast, especially as I sampled just about everything that was on offer - it sure beats carrying eating things up the hill :lol:
Left sunny Ullapool before 8am in a mini convoy to the parking area at Dundonnell and just as we arrived the heavens opened :( After a five minute wait in the nice dry cars it was time to get kitted up and head uphill.
As we were familiar with roughly where we were heading there was no need to get out phones etc :lol: We had already decided to head up to the bealach by staying on the path that kind of follows the burn uphill 8) One thing you do notice whilst you are heading uphill is how many small cairns there are, the route up to the bealach must have upwards of 50. Next time someone heads up that way it would be nice to know the exact number :lol: :lol:

Image Nice and green

Image Early low level view

Image Looking east

Image Water feature

Image

Image Another water feature with moss

The plan was if we could avoid ascending Bidein a' Ghlas Thuill we would do, as it probably hadn't changed much since our visit last month :lol: The walk up to the bealach was pretty rapid, we did make the mistake of having full waterproofs on when we left the cars - it wasn't long before they were confined to the rucksacks for an hour or so. The sun even made an appearance for about half an hour and I was beginning to think that leaving the sun cream in the car wasn't a very clever move :( :roll: From our last visit we knew once we reached the bealach, there wouldn't be very much ascending left 8)

Image First view of Sgurr Fiona, the pointy thing

Image First of the views out to sea, north and north west

Image Same shot zoomed

Image Little Loch Broom

Once on the bealach the views start to open up, especially to the north and north west, unfortunately it is a wee bit hazy, as usual :( From the bealach we followed the path up Bidein a' Ghlas Thuill, all the time I was keeping an eye on the terrain and probably about 50m or so from the summit we veered off to the right and traversed round aiming for the bealach before Sgurr Fiona. We were now on uncharted terroritory and no matter what direction you looked in there was something to photograph, whether it be the pointiness of Fiona, the strange rock formations, lochans etc, etc 8) There is a very well trodden obvious path across the bealach and then we followed one of the many paths heading up and round Sgurr Fiona. We initially headed west then south and it seemed more like a helter skelter. There was certainly nothing difficult or remotely scary in the ascent and as you only have about 160m of ascent it didn't take too long. One thing we were hoping was that we wouldn't get caught in another shower on or near the summit and as you can see from the photo's we seemed to time it just right - could have done with a little less wind, but the views just take your breath away 8)

Image Looking back towards the bealach

Image Fiona and the pinnacles

Image Similar shot as above

Image Loch Toll an Lochain

Image Looking across to way ahead

Image Looking across to the Pinnacles & Fisherfield

Image Fisherfield & Loch na Sealga

Image Zoomed shot across to Fisherfield

Image Arty shot

Image The Fisherfield obstacle if you visit from the NE

Image Atmospheric shot

Image Summit cairn, not much room for a bigger one

Image Pauline taking care in the brisk cold wind

Image Doesn't look cold - much

Image Cairn cuddle

Image Cairngorm like rocks

Image It's a long way down

We tried to pick a sheltered spot near the summit to sit and have a drink and warm up, but as the wind was howling in from the west it was difficult. We did find a spot that gave us superb views across to Fisherfield and what an amazing sight that is 8) We weren't too impressed with the river, it does look rather wide and doesn't exactly travel in a straight line :roll: Next was the descent, again not difficult, the only difficulty is selecting the right path :lol: We met a couple of guys just before we reached the bealach and I managed to get photo's of them on the summit, they were planning the circular/round route but not going over the pinnacles, probably wise considering the gusty windy :wink:

Image Loch Toll an Lochain again - on the way down

Image Pauline looking back in admiration

Image What a view, look carefully there are 2 guys on the summit

Image Zoomed, no obvious way up

Image One last photo, what a sight

Once we reached the bealach between Sgurr Fiona and Bidein a' Ghlas Thuill we had decided to try and traverse round Bidein to the next bealach and I think we managed it rather successfully 8) Once at the next bealach it was just a matter of kind of retracing our uphill steps.
When you visit these hills you do realise why they are so special, they do literally have everything 8)
Another big thanks to Pauline for her company, we can almost see the finishing line :lol:
Next on the horizon is Fisherfield, a nice 2 day midweek weather window would be nice, surely that's not too much to ask :lol:
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Fife Flyer
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Re: Fiona what views you have?

Postby simon-b » Sun May 22, 2016 3:18 pm

Great pictures. This was my 100th Munro but I missed the views, glad you two got them.
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simon-b
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Re: Fiona what views you have?

Postby Jaxter » Sun May 22, 2016 4:45 pm

Oooh lovely photos :clap:

Looking forward to doing this myself, although I'd like a calm sunny day where I can scramble over the pinnacles....probably have to wait several years for that :lol:
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Jaxter
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Re: Fiona what views you have?

Postby pollyh33 » Thu May 26, 2016 1:19 pm

A really wonderful carefree day Martin.

So glad we had an excuse to go back. Hopefully we'll find another excuse sometime soon for another return to these fabulous hills- loved it. :D :D

Thanks for your company and constant chat. :thumbup: :thumbup:
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pollyh33
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Re: Fiona what views you have?

Postby PeteR » Fri May 27, 2016 9:42 am

pollyh33 wrote:A really wonderful carefree day Martin.

So glad we had an excuse to go back. Hopefully we'll find another excuse sometime soon for another return to these fabulous hills- loved it. :D :D

Thanks for your company and constant chat. :thumbup: :thumbup:


Definitely worth the return, to do the full circuit :wink: To date still the toughest hill I've done (Skye is a "cheat" of course as I had a guide to follow all day long).
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