With Graeme and Neil (son-in-law) we had decided to finish off the South Glen Shiel Ridge whatever the weather and at the start at least the rain had stopped while the mist on the hills was swirly. To make life easier we parked the car about half a mile from the likely descent point, out of sight of a new age travellers camp, and walked about two miles up the road to the same path we had taken when coming off Maol Chinn-dearg. The path soon veers off up a different ridge heading towards Sgurr Coire na Feinne. No problem in route finding as the way was clear right up the ridge till it disappeared in cloud. Just as we got to the foot of a sharp looking rise it started to rain. On with the gear but Neil and I made then our biggest mistake of the day. As we were wearing gaiters we decided not to bother with the waterproof leggings. Graeme with no gaiters put on the leggings.
Onward and upwards, now following ancient fence posts which actually continued the whole way up the ridge and all the way to the last Munro. I found the walk reasonably pleasant but wet, whereas Neil and Graeme didn't like it feeling that it seemed to go on and on and that surely this had to be a Munro, not a top. Once the top was reached, in thick mist with an altimeter height of not much more than 800 metres it was clear this wasn't a Munro but the walk up to the actual top was relatively easy. It was the reference in the books to the top being 100 metres off the main ridge that puzzled me. Would we find it. Actually you are led to it but it felt a lot further than 100 metres away. By this time the rain was pouring down and a cold wind blowing so we decided to leave lunch till we got shelter. I started back to the main ridge only to hear Graeme and Neil making fun of me and claiming "he's gone into the twilight zone again, that's the way we came." "Yes, I know. That's the way we have to go." But they wouldn't believe me even with the compass showing them the direction we should be going. In the end out of politeness they allowed me to lead them back over the boggy ground and there lo and behold was the path, fence posts and all. At least Neil had the grace to admit he was the one to fall into the twilight zone.
Off Sgurr an Doire Leathain, down a dip to the col between the hills simply following a wet, boggy path with no views at all. The rain continued to fall and at some points the wind was almost a gale. It didn't blow the clouds away though. As we started climbing again we reached some rocks and the wind stopped instantly. Although not an obvious sheltered spot it was a place the wind missed so we stopped for Guinness and wet, soggy sandwiches. By this time both Neil and I started to realise that our feet were beginning to get wet. We reckoned that what was happening was that our tracksuit trousers were now getting so wet that the water was seeping down under the gaiters into the boots. Graeme with his waterproofs had no problem. As we then started up gaps in the mist appeared and we got fleeting glimpses of the glen below and of the lochan which gives the hill its name. Surprisingly too there were still a couple of huge snow patches but not accessible, to the disappointment of Neil who wanted to play on them. A little bit of very minor scrambling up some rocks and we were soon at the top. Yet another Munro where you don't feel you have come down much from the previous hill to justify it as a separate Munro. Still it was quite a nice top, albeit wet, windy and cold.
Down yet again following the posts which occasionally transformed themselves into sections of a stone wall. This time the drop from Sgurr an Lochain was considerable. At the bottom we had the choice then of climbing the next top or following the path around this top, which is not a Munro. Guess which way we went. Right, round the hill on a very, very boggy, slippery path , Neil and I squelching along. I could actually feel the water swilling around and it was like walking in a perpetual puddle.Eventually the path rejoins the main route which then leads quite easily to the top. A slight disappointment as the books say this is the stoniest of the South Glenshiel hills and I had been expecting a tougher time. But it is a straightforward plod. At the top the problem is how to come down, to the point where the car lay. The mist was thick and there was no path. The books and maps said NE but a more obvious way looked NW. We made our way off NE, rather tentatively. I must say this was the first time I've ever felt I was using the compass as a necessity as we were very much walking blind with no knowledge of what was ahead. Taking our time and keeping to a NE bearing we could then see we were definitely on a ridge, though there were a few steep crags to avoid. Slowly the first vestiges of a path appeared although this faded frequently but at least gave us confidence we were on the right lines. Then as we came out under the cloud cover we could see we were indeed on the right lines and that there was a path way over on the right, down in the glen near a huge waterfall. The way down was extremely steep, grassy and slippery (and boggy) but we eventually reached the path. From then on it was an easy walk down, though we had to struggle to cross a river (in spate) without getting our feet even wetter. Back at the road we thanked our foresight leaving only a short walk.
