Boreraig and Suisnish

Saturday 31st May 2014

I’ve noticed that the middle Saturday whenever I am in Scotland, ever since 2009 when I went back to having two week holidays, have always been the best, most memorable walk of the holiday with the best weather. In 2009 I walked over the Five Sisters of Kintail in great weather and over fantastic mountains. In 2010 I had a memorable walk in hot weather up the highly distinctive mountain of Suilven in the North-West Highlands. In 2011 I walked up Clisham, the highest point in the Outer Hebrides, in great weather, and in 2012 I had a fabulous walk over the Easains in good weather. Last year I thought I’d finally had a poor mid-Saturday walk when I went over the Jock’s Road into Glen Doll in poor, overcast weather, but in subsequent months it was the evening camp in Glen Doll following that walk that was the most memorable moment of the holiday. For some reason the middle Saturday in my Scottish holidays are always blessed.

When I was planning my holiday this year I arranged for the middle Saturday to be a rest-day, a day to take a break from the hard mountain walking of the first week before heading back out into the hills in the second week, and then I realised it was supposed to be my blessed day. I am not superstitious so I never thought that this could be an issue, and even planned for a bad weather option when I would spend the day looking around Dunvegan Castle. In the event I had the best weather of the entire fortnight with every forecast predicting poor weather for the rest of the holiday, so I felt pressured into making the most of the good weather on this perennially blessed day. With the prospect of such good weather I started to look at other options for my walk including walking up to the top of Bruach na Frithe on the Cuillin ridge. The view from the top of Bruach na Frithe is reputed to be the best on the Cuillin ridge and maybe even the best view from the top of any Scottish mountain.

I have been to the top of Bruach na Frithe twice before and both times I have not had a view so I was strongly tempted. When I had visited the top in 2011, the last time I was on the Isle of Skye, I had also considered a much easier walk around the deserted villages not far from Broadford, where I was staying. Now that I was back in Broadford I planned to do that walk as part of my rest-day, if the weather had been good and with some reluctance I eventually decided to do my original plan, which was a nice, relaxing walk that starts from Broadford and heads to the coast at Loch Eishort. This is a popular walk that I have seen described in many places, but my principle guide was a booklet produced by Hallewell called “Walks: Isle of Skye” that I’d bought locally. I started by following the route of another walk, called “Broadford & Old Corry” from the booklet that led me up beside the busy A87 road for a short distance before turning left along a quiet lane.

I’d gone this way in 2011 on my way up Beinn na Caillich and that mountain dominated my view as I walked to the end of the road in bright sunshine where a path took me past a farm and away from the mountain over the Broadford River and to the road that goes from Broadford to Elgol. Beyond the road was a clear track that is the remains of an old mineral railway that briefly carried marble from a quarry to the coast at Broadford. This wide track took me away from Broadford towards the ruins of a church, Cill Chriosd, but more dramatically towards the awesome mountain of Bla Bheinn that came into view as I walked past Beinn na Caillich. I went up Bla Bheinn in 2008, a mountain that is just as treacherous to the north and west as the rest of the Cuillin range, but has easier slopes that can be walked to the south and east. This is a great mountain that has been described as the best mountain on Skye, which is high praise considering the company.

Bla Bheinn in the distance dominated my view as I walked along the marble line to the old quarry workings, which are not big due to its short life, but even after a hundred years it has still left quite a scar. Turning south I was now on the route from my guidebook of the walk to Suisnish and Boreraig as a satisfying stroll brought me up the hill through heather with the sun shining in tranquil surroundings. I felt this was really just what I needed, a lovely relaxing walk that was not too strenuous. Near the top of the path I entered the Beinn nan Carn native woodland project where hundreds of native trees have been planted to re-wild the area (but I couldn’t actually see many myself). On the other side of the hill the path dropped down to the first of the abandoned villages, the idyllic Boreraig. This is a really beautiful place that must have once been an amazing place to live, but is now home to just a small herd of cattle and some sheep. In the sunshine, I had my lunch while gazing out over Loch Eishort and thought I couldn’t see a single trace of civilisation any older than mid nineteenth century.

