Did this route with James Yip and Andy Laing on a rather dull and damp day after coming back from Svalbard. Still, I'd had a good night's sleep at the Ratagan youth hostel compared with the other alternative of camping in the rain, so it wasn't all a bad start!
The route has a reputation for being a really fantastic high level ridge walk with great views and an airy feel about it, but I don't think we really got to appreciate it's finest moments with the weather we had. Only after we'd left Sgurr Fhuaran and were well on the way to Sgurr na Carnach did it start to brighten up a little - enough to actually see the loch at the eastern end! But by no means sunny. It was overcast but not quite as misty, and the descent down the steep and wet grassy slopes into Glen Lichd wasn't that pleasant either because the bunion on one of my feet was giving me more pain again. Still, I think I had the last laugh when I whipped out the pair of trainers I'd been carrying all along the ridge and changed from my boots to nice comfortable shoes at Glenlicht hut. It was worth the effort especially since we still had another 5 miles to get out of the valley and a bit more to get back to the car! It must have been about 10 hours to do the route from start to finish, especially since we had to do the circular route instead of leaving one car at each end like most people do it.
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