Sgurr nan Gillean

Like the previous day, the weather forecast for today was unpromising, with rain and high winds expected in the afternoon. However, it didn't seem too bad for the morning, so once again we managed to get up quite early and have an early start. Having abandoned the idea of doing the In Pin on this trip, and having reasoned that it would make sense to do Sgurr na Banachdich at the same time as the In Pin, all that remained for us on Skye was Sgurr nan Gillean, which Alasdair had in fact already climbed with Isdale the previous October. On that occasion they had had beautiful weather, so it was particularly heroic of him to accompany Howard and me today, when the weather promised to be anything but beautiful. On the other hand, one's membership of the Traversers Club must surely be called into question by such wanton feats of unnecessary climbing - but don't worry, Alasdair, your secret is safe with us…

We drove round to Sligachan and got started on the walk by 8.40am. From the hostel, Sgurr a' Mhadaidh had been clear of cloud for a while around 6am but by now the ridge was entirely in cloud. The weather was still dry though, and reasonably bright.

The Allt Dearg Beag

We followed the same excellent path over the moors as we had taken to get to Am Basteir on Monday. We then branched off to the left up a slight rise then down into Coire Riabhach.

The slopes of Sgurr nan Gillean from Coire Riabhach

As we climbed up the scree slopes on the south side of Coire Riabhach the mist almost seemed to be rising with us and it was still dry. However we could now see plenty of mist and cloud below us. Then we were into the mist and doing some guesswork about the best route up, helped occasionally by Alasdair's memories of doing it on a beautiful clear day. We also constructed a few small marker cairns to try to help us on the way down.

The view back towards Sligachan

Eventually we were unmistakably on the crest of the south-east ridge and were beginning to get to some of the scrambling as the slopes steepened. The conditions were certainly not ideal, but we were thankful that there still seemed to be very little wind.

The scrambling got progressively hairier as we neared the summit, and then we were there, crawling or bum-shuffling across the last narrow neck of rock to reach it. The time was about ten to twelve. Knowing that high winds were on the way we didn't hang about but started down again right away. The scrambling was no more difficult than coming up, but as we got lower we lost all trace of the way we'd come up by.

In the end this didn't prove to be a serious problem since we actually found another perfectly good, well-cairned route which took us safely down into Coire Riabhach. There we stopped for lunch, although by now there was intermittent drizzle and the wind was picking up. As we were eating a party of four, all quite elderly, passed us on their way up, and then to our surprise along came David and Anneke whom we'd met on Bruach na Frithe on Monday. David had done Am Basteir and attempted the Pinnacle Ridge unsuccessfully the day before and now they were both snapping up this last Munro.

Looking back, the cloud still trying to lift

Another rest - where did Bla Bheinn go?

The clouds cleared a little as we continued on down. At one rest stop a seagull came hovering directly above us balancing on the wind. Then it came down and stood on a rock quite close by, looking hopeful, presumably for scraps of food.

...looking hopeful

As for us we were heading for the Sligachan Hotel for some scraps of food and some afternoon tea. When we got there we found the party from the hostel who had been up Bla Bheinn with George Yeomans that morning, also enjoying a well-earned rest.

We watched out the window as the wind and rain really picked up in earnest, then we drove back to the hostel for 5 o'clock, where, with plenty of time on our hands, I set to work to cook a pasta, sausage, bacon and veg bake.

A bit more water in it than before

Puddles in the road

We had now completed seven of the Cuillin Munros in four days and reckoned we had done well. The following day again had a poor forecast, with continuing high winds. There being no more Munros for us to do on Skye without a guide, we toyed with the idea of driving to the mainland to do something, but in the end we opted for a day off instead, and drove round to Talisker Bay in the morning and visited Broadford in the afternoon.

This is the waterfall visible in the previous picture from close up. As the water fell over the top it was being caught by the wind and blown back up.