I really loved Boreraig as it was such a beautiful spot beside the sea, and I was there in such good weather. Eventually I tore myself away and walked alongside the shore on a fantastic path that clings tightly to the foot of heavily eroded sea cliffs. This rugged, boulder-strewn path was really fun to walk along and I was disappointed when the path soon climbed over the top of the cliffs to the wide penned grasslands of Suisnish. I was not as keen on this second abandoned village as there are many clear signs of modern farming while the old village remains were no higher than ground level. The path quite rightly keeps outside the village, outside the fenced fields, until it reaches a wide farm track that would eventually take me back to the road. Now my view was dominated by the main Cuillin ridge on the other side of Loch Slapin with Bla Bheinn re-emerging to their right as I walked along the track.

The terrain either side of the track was less appealing than that over the hill at Boreraig and by now the weather had deteriorated with cold sea breezes and hazy cloud spoiling the clear blue skies that had started the day. This took the edge off the walk, even though the views across the water attempted to keep my spirits up. When I reached Camas Malag at the end of the track and the start of the road I lingered at the loch shore clambering over the rocks and gazing over the loch. I knew when I started that this walk was not going to be as great as the weather had demanded, but I was tired from hard walks and fraught situations so I needed something to ease my troubled mind and that is what this walk had done and was completed as I stood at the edge of Loch Slapin gazing across the water at Bla Bleinn. The first week of my holiday had been really changeable up and down and I needed a rest before starting the second week and as I walked back along the road back to Broadford I realised that this was exactly the walk that I had needed to do.

Sgurr Ruadh

Friday 30th May 2014

The weather at the start of my third day in the Coulin Forest was stunning with clear blue skies and it felt very warm even from the start of the day, though as on the day before it did cloud over as the day progressed, but I was still feeling amazingly lucky to be in this great area of mountains in such good weather. Unfortunately this was my last day in the Coulin Forest so ultimately my aim for the day was to return to Achnashellach railway station, but on the way I wanted to have a bit of a walk and climb to the top of a mountain. I had just spent a second night in the Coire Fionnaraich Bothy, and this night in the company of five young women, so after saying goodbye to the bothy, and to the five young women, I set off back up the valley, past Loch Coire Fionnaraich and back up to Bealach na Lice. This was a rather tiring climb, especially with the hot temperatures and now that I was carrying a much heavier rucksack than the day before.

At the top of the valley I turned right towards Bealach Bàn, where the level gradient made the walking a little easier than it had been on the climb up the valley, with a further pleasure to be had from the tremendous views all the way down the unspoilt valley back to the bothy. As I passed delectable spotted-orchids at my feet I walked along the excellent path that I had previously taken just two days ago over the pass into Coire Grannda to outstanding views of the Torridon Mountains in the distance and the backs of the Coire Lair Mountains before me. This is a fabulous path in great mountain landscape and amazing views, and despite this now being my third time on the path I still thoroughly enjoyed it. As I approached the top of the pass into Coire Lair the clouds started to close in again and spoil the great views by putting dark shadows over everything, but since the clouds stayed well above the mountains I had nothing to stop me heading up Sgurr Ruadh.

I had first walked in this area in 2009 on my way from Torridon to the railway station at Achnashellach, and on that occasion I had elected to go over Beinn Liath Mhor, to the left of Coire Lair from the pass. Two days before this walk I’d returned to Coire Lair and decided once again to climb Beinn Liath Mhor meaning that I had still never been up the mountain on the other side of the valley so that was going to be my route for this walk to the station. However, first I had to get up there and that was proving to be tremendously difficult as my muscles screamed at me with every step. I was in absolute agony while climbing out of the pass and up the steep grassy slopes that led me to the top of the ridge coming down from Sgurr Ruadh. Once again I was thinking that my rucksack was too heavy as I slowly dragged myself along the narrowing ridge on a good path through the rocks and up to the summit of Sgurr Ruadh.

