Silhouetted Ascent

Today we got high... An altogether natural (and literal) high, I can assure you. And we hadn't meant to climb a Munro today. Honestly.

Another coast walk was on the cards, but the Cuillin looked brighter than where was planned, so we headed south rather than east. Still the climb wasn't anticipated, we were going to wander up to Coire Lagan, but the sheer number of cars made parking impossible, and for our last day (given the solitude of yesterday) we were feeling anti-social. Back up Glen Brittle then, and the car park for the Fairy Pools was equally mobbed, but we were pretty sure the branch off the path towards Fion Coire, sitting below Bruach Na Frithe, would be quiet. And so it proved. Still the total ascent was not in our heads, but on reaching the Coire, realising we were already at about 2100 feet, the thought that replaced it was well it would be a shame to come all this way and not go up wouldn't it?. And that, dear reader, is how we ended up atop a Cuillin summit.

Oh, and there was a Golden Eagle on the way...

To be honest it's a good way to do it because there's none o the pressure, and none of the consideration of how far you still have to climb. The top, however, was starting to feel somewhat exposed as the wind climbed and the low cloud swirled (cloud base was, helpfully, about 3050 feet), so we descended to the Coire, at which time things got interesting. Mist surrounded us in an instant and visibility reduced to about 20 yards. But never fear, Mel's female intuition outweighed her usual awful sense of direction (we had maps and compasses as well, but a general downward north-west motion was always going to get us close) and we broke out of the mist on the path just half a mile or so from the start point.

Knackered. Home. Cheese. Beer. Packing. Tidying up. Tomorrow it's the early ferry.

Meanish Pier Morning