Swimming at Sligachan

Sunday 26th June 2011 

I have taken my main holiday in Scotland every year since 2004, so once again with summer here I once again started packing my rucksack and boarded a train for north of the border and arrived in the town of Broadford on the Isle of Skye thirteen hours later after a journey on several trains, a ferry and a bus. On the first full day, however, things began to go against plan. I had originally planned on going up Beinn Dearg Mhór and Beinn na Caillich, which overlook Broadford, before walking to Glenbrittle, however persistent rain forced a rethink, and after a walk around the town I caught a bus to Sligachan. Sligachan is a hotel with strong links to mountaineering due to its proximity to the Cuillin Mountains. I had no intention of going up these most challenging of mountains in this weather; all I wanted to do was walk over the low pass of Bealach a’ Mhaim into Glenbrittle. 

Ultimately this was asking too much as the rain was pouring into and out of every orifice as I trudged up the water-laden footpath while the adjacent river, the Allt Dearg Mór, had become a raging torrent with fast moving white rapids. Part way up I met someone coming the other way who said that they were turning back because the path further on was impassable due to the rain. I believe the point he was referring to was where the path crosses the Allt Coire na Circe, where this person said that you would require a raft to get any further. Nevertheless I progressed further on so that I could see for myself, but before I got there the path was fast becoming more like a stream and I decided that the walk was no longer fun. It just wasn't worth the effort, so I turned around and headed back down the increasingly water-filled path. Even in such a short time the water appeared to have got even deeper in the path. I think I turned around just in time. 

Back at Sligachan I had an hour to wait for the next bus to take me back to Broadford where I asked if they had a bed available for the next three nights. Sometimes it’s prudent to just turn around and stop fighting the current. I spend months before a holiday planning it out meticulously, not to stick rigidly to my plan, but so that I always know what I’m going to do. I hate sitting around on holiday looking through brochures and trying to find something to do, somewhere to go. I like to do all that work beforehand and if I’ve spent a long time thinking about it I will often eventually some up with a much better plan than I’d originally thought. But I am always willing to change my plans. Just because I’ve been planning this holiday for months doesn't mean I can't change my plans instantly when I get there because of, as in this case, the weather. At least I had a plan, which is better than not knowing what I am going to do. On this occasion not going to Glenbrittle was a major change in my plans but I think my holiday was better for it. The hastily devised new plan was I believe better than the original plan. "All things work together for good..."