May trip to Kintail and surrounding area

For anyone interested I've put some photographs here on SmugMug. All in all we had mixed weather as the mobile posts indicated, but it was an enjoyable trip

Saileag and Sgurr nan Spainteach

It started to snow as we reached our first summit of the day. Proper snow. Small flakes, but not the ' blowing in the wind' stuff which has been normal on this trip. Hills and ranges of hills took turns to be obliterated from view as the snow showers swept in then passed through.

We descended to the Bealach an Lapain, an excellent way, incidentally, from Glen Shiel to Glen Lichd and on to Glen Affric. It was warm in the bealach and nice spot for a cuppa but we decided to continue to Sgurr nan Spainteach, a Top of Sgurr na Ciste Duibhe, hoping to arrive before the next blatter swooped in from the north.

The path twists and turns, ups and downs and all in all is a delight. Beinn Fhada was gathering cloud again and the wind was strengthening. Snow swept in and the flakes were bigger this time. It felt like early winter but a cuckoo reminded that it was spring. Paramo trousers and ME jackets were eventually required and stayed on until back at the bealach. Tea. Mists formed and dissipated, rose up from the glen, flowed across the ridges. It was an atmospheric place.

The sun appeared as we made our way down; large hail stones had me pulling up my hood; it rained for the last ten minutes back to the 'van. What wonderful day we had.

Andrew W - from the road to Arnisdale (yesterday) Eigg was in sun but the interior of Knoydart, and I expect Morar, looked grim. Not much good weather to shove your way at present. It will arrive. Have fun!

PhilR - a lot can change by the time you're due in Torridon. Have a great week.

Alan R - it can't make up its mind what season it is at present. Still greatly enjoyable trip though.

Martin - won't know dates until friends make up their minds when they plan to be up here. Will know more when you get back from the Challenge. I'll follow you when I can but can't get the BB to allow me to comment! Good luck.

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May snow

Not unusually for May, being a transitional month in Scotland, we have gone in the space of a week from the weather shown in the first photograph to that in the second. (Can happen daily, of course). It all makes for interesting times on the hills.

The fine weather is due to return for the arrival of Challengers here in Kintail on Thursday.

Martin - We might be in Torridon in June also!

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Sgurr a'Bhealaich Dheirg

Our starting point was as yesterday, but today we followed the Allt Coire Tholl Bhruach intending to join the ridge at the bealach between Aonach Meadhoin and Sgurr a' Bhealaich Dheirg. However once in the corrie we opted to take the steep slopes which would see us emerge a few hundred metres west of Aonach Meadhoin.

High on this slope I stopped to add a layer of clothing and noticed that there was no Satmap in the rucksack. It was probably in the motorvan but there was also the possibility that I'd left it lying on the ground outside the van when I'd picked up the sack. This was unlikely (I told myself) and pushed on, soon arriving at the well-worn path.

The ridge now dropped away to the bealach and it was a delight to follow it, pausing occasionally to savour the fantastic views west. Being a Bank Holiday the place was becoming busy. Some (mainly young) seemed to be taking their Munro bagging very seriously, grim- faced and barely able to say 'hello'. A job of work it appeared. Shame. Don't they know this is fun?! The final slopes quickly lead to the large cairn and with photographs taken, we made our retreat to make room for the approaching crowds.

Retracing our steps to the bealach we met two ladies, one a fellow Munroist and on her second round, the other with eight to go. We chatted for ages exchanging experiences on hills the length and breadth of the Highlands. Kindred spirits indeed and what a difference between these seasoned hill-goers and the others we'd passed who had been so reluctant to even acknowledge our presence.
From here we took the grassy slopes to pt 806 and so down to the Tholl Bhruach and back to the van. The Satmap wasn't on the ground but on a seat under a fleece. To be honest I'd forgotten all about it, such had been the quality of the day.

Mark - hope your back problem is resolved soon so that you can enjoy your backpacking trip.

Alan R - yes, I'm fine now and if it weren't for the fine scenery and weather, I'd be pretty depressed about cancelling our walk. I note that you are getting back to full fitness yourself which is good to hear.

