A solo day out for David to do a few Munros. There were three which were "easily" accessible from Glen Shiel. Having found the parking spot a little short of the Cluanie Inn on the A87, I started the ascent which I have to admit looked pretty daunting.
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Initial view of the ascent of Aonach Meadhoin.
The route goes up to "the corrie" and then up the spur up to the left/west |
I was doing the route suggested by the SMC guide, which said to ascend to Coire na Cadha and then break out west to the spur up to the summit of Aonach Meadhoin. Whilst there appeared to be a distinct corrie from below, when I reached it, it just seemed to be almost as steep as the rest of the ascent! However, a steady climb along the spur led to a very steep final ascent to the summit plateau.
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| Panorama at the summit of Aonach Meadhoin |
I sent a screenshot of the OS Maps app to Rachel and the interchange was as follows:
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| Rachel reads the contours... |
There was a clear view along to the next summit, Sgurr a' Bhealaich Dheirg:
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| Sgurr a' Bhealaich Dheirg from the summit of Aonach Meadhoin |
Paul Bannister's immutable rules for navigation are: Always progress in a straight line and: Never lose height. I've learned that the one to pay most attention to is the second, but on a ridge walk it's inevitable that some height is lost and that straight lines are not really practical. However, the entertaining walk between the two summits provided a great view back to Aonach Meadhoin.
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| Aonach Meadhoin from the traverse to Sgurr a' Bhealaich Dheirg |
The view from the summit of Sgurr a' Bhealaich Dheirg gave me a moody (read: poorly exposed) picture of the Five Sisters of Kintail.
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| The Five Sisters from the summit of Sgurr a' Bhealaich Dheirg |
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| Panorama from the summit of Sgurr a' Bhealaich Dheirg |
I even told myself that I could see Ben Nevis from the summit. I'm open to correction on this!
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| Ben Nevis (on the far horizon) from Sgurr a' Bhealaich Dheirg? |
The actual summit cairn of Sgurr a' Bhealaich Dheirg was accessed via an airy traverse 70-odd metres from the main ridge. No photos were taken.
Next stop was Saileag, another relatively straightforward traverse.
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| Saileag from Sgurr a' Bhealaich Dheirg with The Five Sisters in the background |
From Saileag it was more or less downhill all the way, with a great view of Gleann Lichd to the right/north (which Jacinta and I would visit the following day) and Beinn Fhada to its north (which I'd go up in a couple of days).
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| Gleann Lichd with Beinn Fhada to the north |
The descent back to the A87 from Bealach an Lapain was singularly unrelenting and unpleasant, being close to 45° the whole way down to the road. I was really glad when it was over and hardly noticed that the 5.5km walk along the road back to the car was uphill pretty well all the way.
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| 10.1 miles, 1271m ascent |
