North Glen Shiel

The Cluanie Horseshoe
To the east and strictly not part of Glen Shiel, there is the Cluanie Horseshoe. To walk this ridge in one day would require a long walk, but the ridge walk can easily be split into two days. The best bits lie between the shapely summits of A'Chralaig and Mullach Fraoch Choire. In particular the final ½ km to the summit of the Mullach is very narrow where, under snow, the traverse of the pinnacles can be quite scary. Under such conditions the path that avoids the spiky bits is scary and an otherwise straightforward path is transformed into a thirty degree snow slope just above a 100m abyss. This occurs when the path traverses the southern pinnacles to the east.



The eastern group of summits are linked by broad ridges that are a mixture of grass and easy rock. The drops on their north sides are very long down to the glens 600m below while the southern slopes are generally not so steep and quite wet and heathery.

The North Glen shiel Ridge
The traverse of the five sisters of Kintail is a classic walk and is regarded by many as the best walk in Scotland. The route follows an airy - but not difficult crest across some very photogenic peaks. There are one or two simple scrambles involved but they are short and perfectly straightforward - even with a backpack - with little exposure. The principle peak, Sgurr Fhuaran, demands some route finding skills under winter conditions to avoid crags that are found on the crest of the ridge.



The entire walk is reckoned to take about 6 - 9 hours according to many guidebooks and it's well worth traversing in nice weather. The approach from the road up the eastern side is very steep but grassy and quite easy.



The brothers of Kintail which form a continuation of the five sisters of Kintail, are also well worth doing retaining many of the characteristics that the crest has.

Beinn Fhada and A' Ghlas bheinn
Beinn Fhada is a mountain of two halves. The eastern end is high plateaux rimmed by impressive crags and steep slopes. The western end comprises a shapely crest with one 'bad step' - a 40ft high slabby face that was very slippery in the wet when the editor tried it. Either way it's a nice mountain that looks very nice from the north and quite daunting when seen from Loch Duich.



A' Ghlas bheinn can easily be linked in with Beinn Fhada from the 'Gates of Affric' - a deep bealach linking the two mountains. The ascent from here follows a broad ridge over many false summits. An ascent of this mountain can be made from just about any direction.



There are many other summits to climb particularly those around Glen Elchaig.