Wednesday, September 02, 2009

102-104. Carn Ghlusaid (203), Sgurr nan Conbhairean (44), Sail Chaorainn (133) 30/08/09

The upper reaches of Glen Shiel were dry and fairly clear when we parked and began to head up the southern slopes of these hills. It was clement enough that I even decided to brave the shorts - a decision that came back to haunt me.

The going was pretty easy to the top of Carn Ghlusaid and we were soon hot on the heels of the walkers who'd set off half an hour before us. We had caught the mist up too, however, and the view from the top was somewhat compromised. Climbing Sgurr nan Conbhairean was also a tad misty due to its extra height, but we were able to get a view back at it that was almost clear of cloud.

It had a pleasingly rocky north face, which contrasted with the relatively gentle southern slopes, so the ridge to Sail Chaorainn, the northern outlier, was a bit more interesting.

The mist came back for our descent, but we were lucky in avoiding the rain and the route took us about 6 and a half hours. The last few hundred metres of the descent saw the return of the midgies, who had cunningly absented themselves when we started just so that I would be encouraged to wear shorts and thereby give them something to eat. And feast they did.

Lesson learnt.

The north face of Sgurr nan Conbhairean.

On the summit of Sail Chaorainn

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