8th-9th June 2013 - Camping by Loch Duich and the Five Sisters of Kintail

Anna by Loch Duich as the sun sets

Our wee BBQ warming up

Anna enjoys a beer by the camp fire. Eileen Donan Castle illuminated in the distance

Our camp spot in the morning

 

A panorama of Loch Duich with the Five Sisters to the right

Anna heading towards Sgurr nan Spainteach (Peak of the Spaniards)

Anna descending the scambling section

Courtesy of the Gorilla Pod, Anna and I with Loch Duich

Anna contemplating the final sections of the ridge

A superb panorama with Anna just right of centre looking over Loch Duich

 

 

After guiding on the CMD yesterday and finishing around 6, I got home and quickly showered and packed some camping gear so that Anna and I could quickly get up to a lovely wee spot Anna had spied to camp on before tackling the famous Five Sisters of Kintail.

 

Anna bombed us up to Glen Shiel, and even though we arrived quite late, it was still very warm and perfectly light. So we got our BBQ ablaze, and then set up the tent while the coals turned white. I then built us a massive camp fire on the beach, before getting the cooking under way. We had a lovely spread and we were both absolutely stuffed by the end of it!

 

By this time, night had crept in, and we took a few photos before lighting the camp fire and enjoying a well earned beer, before turning in for the night.

 

We got up reasonably early and pottered around packing ourselves up, I felt really rough and sluggish and wondered if I would manage the day, but by 10:15am we were on our way up the steep initial slope of around 550 metres. Topping out on this gave us superb views of the surrounding landscape, and the mountains rolled on mile after mile. It was another scorcher, and we really felt the heat as we moved on at a good pace.

 

The Five Sisters is a group of mountains I have wanted to do for many years, and it was great to finally get there and have a bash at them in fine weather. We moved quite quickly and took a million photos, enjoying good banter. The views were amazing, and the best thing was there were very few other people around - bliss! The route is quite rocky and has one or two scrambly sections, but nothing to worry about if you are confident on such terrain. It narrows in a few sections, but again, not worryingly so. For the most part it is enjoyable walking with a few steep ascents which are well rewarded with incredible views all around. It is about 15km from start to finish so not particularly long, but the heat certainly takes its toll.

 

We finally reached the last peak, and made our way back down to civilization where we hitched a lift back to the car, before enjoying a well earned meal at the Cluanie Inn. A fantastic weekend full of everything I love, and the very best conditions to tick off a route thats been on the list for so long!