Having enjoyed previous walks to Hell's Lum and Stag Rocks and along the top of Shelterstone Crag I was naturally interested to do a walk to the adjacent area of Stac an Fharaidh, the attraction being views of crags and cliffs overlooking Loch Avon and backed, of course, by the surrounding hills.
I arrived at the skiing car park at 4am and had estimated that this would give me enough time to get to near Stac an Fharaidh before sunrise at (also estimated) about 6.10am, that being a little earlier than the BBC weather forecast timing because of the extra elevation.
I got to the Ptarmigan at 5.30am and was just thinking how glad I was to not be walking through cloud and having to take bearings in the dark when, sure as fate, a big dollop of cloud descended. I could just about make out some useful features by eye though and just as suddenly as the cloud had thickened, it started to thin.
Once visibility had improved I took stock and realised I was more or less where I wanted to be, albeit still with a fair amount of descent left before reaching the start of the cliffs above Loch Avon.
The going up to now had been on easy grass but half way along the descent I had to cross a couple of squelchy, slimy, mossy areas around some small streams which wasn't the easiest thing to do in the half light. Didn't want to get wet legs or backside so slowed down for these parts.
The sunrise was a bit of a damp squib but still decent views north, east and south opened up as I got onto the more level ground at the start of the Stac an Fharaidh cliffs. More crags and outrcrops though at the start, rather than cliffs but that changed along the way.
After half a kilometre of gently rising slope things got a lot more dramatic as those crags and outcrops started extending a lot further down towards the loch below and more and more gullies appeared. I even managed a bit of gentle scrambling but my back soon reminded me of why I find that difficult these days though possibly just over caution in the face of a twinge. I still enjoyed my wee clamber about on the rocks though.
I got to the point where I could see across to where my walk to Stag Rocks had finished two years earlier and set off north to follow the same return route as then, up the Coire Raibeirt path and down the Fiacaill a Choire Chais ridge.

DSC02372 by John Little, on Flickr
Clear on the way up but some suspicious looking dollops of cloud hanging about.

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Pre-dawn zoom to Morven.

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Morven and Avon.

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So much for the sunrise.

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That's a bit more like it.

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More like outcrops than cliffs on the way up to Stac an Fharaidh.

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Sun rising.

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Zoom to crags above Shelterstone Crag.

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River Avon beginning its journey east.

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Some gullies and cliff tops appearing along the way.

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