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Greetings from Sgurr an Fhuarail (1)

Snow showers with some sun. We've come from Aonach Meadhoin (Lynne in pic) where it was, quite frankly, b****y freezing. The hills of Torridon seem to have acquired a fair covering of snow overnight. Settled downfor lunch in a sheltered spot overlooking Coire nan Eun.

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Friday 4 May - Glean Lichd

Light snow showers were sweeping across the hills this morning and a cold north wind was blowing, so we opted for a lower level excursion. A wander down Gleann Lichd to the E.U.M.C Hut and then the pass to Glen Affric. Maybe. A plaque on the door informs that the hut was opened in 1956 in memory of two climbers killed in a storm on Ben Nevis in May 1955.

We had no ambitions today other than to walk, look and listen. Some soft hail fell as we left Glenlicht House but the day was improving quickly and all the burns were low, so even without the bridges the two we had to cross would have posed no difficulty. I reminded Lynne of one of our previous, always wet, trips here when the first was impassable and we turned back: she had no recollection of it, so it must have been a dream. Who am I to contradict!

Our peaceful lunch spot at the summit of the pass gave fine views south to Sgurr a' Bhealaich Dheirg and to the east, Mullach Fraoch-choire. The track eventually drops to Camban, an open bothy in Fionngleann, and continues on to Glen Affric.

Reluctantly we began our descent pausing to photograph the rather lovely waterfall created as the Allt Grannda emerges from a small gorge. Summits and lofty ridges are great places to be, but you can miss much of interest by neglecting old ways through the hills I think.

That said, it's the tops again for us tomorrow!

Distance - 20km and about 500m ascent.

Martin - Thanks. My back muscle has recovered much more quickly than expected. It took 6 weeks last time. Tonight would have been our first wild camp of the trip.....

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Wednesday 2 May - Beinn Fhada, Meall an Fhuarain Mhoir, Sgurr a' Dubh Doire

It was a beautiful May morning and a cool breeze and cuckoo kept us company as we made our way up Glean Choinneachain, the finest in Kintail in W H Murray's view. I could find no reason to disagree with the great man. The path makes for easy going all the way to the Bealach an Sgairne, although today we weren't passing through 'The Gates of Affric' but taking the stalker's path into Coire an Sgairne and onto the Plaide Mhor.

A check of records shows 30 May 1983 for Beinn Fhada but unlike today the two Tops were not part of the plan, Meall an Fhuarain Mhor (954m) and Sgurr a' Dubh Doire (962m) being inconveniently situated west and east of the Munro. 'Always leave something to come back for' a friend once said. How wise.

The crags of Sgurr a' Choire Ghairbh held our eyes as we climbed out of Coire an Sgairne (winter climbs here surely, and if not there should be) onto the summit plateau and over the gently rising, grassy slopes to the cairn on Meall an Fhuarain Mhor. The view from here was breathtaking: Skye, the Applecross hills, Torridon, the Five Sisters, distant Ben Nevis and the Cairngorms.

It was time for a break and some food and tea - and lots of photography. Before heading for our second objective of the day we had a look at an alternative route to this summit by Beinn Bhuidhe and Sgurr a' Choire Ghairbh which involves a rocky sramble into and out of The Hunter's Pass, clearly seen from our vantage point. Another time no doubt.

Sgurr a' Dubh Doire gave fine views of the Affric Hills and of Loch a' Bhealaich in Glean Gaorsaic. In fact if we'd thought about it earlier and visited Bheinn Fhada on our way to this Top, we could have descended to Glean Gniomhaidh and returned to Morvich via 'The Gates'. A backpacking trip for the future perhaps. As it was, our way home lay back over the Munro and by the time we arrived at the trig point the few other walkers we'd seen from afar had gone.

After the ritual photography we descended to Coire an Sgairne and so to the path in Gleann Choinneachain. It was unmistakably May in the Highlands with a freshness not found later in summer.

Tom Weir once wrote that you couldn't have too many months of May in a lifetime. Let's hope this is one to remember.

Distance: 27km
Ascent: 1420m

Andrew W - have arranged for good weather to last for The Challenge. Send cash.

Mark - hope your miserable weather has improved, but don't send any of it up here please.

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