I was loving the good paths and reflected that I like a good path up to the top of a mountain that doesn’t make the climb too easy, that is just tough enough to make you feel like you’ve accomplished something, but not so tough that you feel lucky to be alive at the end of it. That is one of the appeals of the Coulin Forest as there are generally very good paths throughout the area that provide excellent access to all the mountains, with the notable exception of the route I took up Maol Chean-dearg the day before this walk. At the summit of Sgurr Ruadh I had some good views across to Glen Torridon and Strath Carron where the sun was shining brightly while grey clouds lingered over the mountains of the Coulin Forest in between. While at the top of the Munro I had my lunch before setting off down the slope on the other side of the mountain.

Having enjoyed a good path on ascent I was now faced with no path for the descent but the rules all go out of the window in descent. Before me was now a broad outcrop-filled slope that would have provided me with a tedious, prolonged ascent but in descent it was a joy as I picked my route around the crags and down to the complex loch-filled saddle of Bealach Mòr. Faint paths occasionally materialised during the descent but they were fleeting and instead I had to decide which way to go myself, which is always a lot easier in descent. The saddle at the bottom was such an undulating place it would have been like a maze in mist, but on this occasion I was able to keep heading towards the immense crags of Creag Mainnrichean in order to get across the bealach and before reaching the far side of the pass I came across a surprisingly clear and well-made path that led me unerringly down into Coire Lair.

The impressive crags of Creag Mainnrichean, to my right, constantly drew my attention as I began my descent and I wished I’d had time to go to the summit of the mountain that lies behind them, Fuar Tholl. Ralph Storer claimed that Fuar Tholl is the finest mountain in the area despite not being a Munro whereas Sgurr Ruadh and Beinn Liath Mhor are both Munros, and I’m sure it is the amazing Mainnreachan Buttress that earns it that accolade. As I slowly walked down the path into the valley I was in awe of the huge crags that line this side of Core Lair, not just on Fuar Tholl, but also on Sgorr Ruadh, and create a rugged, imposing presence to the valley. I was also in awe of the excellent footpath that I was walking along that enabled me to easily, and with dry feet, drop down into the valley amongst this inspiring landscape. It is a testament to the people who originally created these paths that the Coulin Forest, and Coire Lair in particular, is such a fabulous place to walk. I’m glad that I had the opportunity to return to the area, and at a time when the weather was so good.

My biggest disappointment with this walk is that I had to catch a train at just after three thereby cutting the walk short halfway through the afternoon. With more time I would have been able to climb to the top of Fuar Tholl and explore the impressive Mainnreachan Buttress. Instead I came down to the bottom of the valley where I carefully crossed the river and dropped down the excellent path that took me to the Rhododendron-surrounded Achnashellach railway station. I had just had a thoroughly enjoyable three days in the Coulin Forest and I was sorry to be leaving; it’ll be a shame if I don’t return sometime soon. I caught the train to Kyle of Lochalsh and there I caught a bus onto the Isle of Skye where I planned to spend a couple of days. On Tuesday it had looked like this week was ruined when I had missed the only bus all week to Glen Strathfarrar, but my backup plan turned out to be even better than I’d originally planned.

Maol Chean-dearg and An Ruadh-Stac

Thursday 29th May 2014

After spending the night all on my own in the Coire Fionnaraich Bothy I woke up to bright sunshine and the prospect of fabulous weather for a walk over the mountains of the Coulin Forest. The weather had been getting gradually better ever since I’d set foot in the Coulin Forest the previous morning and I had ended the day with clear skies in the captivating surroundings of a bothy half way up the valley beside the Fionn-abhainn. Unfortunately the good weather at the start of the following day didn’t last, though it didn’t get too bad, as it soon became overcast with the sun only managing to break through for short periods in the afternoon. Nevertheless the tops of the mountains were always clear of clouds so I always had great views of the surrounding mountains from the two rock covered tops that I climbed on this walk.

