Coire an Dorus

16.5.07 - The Cuillins Trip, Day 3 - 11km, 1040m - 251 mins

Area 17: The Islands of Mull and Skye

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Sgurr a' Ghreadaidh973m3192ftM184#140
Sgurr a' Mhadaidh918m3012ftM277#141
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The falls by the Hostel

The plan for today was to avoid the approaching bad weather by being up at the crack of dawn and off up the hill before 6am if possible. I got up at 10 to 5 and Alasdair was up soon after. After a hurried breakfast Howard appeared and we were all out the door and starting up the path to Coire a' Ghreadaidh by 10 to 6. At this point the weather was still clear and dry, which of course was what the plan was all about.

The falls again

The falls again

Heading up towards Coire a

It was a straightforward walk up a good path into Coire a' Ghreadaidh under a lowering sky, with the first hint of rain starting as we reached the upper part of the corrie, Coire an Dorus.

Sgurr a

Sgurr a

Climbing the scree to An Dorus

Next came another fairly long toil up scree and rock to reach An Dorus, the narrow col between Sgurr a' Mhadaidh and Sgurr a' Ghreadaidh. The guidebook describes the ascents on either side of this door-shaped notch as "awkward" and they certainly looked it from this side. However the actual ascents are both on the far side of the ridge and although they are indeed awkward they were not as bad as they had looked from below. By the time we reached An Dorus it was snowing gently. We decided to go for Sgurr a' Ghreadaidh first, being the more difficult of the two.

Looking down from the Eag Dubh

Once past the awkward ascent from An Dorus we followed the reasonably easy path, past the spectacular Eag Dubh notch. We then lost the path before we got to the "impressive looking tower which appears to block the ridge". It took some tricky scrambling to find the path again, but once we had it led us to the broad scree ledge on the west side of the tower which was very civilized. There was a short walk and scramble beyond this and then we were at the summit.

Sgurr a

Sgurr a

The summit of Sgurr a

The summit of Sgurr a

Sgurr a

We didn't hang about at the summit, however, as time was of course against us. There were some tricky descents on the way back to An Dorus, culminating in the last and trickiest. Then we scrambled up the other side, which as advertised was equally awkward. Finally we made our way up the scree and rock-strewn slope of Sgurr a' Mhadaidh. This was very steep, but never too difficult, and we reached the summit by about 9 o'clock. I had been at the summit of a Munro in Alasdair's company as late as 8 o'clock in the evening, but 9 in the morning was definitely a first!

The summit of Sgurr a

This was my "halfway Munro", number 142, so we paused long enough for a celebratory photo before heading quickly but carefully back down Sgurr a' Mhadaidh, negotiated the awkward descent and started down the scree slope from An Dorus.

Down into Coire an Dorus again

It was now quite wet at times but we were very pleased to have slotted in two more Cuillin Munros on what had been a very unpromising day.

If only the mist would clear we

The slopes of Coire an Dorus were, like Coir' a' Ghrundda at the southern end of the ridge, reminiscent of a "Pass into Mordor". I pointed this out and Howard, gazing back up to An Dorus, agreed. "If only this mist would clear," he said, "we'd see more door…"

The mist comes down over Sgurr a

The mist comes down over Sgurr a

Where were these people at 10 to 6 this morning??

We now had a long tramp down the corrie again, meeting quite a few parties who were on their way up. We didn't envy them as the weather was by now deteriorating.

Back in time for elevenses!

As for us we were back at the hostel by 11. After a hot shower it was time for tea and sandwiches in the common room, watching the weather gradually getting worse and worse outside. Some days an early start is definitely worth the effort! In the afternoon we did the customary wet-day-on-Skye drive to Portree to visit a tea-shop and bookshop - very pleasant.