Friday 14th April
The Five sisters of Kintail (Done Before) 16km 1700m ascent Deep Drifts  Spectacular Faochag seen on the start of the Five Sisters traverse The morning was glorious. Five of us decided to walk the Five Sisters of Kintail while three others chose to do the South Glen Shiel Ridge. As we drove to the start of the walk, the clouds started bubbling up. We were dropped off at the forest break beneath the Bealach an Lapain. We took a path up to the top of the forest break but then lost it in the overnight snow and so ascended by way of a very shallow ridge up the slope to the bealach. The ascent seemed very steep - steeper than the descent I made this way three years ago.
We arrived at the bealach after ¾ of an hour. The walk up was very warm but now there was a slight chilly breeze up here. It looked like the sun wouldn't last with the increasing cloud so I took the good photos whilst I could. We now walk eastwards along the long ridge. It was drifted over by yesterdays snow so it was very exhausting for me in the front. The ridge was also rocky so I periodically slipped over but the ridge wasn't narrow. It took an 1½ hours to reach the first top. That was just a walk of just over 1km. Even so I was often walking faster than the rest of the group who had it easy with the step being made for them.
We reached the first top and it was here that the rest of the major tops revealed themselves to us. It seemed a long way to the principal peak - Sgurr Fhuaran. We descended to the bealach ready to tackle the first sister. I remembered the rock step here and this time it was a bit trickier with the loose snow. The rest descended the rock step without a problem and then we continued to the snow slopes on the other side of the hollow to practise ice axe arrests.
We continued speedily up to the first sister - Sgurr na Ciste Duibhe. From here the descent to the next sister was on a broad rocky slope - not too much drifting snow. The ascent the other side, however, was exhausting - my energy reserves were evidently low. It was five paces and then collapse! We reached the summit to a chilly wind so it was a quick snack before dropping down to the bealach ready for the next summit.
The descent involved some easy route finding through the rocky barrier and seemed easier than when I tackled it last time. Time for a proper lunch out of the wind before tackling the steep 200m ascent to the principle summit. My legs were cold with sweat - I obviously was working very hard. Time for the ascent. The path was obvious at first through the snow. It took a leftward turn past the lower rocky nose. Into the snow drifts we went and the ground became much steeper - as well as losing the path. I tried an ascending traverse though evidently this led to even steeper ground so I cut back across the slope to reach the ridge. The ridge up here was an easy clamber over steep rocks that got easier with height.
At last we reached the summit and were offered a brief interlude of sunshine in the generally cloudy weather. The final leg of the ridge now revealed itself though some folk were now pretty tired. We walked down the west ridge before cutting back across the slope via a broad platform to reach the main ridge. This avoided a steep craggy section of the main ridge. By now there had been some considerable snow evaporation with many slopes looking increasingly bare.
We made an ascent up to the fourth sister. This is a summit with very steep smooth slabs cutting into the eastern slopes. The ridge walk beyond was easy with one or two very easy optional scrambles - no exposure. By now we had regular rests but it was now time for the final - much broader sister. This final summit was less ridgy and more plateaux like. We topped out at 4.30pm. 1¼ hours later we were down at the road after a very quick descent down the western ridge. Most of the other folk were by now very tired with some of them complaining of sore ankles and bad knees. It was an 'experiece' they had never done before but had enjoyed very much saying the pleasure outweighed the pain. We walked back to the youth hostel where Phil Endecott was seen - the first time in ages.
Saturday 15th April
Sgurr na Sgine (done before) The Saddle (done before) 16km 1300m ascent  The pretty Glen Arnisdale seen from Sgurr na sgine Today dawned more cloudy than yesterday. My legs ached and I didn't feel so much urge to get up. None the less the forecast posted on the board got my spirits up - sunny spells and occasional showers. I decided to climb Sgurr na Sgine and The Saddle without doing any scrambling. I had three others with me whilst Phil, Catherine and Chris Wareing ascended via the Forcan ridge.
We Started off by walking up the Allt Mhalagain - a river I was by now very familiar with. We departed from the path at 450m and ascended up the rest of the glen on nice short grass. We reached the Bealach east of Sgurr na Sgine quite quickly and then followed a stone wall going round the south side of the summit to ascend it via easy slopes on the south side. We topped out two hours after starting the walk.
The walk continued northwards on the ridge to Faochag and left the ridge where the ridge turned to descend steep stony slopes to the Bealach Coire Mhalagain. Here we had lunch before walking up to The Saddle. The corrie just south of the Saddle had plenty of snow left in it but we ascended via the broad south nose of the summit which was free of snow so axes weren't needed here. We met the other group at the summit of the saddle. The wind was chilly but the sun was doing its best to break through the cloud. Overall it seems like the day was actually going to be sunnier than yesterday afternoon.
The west ridge looked a lot narrower than when I did it before though I did do it in mist last time. The snow was my chief concern and I was having doubts about its safety. None the less we did the ridge despite me having periodic hesitations. The ridge had numerous rocky scrambles to tackle as well as some very steep snow slopes to traverse. One point of the ridge saw exposed drops on both sides but generally it wasn't a problem.
After the narrow bit the rest of the ridge was easy if a bit knolly and grassy. We started to drop off the ridge just before the knolls became very significant. We felt like lying down for a rest so we did - for 15mins! Ah summer was just around the corner - the time for lazy days. We picked up traces of an old stalkers track lower down in the glen and started the long lazy walk out. Oh my legs were tired now. More good weather to come in the next two days! |
