Skye Day 1

Just when I was walking back to the car in Frot William I passed a small hotel which advertised single rooms en suite for £34. Hm. I was very tempted to just stay here and drive up to Skye tomorrow moring. Well, as least I could ask if they had any vacanies.
They had so I parked the car on one of those designated long stay car parks, got myself two Magners (I'm not goig to call this cider) at Lidl and spend the rest of the night chilling and watching some tv.

My alarm was set to 5 am so I would meet our guide George and the rest of the small group in Glenbrittle at 8:30am. Of course I woke up at 4:45 so I went back to the car, changed into my hiking clothes and hit the road again.
There was rarely any cloud on the morning sky and the setting sun dipped the hill tops in a light red. Wow! What a loveley morning! I wished I could just walk up any of the munros that soon loomed left and right. But I was bound for Skye. Some time after Glen Shiel I passed by Eilean Donan Castle and thought "Ahhhh, this is where it is!!!" Haha. Before I could make a decision weather to stop for a photo or not I was way past it.

After a really nice drive I arrived in Glenbrittle just a few minutes after 8am. Cool. It had definately been the right call to stay in Fort William. Got my gear together, met the other guys and we set off straight away since we were otherwise about to be eaten alive by hordes of midges. Arg.

George - our guide - told us about today's plan on the way up. We first wanted to do Sgurr Mhic Choinnich, then scale Sgurr Dearg (Better known as the Inaccessible Pinnacle) and maybe do Sgurr na Banachdich afterwards depending on our progress.

As we ascended on an easy path up into the Black Cuillins the views out to Rum, Eigg and even Ben More on Mull in the distance got better and better. Left and right rugged rock towered. After a steep bit on lose scree we arrived at a small ridge around 11am. George, me and one of the two couples in our group geared up and headed for Sgurr Mhic Choinnich which the other couple had already done.
By now clouds had come in and hid Choinnich and the ridge from our eyes. I experienced my first grade 2 scramble which was a lot of fun and with steep drops just a foothold away I wouldn't want to do this in rain and wind.
The summit came as a surprise as we literally stumbled upon the small cairn with a memorial plate. Back down we went and collected the others to head over to the infamous In Pin. Despite the good weather we met only a small group of climbers who did one of the routes and a hiker or two who passed by.
We went in two groups and while I waited with my companions from the climb before the clouds cleared up and gave way to wide views all the way to Loch Hourn, Loch Nevis and all of the Cuillins. Wow! I was totally amazed.

Rum

Heading Up

On Sgurr Mhic Choinnich

Heading Over to The In Pin

I went first onto the In Pin in our small group and both pitches were just great great fun. Had no problems climbing up since I'm used to use my hands and fingers and feel comfortable with reasonably small handholds.
Unfortunately we didn't abseil but were let down. Still good fun.

Our little group was still fresh and up for another one, so we headed over to Sgurr na Banachdich. An easier scramble later we found ourselfs on the top with brilliant views all around. The absense of wind and the blazing sun made me want to stay there forever. But a long long long descent lay ahead. I named it The Neverending Descent. Goodness! A endless steep path led down more or less straight back to Glenbrittle. At least the first halft was covered in rock and lose scree again. By the time we arrived on more level ground and some grass my legs were all wobbly and my knees were complaining loudly.

View From Sgurr na Banachdich

Back in the valley we got into our cars and drove off. My destination was Carbost, where I had booked a bed in a bunk house for the next couple of days. Settled in, had a nice warm shower and was actually starving, but the Inn that the bunk house belonged to was completely full. Boo. Somehow I lost appetite and instead sat down to write the blog and have a look a the footage from today. Recorded some videos with my GoPro and it looks really cool!!! Will do some small features when I'm back.

Off to bed now, as I'm totally knackered after such a long day.