The Forcan Ridge, The Saddle & Sgurr na Sgine

14 April 2010 - a lovely sunny day
Start: OS Explorer 414 GR972138; layby on A87

Set off: 1015
Return: 1830
Duration: 8hrs 15mins. Distance: 16km
Total Height Climbed: 1430m

A non walking westie walk - A fairly long walk which involves several areas of scrambling both up and down - Note walking can be dangerous and this route involves lots of scrambling and very narrow crest walking, these details are for info only.

I parked at the layby opposite the forest on the A87 at Malagan on a fantastic sunny day in April! I walked the 100m or so to the gate and went through and followed the track a short way before breaking right, crossing the river and trudged through the bog and heather to find the stalkers path - probably best to carry on along the road another few hundred metres and start at the stalkers path rather than trudge across the bog! The stalkers path is excellent and rises steadily to the bealach between Biod an Fhithich and Meallan Odhar just shy of 500m when Sgurr nan Forcan and The Saddle come into view:

This photo shows from left to right; the Forcan Ridge, Sgurr nan Forcan and the Saddle (centre). The path continues back south now skirting round Meallan Odhar and round and up to the foot of the Forcan Ridge where you have the choice; scramble up the ridge in the knowledge there is a 10m climb down between Sgurr nan Forcan and The Saddle or keep left and follow the dyke (stone wall) up to Bealach Coire Mhalagain where you can access The Saddle from the south. I chose the ridge which turned out not too bad although there were a couple of glances ahead where "forcan" seemed to be an appropriate phrase! However, I managed to stick to the crest apart from one section where there was a boulder forming an overhang which would have meant a tight grip and leaning way back which, with a full rucksack, I didn't fancy so dropped right and scrambled past. In fact, most of the awkward areas could be avoided on the right. There are a couple of near knife edge sections which require careful balance or straddling! Near the top it starts to look difficult again but there are plenty of holds and blocks etc so straight forward and well worth the effort. After a quick cup of coffee, a snack and a photo of the view up Glenshiel, I then moved on to tackle the 10m "steep rock pitch" which sounds horrendous but it is actually fairly straight forward providing you take your time and check for the foot/hand holds before you move. It can fairly easily be bypassed via a gully on the left if you don't fancy it. A couple of other narrow sections and some more scrambling bring you fairly steeply onto The first top of The Saddle and a short walk across to the 2nd top gets you to the trig point - both tops are 1010m but the second has the trig point! After some lunch here I headed South then East when the gradient eased slightly and headed directly for Bealach Coire Mhalagain for a short rest before climbing straight up onto the ridge between Sgurr na Sgine and Faochag. From here it is a short steep climb onto the first top of Sgurr na Sgine with the cairn and higher top (by 4m!) some 200m further on. You'll know when to stop as about 5m past the cairn it drops off vertically! Another snack break here and I contemplate whether to return via the shorter route to Faochag and the steep drop back to the car or whether to retrace my steps to the Bealach and follow the wall below the Forcan Ridge. I decided the shorter route would be quicker and I'd get another peak in - hindsight, if you don't mind a knee jerking drop of 850m (2700ft) over a 1.5km distance then chose this route! The walk to Faochag was fine and fairly quick and the view back to Sgurr na Sgine was nice, the view down to the car wasn't! The worst part of the day by far was the drop off Faochag, albeit on a clear easy to follow path but I can remember every knee jarring step as can my knees and it took nearly an hour and a half to drop the 900m and 2.5km to the car. Never been so glad to get back onto the flat area at the bottom and the easy walk back to the road and the car. I did nearly jump out of my skin as I was loading up the boot, there was a car parked behind mine and there was no-one in it when I first looked, as I was taking off my boots a heard a thump and looked up and there was a woman in the drivers seat - she'd obvioulsy been asleep with the seat reclined and the thump was the seat coming up when she woke up!

Here's a panoramic view of Glenshiel including 3 of the 5 Sisters compiled from 3 photos I took on the way up: