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.