If you’ve read my account of the Loch Lochy Munros, you’ll know that I struggled throughout the entire hike. You’ll then probably ask yourself why I attempted to climb The Brothers of Kintail the following day. The Brothers of Kintail (or The Three Brothers) are the eastern neighbours of The Five Sisters and are located in Glen Shiel, beside Loch Cluanie. The Brothers consist of three Munros, Sgùrr a Bhealaich Dheirg, Sàileag and Aonach Meadhoin, offering a beautiful ridge walk through Glen Shiel valley and are, therefore, impossible to resist.

As a result of my blisters that had been caused on our Loch Lochy Munro hike the day before, I chose to slip into my trainers for this hike…despite the fact that the forecast predicted torrential rain. On a side note, your feet are very important so invest time and money into a good pair of hiking boots to ensure they’re kept well. Because of my footwear change, I was feeling in a much better mood than the day before. On the other hand, two days of camping in the rain was getting to poor G, my climbing partner. He was feeling a bit fed up with the wilderness adventures, and just wanted his bed in The Cluanie Inn which we had booked for that night.

We packed up our tent that morning and parked at The Cluanie Inn car park, meaning to get to our starting point for the hike we had to walk 7.5 km along the main road. The idea was that we would do this long walk in the morning, so that we could finish the hike coming over the last hill and walk straight into The Cluanie Inn (if you were smarter, you would have probably planned the trip with two cars). Our plan seemed flawless so we started on our merry way early that morning, embracing the flat road to ease us into our hike. However, after an hour or so had passed and we were still on the main road, we began to lose faith at the fact that we hadn’t even begun our ascent of the first Munro (bearing in mind we had set off to climb three). A quick glance at the map confirmed that the mere 7.5 km was feeling a drag because we had missed the Munros’ turn off and had walked an additional 3 km. ]

By the time we reached the bottom of our first Munro, we were tired, damp, and demoralised, having yet to climb any Munro. G was in such bad spirits that for once I was the one who was perking him up, encouraging him to put one foot in front of the other. The ascent was a long slog and we missed another turn off at the first cairn, meaning we added 45 minutes to our journey. I believe even on a sunny day I would have found this hike difficult, but our struggle was exacerbated by the boggy ground, the fact we kept getting lost, and the constant rainy conditions. 

The ascent is essentially a vertical climb that remains constant until you’re almost at the summit of the first Munro. There are no false peaks, no false summits, just a steep upward climb to the top meaning you’re looking at your feet for the majority of the hike. We have friends who began the hike at The Cluanie Inn, doing the route backwards, which I might advise if anyone was considering the hike in the future. However, inspite of a few moans, stops, and self-pity parties, we eventually reached the ridge line as the wind picked up. It was damp, cold, and the first peak hosted a barely visible cairn, but we had made it! With little celebration, we progressed swiftly on to the next summit. 

The second cairn was more interesting, jutting right out forcing you to climb along a rocky ridge. Now that we were above the clouds and the sun was threatening an appearance, we began to get into our stride. It was wet, but we were kitted out for the weather (apart from my soggy damp trainers) and the high-speed wind had dried out our wet clothes. As we powered on, the wind died down, the clouds evaporated, and the views began to unfold. 

By this stage we were both quite tired, but the fact we were over half way round and that the warm Cluanie Inn awaited us at the bottom stirred us on and we continued to the final peak, making a steep and swift descent. After a few small humps here and there and just as the light was fading, the beautiful white outline of The Cluanie Inn appeared in all its glory. With no stamina left in our legs, we tumbled down the final summit stumbling straight into the hotel with our mucky clothes still on.

Do you ever have a notion in your head of an experience and you big it up so much that there’s no way the reality can actually live up to your preconceived notion? Well, in this case The Cluanie Inn definitely lived up to anything we had hoped for….warm, bright, and the smell of a home cooked meal was more than I could ask for. As it was late November, the staff were putting up their Christmas decorations and the entire hotel had a hearty feel to it. We received a charming dinner, a few pints of beer, and retired to our rooms relatively early for a long hot bath. Dressing gowns, a large bathroom, clean sheets, and heaters turned to the max to cull the cold winter air was exactly what we needed. By eight o’clock I had passed out. The next day we awoke to a lovely breakfast in their grand dining hall. I stuffed myself full, helping myself to both the continental and the full breakfast. By 11 o’clock we were well on our way to Skye. 

It turns out The Three Brothers were the last of our Munros that week as the weather in Skye was awful. However, we’d successfully bagged five Munros (Loch Lochy and The Brothers of Kintail) within the space of two days, so I wasn’t feeling too hard done by. I highly recommend a stay in the Cluanie Inn…particularly after a long day’s hike.

Onwards and upwards,

Róise