Sunday 1 July 2012

The Sleeping Warrior


The ridge the hangs between North Glen Sannox and Glen Sannox itself is one of the most spectacular on the west coast of Scotland, and is said to look like the form of a sleeping warrior. If you look carefully at the photo above, maybe you can see him?  I think of him as more of a sleeping policeman, wearing an old fashioned helmet, and with a big fat belly covered in buttons.  The cleft that lies between the peak of his helmet and the bridge of his nose is also known as Ceum na Caillich or "the Witches Step" and is a tricky section on an awkward but rewarding scramble on rock that ranges from great to highly dubious.The trick with the "Step", is not to climb the eastern side direct (its a "Diff" graded rock climb if you do), but to drop in to the gully on the North side for a short section and scramble round the difficulties.
I headed up to North Glen Sannox today with Jon, and we did a round of the Glen, taking in the scrambling, and were treated to magnificent views throughout.  What a day!

 Looking North from the northern rim of the coire towards Lochranza

The same view, but this time from near the Summit of Caisteal Abhail (859m), the highest point on The Warrior (his belly).

Cir Mhor (799m) from Caisteal Abhail

 Goatfell (874m) from Caisteal Abhail

Looking back along the Warrior towards Caisteal Abhail- the scrambling in the bag.