Glenbrittle to Sligachan

Friday 6th July 2007

One of the problems with walking in the Cuillin hills has been how long it took me to get there. At the start of my holiday I left South Wigston station at 5-45 am (well actually 5-55, the train was late) and got to Armadale (the ferry port on Skye) at 6-30 pm. If you add the hour on a bus to get to Sligachan and then the three hour walk into Glenbrittle then you have a very long day. I could have arrived at the Glenbrittle Youth Hostel at 10-30 pm (though probably much later), but obviously the best option is to take two days, even though the above option has a curious attraction (!).

Despite it being only Friday I had to leave Glenbrittle and begin my journey home, however, the walk to Sligachan was really quite fun and brought to mind long-distance walks such as the West Highland Way. I was following my route of  the previous Tuesday up the road and along the footpath over Bealach a' Mhaim. The weather for this walk was worse than on Tuesday, although it appeared to be better than I'd had during my previous two days with the clouds over the hills very low and barely higher than the bealach, but with glimpses of blue sky away from the hills. Beyond the bealach I had an enjoyable walk across the moors following the Allt Dearg Mor (I guess that translates as the Great Red Burn). As I approached Sligachan it started raining and any thought of going up the Red Cuillin (e.g. Glamaig) was dismissed. (To be honest I didn't really want to; I had been hoping for bad weather!)

Instead I caught a bus to Portree and had a look around the capital since although I had been there twice during the week I hadn't stayed long enough either time to have a look around. It was nice to be able to spend some time there now and be a bit of a tourist, but it wasn't long before I caught another bus back to the Armadale Youth Hostel where I was in a prime position to catch the ferry first thing in the morning. I felt like I'd not been on Skye long enough, but I suppose I had only been on the island for a week and I admit that the Trotternish excursion on Sunday was a bit of a waste of effort. There are still plenty more Munros on Skye so I'm sure I will be back.