I was following a walk described in Ralph Storer’s ‘100 Best Routes on Scottish Mountains’, a book that I have been using for ten years as my inspiration for walks in Scotland. I started by climbing back up the path that I had descended the previous day, heading up the valley past Loch Coire Fionnaraich and up to Bealach na Lice, at which point Ralph Storer suggests three different routes up Maol Chean-dearg, the imposing mountain to my left. The first is up an obvious grassy rake, the second picks a route among outcrops up an open gully and the third follows a complex cairned route that weaves among the crags of the north face. Of these the third sounded the most interesting so I set off in search of this cairned route, but I couldn’t find any trace of it and soon came a cropper on steep ground high above Loch an Eion. After coming back down to safer ground, with a few deer looking on, I realised that since I didn’t fancy the second option I was left with the obvious rake where I could see a path leads up to it, so therefore foolishly I decided to take that route

There was no path actually in the rake, just at the start, and instead it was just a very steep climb that had me clutching at the grass as I tried to haul myself up. The only advantage of this grassy rake was that it put me very close to the wild flowers that grew abundantly in the rake. I have no idea what the plants were, and most were not actually in flower yet, but they gave me an interesting thing to look at as I crawled on my hands and knees up the mountainside. The grassy rake becomes a steep stone shoot near the top and I could see that this was choked with snow that blocked my way, and yet I still took this route. I knew it wouldn’t be easy and I knew that the snow would block my way and yet I kept on climbing. As I approached I decided that my best option would be to climb onto the narrow, exposed ridge to the right of the gully and climb on that to the top. If only I had done that.

Fearful of the exposure I instead stayed in the shoot staying to the left side foolishly trying to squeeze between the block of snow and the treacherously loose surface of the shoot. This was tremendously dangerous and I should never have got into such a situation. With the stones slipping under my feet I luckily and in desperation managed to climb out of the shoot to my left and after getting above the snow I finally managed to get up to the top of the shoot. I was thanking God profusely for sparing me after I had foolishly got myself into such a dangerous situation and soon started to vow that I will never get myself into such a situation again. My lucky escape made me reflect on my mountain walking and the risks that I take in walking on my own up these isolated mountains.

In recent years I have become more interested in long distance walks rather than the single-minded bag-a-hill attitude that I used to have and this incident made me think that it would be a lot safer to just walk along the bottom of the valley. However, I still love being at the top of a mountain even though it’s not worth risking my life over. I like a good path under my feet, and I don’t like it when things get too mountainous, so I could just restrict myself to less strenuous ascents. Actually Munro baggers would not take that route up Maol Chean-dearg, but would take the much easier route that I later took in descent. The summit of the Munro, which has a fabulous cairn, was not far from the top of the shoot I had just clambered up, so I collapsed beside it and had an early lunch. The descent wasn’t easy as I passed over a huge boulder field, but compared with the stone shoot it was a pleasure.

Beyond the boulders was an amazing area of shattered quartzite, a vast expanse of dazzling white stones scattered everywhere and creating a mesmerising scene of rock in startling abundance. Slowly, I walked through this wonderland to the saddle of Bealach a’ Choire Ghairbh where the Corbett, An Ruadh-Stac, dominates the view glistening in a complete covering of white quartzite. Ralph Storer recommends giving it a miss saying that only the most dedicated will make the steep stony ascent, but since it was very early in the afternoon and I felt like I needed a good climb, I decided to ascend this huge lump of rock. Traversing a small rock ridge between Loch a’ Mhadaidh Ruadh and Loch a’ Ruadh Stac brought me to the start of the steep climb up the rocky surface of An Ruadh-Stac while better weather in the afternoon helped me to enjoy every moment of my climb up this awesome mountain. The views of the neighbouring mountains were equally sensational with Beinn Damh dominating the view as I reflected on my climb up that Corbett in poor weather in 2009.

I had a much better afternoon than in the morning when I had got myself literally into a tight situation. The rest of the walk, from Maol Chean-dearg, was a pleasure, especially the descents to Bealach a’ Choire Ghairbh, and from An Ruadh-Stac over tremendous rocky terrain. At the saddle I resumed Ralph Storer’s recommended route by taking the excellent stalker’s path that descends into the valley beside the Allt Mnatha Luadhadair. Despite my problems in the ascent I still think this was a great walk as the landscape around Bealach a’ Choire Ghairbh is so compelling with white quartzite stone in such abundance that it gave the area a magical appearance. This memorable terrain was able to clear my head of the terrors of the stone shoot and convince me once again of the pleasures of climbing mountains, just so long as it’s not too steep!