NAVIGATION

David on top of Y Gully

Top of Hell's Lum

Fiacaill Coire Sneachda 

Cloud for first part of the day

Loch Avon and Stag Rocks

 Another low cloud day, 600m and lower at times. Another very quiet day in the Cairngorms. Dave and I had a good day over in the Fiacaill Coire Sneachda ridge and over towards the Hell's Lum crag. Colder temperatures again. Hat and gloves for much of the day.

LOW CLOUD AND COLDER IN THE CAIRNGORMS

Shelterstone Crag

Coire an t-sneachda 

Time for a swim

Coire Raibert

Loch Avon basin

A quiet day on the Cairngorms,  just one person seen all day. We had a nice wander up the Goat Track and down into the  Loch A'an basin. Just has the rain came on it was time for a swim. Not wet enough? We then came back onto the plateau via Coure Raibert. The recent rain has given the burns a good top up and looking spectacular in the basin with the crags coming and going in the cloud. By afternoon the temperatures had lowered. There was s

AN TEALLACH

Corrag Buidhe scrambling

Brilliant ridges and pinnacles

More fun

Lord Barkeley's Seat & Corraig Buidhe

Atmospheric conditions

We had An Teallach to ourselves

Carolyn heading along to Lord Barkeley's Seat

Loch na Sealaig

Corrag Buidhe

Final ridge to Sgurr Fiona

Classic An Teallach, nearly

Summit Bidean a' Ghlas Thuill

Toll an Lochain

Beinn Dearg group

A very atmospheric An Teallach ridge traverse today with Carolyn & Karen. The weather forecast was constantly changing on the run up to Friday. In the end we got a mixture of sunshine, swirling cloud and  an hour of rain at the end. Not a breath of wind on the tops, maybe if there was we may have got some clearer views at times. We saw just one person at the foot of Sail Liath this morning and that was it for human beings on the hill. Plenty of roaring stags in Toll an Lochain which gave real atmosphere to the Corrag Buidhe pinnacles as we traversed them. Another classic and memorable An Teallach experience. Topped off by an aurora this evening and more (close) stags roaring down at Dundonnell.

SKYE

Rainbow over Sligachan

The team enjoying Skye walking

Pools and falls

Afternoon showers

Sgurr na Gillean

Glen Sligachan

Afternoon rainbows

Returning

Tranquil

Final day with my fun group, guiding for Walkabout Scotland. Today we had a walk from Sligachan over the pass which eventually finishes in Glen Brittle. We walked up to the high point of the pass in lovely warm conditions before some showers broke out. The day was rounded off with a vivid and stunning rainbow, showing us the route back to the Slig pub :)
A fab 4 days with this group of fun folk. Average age of 72 years young. Brilliant.

TOUR OF THE HIGHLANDS

The team enjoying the Cairngorms 

Great day for cloudspotters

Sunshine

Coire an Lochain

Cairngorm plateau 

Nice views

Summit success 

First day steaming ahead

Speyside Way on Sunday 

Skye here we come

Kyleakin 

Fabulous sunset

Right on cue for my group

On Sunday I met up with a lovely group of folk from the USA and Switzerland who are on a week long trip in the Highlands. Guiding for Walkabout Scotland this week we travel and get to walk in a good chunk of Scotland in a short space of time. From the Cairngorms to Skye to Fort William. On Sunday we had a very easy stroll along the Speyside Way from Boat of Garten back to Aviemore with the added attraction of riding the Speyside Railway.
Monday saw us exploring the high Cairngorm plateau with a walk along the Northern Corries. The group had their first experience of a Cairngorms Breeze. 45mph winds on the tops. They all did a brilliant job coping in our weather.
Today was a travel day along the gorgeous Kyle line from Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh. One of the great railway journeys in the world. It was wet in Aviemore when we set off but by the time we arrived in Kyle it was very warm and sunny. The day ended with a glorious sunset witnessed from Kyleakin.  The average age of my group on this trip is 72. What a fit, fun and enthusiastic group of folk.

