[Trip Index] [Munro Index] [Home] 30th April 2006   The Saddle Sgurr na Sine Map Drove up to Scotland the previous day with Andrew. We'd been hoping to get as far as Elleric early enough to be able to do Beinn Sgulaird but in the event we took too long and decided to carry on going all the way up to Shiel Bridge. There we stayed at the same B&B I'd stayed in last year following my Glen Cannich trip: 'Riverside' run by Mr Mackay - £20. On that occasion I'd been hoping to do the Saddle and that was our aim again this time. Sunday started fine and dry with cloud overhead but generally clear of the tops. There was also some snow still in evidence on the higher ground and I was a bit worried about this as the Saddle was said to involve some exposed scrambling. In the event, however, we decided just to trust to luck and chance it. Starting from the A87 We left the layby on the A87 at 9.35, taking a fine, rock-paved path which slanted upwards across the north face of the minor hill, Meallan Odhar, to a col at the 500m level. It was a great path, so well-laid and at such a good angle that we made excellent time. From the col the path leads round the back of Meallan Odhar and took us all the way to the foot of the famed Forcan Ridge. At this point it's possible to take an easy path to the Bealach Coire Mhalagain and get to the summit of the Saddle by bypassing the ridge; that really would be to miss out on the finest part of the climb though. The path to the col We, naturally, went for the Forcan Ridge. It was a brilliant, rocky, knife-edge ridge with much scrambling and a fair bit of exposure as the sides fall away dramatically. I packed my pole away in the rucksack to be able to keep both hands free for the climb. Eventually we reached the top of Sgurr nan Forcan (the main 'top' on the ridge) and a short distance past there came to what the SMC guide book delicately describes as 'a tricky pitch'. This was a near-vertical drop of about 40 feet and had to be tackled by facing the rockface and carefully searching downwards for footholds. Fortunately there were reasonable foot and hand holds but it was about as difficult as I'd feel comfortable doing without using a rope. A slip there would certainly damage you. On the Forcan Ridge same again Andrew on his way down the tricky pitch Me on the same stretch After that there was a final, easy scramble up to the summit of the Saddle (1.15) where a columnar trig point sits near to the actual top. Bearing in mind my unfortunate experiences with Beinn Sgulaird I did walk further along the summit ridge to make absolutely sure I had indeed copped the summit. The Saddle trig point After a brief rest we set off for Sgurr na Sine, the next Munro, by heading for the Bealach Coire Mhalagain which lies between the two mountains. There was deep snow on this side of the hill-face and after plodding through it for some way, following a line of footprints, we came to a sort of shoulder where the land fell away more steeply in a great concave curve. Here the footprints changed suddenly into a u-shaped groove in the snow and it was obvious how our predecessor had continued the descent. We followed his/her example, sat in the snow and glissaded freely down the hillsides on our bums for about 300 feet, a wild, exhilarating ride down that certainly lifted the spirits and lost us height quickly, albeit leaving us both with rather wet backsides. The Saddle - Forcan Ridge to the right and our snow slope to the left This, however, did not prove to be a problem for Andrew. We were still short of the bealach by a few hundred yards when we spotted some fellow travellers negotiating the Forcan Ridge and I suggested it would be a fine idea to sit for a while, eat a Mr Kipling's mini-battenburg, and watch how they got on. We did this and after a minute or two Andrew felt moved to get up and whip off his boots, socks, trousers and underpants so as to give everything a chance to dry out. He then proceeded to cavort around the hillside stuffing moss into his boots whilst allowing the mild spring breezes to flit playfully across his nether regions. Yet again, mystifyingly, the Scottish League of Temperance and Decency failed to put in an appearance with the tar and feathers - they're a slack bunch that's all I can say. Anyway after the Saddle Sgurr na Sine was bound to be a bit of an anti-climax. From the bealach we climbed a steepish but straightforward hillside to the ridge then walked along to Sgurr na Sine, meeting on the way a Scot on his own who was coming back down. We'd seen him earlier on the Forcan Ridge ahead of us. He told us he'd been with 2 girls he'd met at the start but that they'd chickened out before reaching Sgurr nan Forcan and had escaped down the hillside. I wouldn't have thought it was easy to do that but they obviously found a way. Having gained the ridge there was an easy ascent of a secondary top then a fairly level walk along to the East to the true summit (3.25). There the ground falls away steeply to the east and offers good views all around, especially of the Five Sisters and the South Shiel Ridge. Sgurr na Sine After a brief stay we left the top and made our way back to the North ridge where we met a couple who were doing Sgurr na Sine via Faochag (the Whelk). The bloke had lived in Chorley and knew the Ordnance Factory where I used to work. The girl (Sarah) was from Dublin. We had a fine, easy walk along the ridge with a small bit of ascent at the end, to the summit of the Whelk. There was still quite a bit of snow on the ridge at that end. Then we had a steep descent over short grass and heather back to the glen and reached the car at 5.55. A total trip time of 8 hours and 20 minutes. Andrew descending from the Whelk An excellent day. We drove to Dornie where we got B&B at 'Rock House' (£20) and dined in the Dornie Hotel - veg risotto, £8.95.