Completed by. Dave, Julie and Wilson
Weather. Clear, sunny, mainly blue skies
Time. 12hrs + 9hrs ?
Distance. 42.2 km
Ascent. 3594m
Hills.
Munro’s x 7
Corbett’s x 1
Grahams x 0
Sgurr Fhuaran, Sgurr Na Carnach, Sgurr Na Ciste Duibhe, Saileag, Sgurr a bhealaich Dheirg, Aonach Meadhoin and Ciste Dhubh
Am Bathach
Starting from.
NG 946 204 near Morvich
Well this would be our final route of our week’s trip. A big route to say the least but it had been in the planning for a while, and we were very much looking forward to it.
Our last few days had seen us Complete the South Shiel ridge, The Saddle and Sgurr na sgine. We also caught a Corbett and a graham on the same trip .We then had a days rest on Skye, and after a good nights sleep we were ready for Blabheinn.
Weather had improved greatly as the week progressed, we could only hope that it would hold for our big trip back on the mainland. So for the 2nd time we find ourselves camping at the Shiel Bridge campsite.
The route I planned would have been over 4000m, tough going with the big packs and would be made harder with the hot weather. My main worry was water, or the lack of it. Wilson would carry 1litre either side of his backpack and Julie and I would carry 1 litre each. I never expected to find any drinkable water once on the ridge….
We followed the Allt a Chruinn making several stops as we went, drinking deeply to quench our thirst. We would soon reach the bealach at the foot of Beinn Bhuidhe and once Beinn Bhuidhe was reached we would have a better view of what lay ahead.
- the start
We were still quite a bit away from reaching our first summit of the day but once we did reach Sgurr Na Fhuaran the next 2 summits would fall fairly quickly with no real problems. If I do recall correctly there is a “bad step” prior to the summit of Sgurr na Ciste Duibhe. It looked pretty intimidating close up, but once you do get in about it, it was ok.
Well that was the sisters out the way we would now have to contend with the brothers.
Saileag would be next; this was a nice easy walk. And once we reached the Bealach na Lapain the summit soon fell. Unfortunately for 2 guys that were in front of us, they decided to call it a day due to water issues, and headed for the road from the Bealach. We however had no such luck and had to carry on.
We still had 2 more hills to do and our water was getting low. We had no option but to ration ourselves.
Sgurr a Bhealaich Dheirg would fall next but not without a final wee fight before the summit, a bit of clambering needed and careful foot work before the cairn was reached.
Then finally we carried on along the ridge and reached Aonach Meadhoin from there it was onto Sgurr an Fhuarail. We dropped off the North ridge to reach the Bealach there we would set up camp and stock up on our water supplies.
We all slept well that night after our long day. Every thing had went well and we had reached our camp spot “ the plan had come together” Wooo Hooo.
Next morning Wilson and I nipped up and Climbed Am Bathach, by the time we got back to camp Julie had camp packed and breakfast ready. What a woman.
We still had Ciste Dhubh and Ben Attow to complete before our mission was complete. Wind had now picked up a bit but it was still a fine start to our day. I only hoped the wind would die before we reached the trickier part of the summit but it never. I was actually on all 4’s at times. Wind on exposed ridges does scare me, so in times like that 4 is always better than 2.
As we dropped of Ciste Dhubh we decide on popping into Camban Bothy, we never planned to but we were glad we did. Had a nice read of the bothy book several cups of tea and the last of our grub was just enough to refuel our bodies. We then took a bench outside and soaked up some rays for a good hour.
A group of runners appeared at the bothy for a bit. They were on a 5-day trip running from Inverness to Skye. Apparently they pay good money for that privilege.
www.runningthehighlands.com
Packed up and with the bothy tidy we are on our way for the last time. We head for the ridgeline of Ben Attow directly behind Camban Bothy. But by the time we reach 550m it is apparent that Wilson is struggling… so we remove his rucksack to see if that helps and contour round the 550m line for about a 1km or more.
He did improve and am sure the lack of a pack pack did help. But in situation like this, Julie said “”the dog’s safety comes first ““ and I reluctantly agreed. So we catch the path and head out for a very fine walk through Glen Lichd.
Well Ben Attow you got lucky this time, will be back sometime soon to pay you a visit..
glad you got great weather for this one compared to previous walks 