LIATHACH & BEINN ALLIGIN

Beinn Alligin from Liathach

The Highlands were blessed with glorious weather for 3 days this weekend. A big high pressure system drawing warm air up from the south gave hot sunshine an clear skies for much of Scotland. A brilliant spell of weather to be out on the mountains. I met up with Robin and Clare in the NW Highlands on Thursday evening. Robin is on the final hurdle to completing all the Munros. He's got some fantastic mountains to finish on and 6 of these are in Torridon, the finest mountain region on Earth. On Thursday evening we arrived after dark in Glen Torridon, Robin and Clare had just knocked off 4 Munros in the Beinn Dearg cluster near Ullapool which is always a long day. They 'wild camped' with their camper van whilst I truly wild camped in boggy, heathery ground near the beautiful  Loch Clair.

Sunrise on Loch Clare, Friday

 At last it is nearly midge free time now we are getting a few cold nights. Wild camping season is now a joy. A beautiful clear and star filled night and a warm early morning. One of the classic views of Liathach is from Loch Clair so I got up early to catch the first light. I wasn't disappointed. It was surprisingly clear air despite the warm southerly airflow. A good start to two fab days.

The classic view of Liathach

FRIDAY 20TH SEPTEMBER
Liathach was our first hill day. What a beauty of a mountain. T shirt conditions from the word go and all away along the ridge. A lovely stiff breeze was perfect to stop us overheating. Stunning clear skies all day.

The fun begins

Great scrambling

Down as well as up

sensational

The first Munro summit along the ridge is straightforward walking, then the Fasarin Pinnacles beckon. This is the scrambling section, the fun section. What a pleasure, we had the place to ourselves, there were plenty of folk on the hill but they seemed to have set off earlier in the day. Perfect.

Looking east along the ridge, Beinn Eighe to the left

Munro no.1

Mullach an Rathain and Beinn Alligin

The scrambling isn't too difficult and you can bypass anything that is beyond your comfort zone. I would definitely NOT recommend taking the much lower traverse path, it is exposed and eroded and of course you miss all the fun and all the wonderful views to the north.

Ridge views to Glen Torridon

The final Pinnacle, Am Fasarinien

Lookin back

All too quickly the scrambling is over and it's an easy walk up to the 2nd Munro of Mullach an Rathain. Wonderful views out west to Loch Torridon from here. A steep descent then follows, what a day. It was still very hot by 5pm when we got to the glen. A pint and grub at the Torridon to end a fab day.

Am Faserinen and Glen Torridon from the west

Loch Torridon and Beinn Alligin

Northern corries and the ridge

SATURDAY 21ST SEPTEMBER

Another glorious morning. Clear skies and a warm night. It was feeling like the south of Spain, not the NW Highlands. Another classic ridge walk today and another two Munros for Robin. Beinn Alligin. A shorter round and easier scrambling. Equally as spectacular views from this westerly Torridonian giant.

Descending Tom na Gruagaich towards Sgurr Mor

Baosbheinn from Sgurr Mor

Tom na Gruagaich

Another hot day but a good stiff breeze to keep things pleasant. Today Clare and her dog, Berry, claimed another Munro summit. Walking up to the first Munro of Tom na Gruagaich. It's a fabulous view from here, especially out to the western seaboard. Very clear air again.

The Horns next

Flowerdale Forest

First 'Horn'

The scrambling on Beinn Alligin comes at the end of the ridge traverse. The 'Horns' consist of 3 peaks. More lovely warm rock and wonderful views as we made our way across the Torridonian Sandstone rocks.

Robin enjoying the scrambling

Something a little harder

Eyeing up the route

Final Horn

Sgurr Mor from the Horns

Nice

Beinn Dearg and Liathach

Beautiful pools, perfect after a hot day

A fab couple of days and great to catch up with Robin and Clare. That's Robin now down to just 18 Munros left.

Sgurr Dubh