Skye Trail: Past the Cuillin

Tuesday 31st May 2022

At the start of this day I woke to a stunning view of the Cuillin mountains from where I had camped near the village of Elgol on the southern shore of the Isle of Skye. The sun was shining and there was hardly any wind, which meant I had to eat my breakfast while trying to not be eaten by the midges that were swarming around my tent. Eventually I broke camp and made my way down to the pier where several boats run trips to Loch Coruisk and it was very tempting to ignore the Skye Trail that I was following to take one of those boats to the foot of the Cuillin Hills and take in the sensational view. I could even have taken a one-way trip and continued my trek through Skye from Loch Coruisk, but I had previously been there in 2011. Eventually I decided that I had to take advantage of the good weather by keeping to the Skye Trail, so I climbed the steep road away from the harbour through Elgol to a footpath that heads north along grassy slopes high above the waters of Loch Scavaig while ahead of me the mesmerising views of the Cuillin slowly improved. However, the path was perched so precipitously above the sea that I had to concentrate on where I was putting my feet, despite the great views.

At the mouth of Glen Scaladal I followed a clear path that turns inland beside the Scaladal Burn, but I should have stayed beside the beach and so easily seen the clear path that would have taken me out of the valley, but instead I wandered all over the place and ended up far too high up the side of the hill and only then to discover the clear path which necessitated a steep descent. I guess if I had been doing the Skye Trail in the usual direction, from the north heading south, then this valley crossing would have been easy to follow. Back on the correct path, the gradient steepened and I entered thick woodland that was difficult to push my way through, especially when some people came the other way. By the time I reached the other side with the gradient easing, the good weather that I had been enjoying was deteriorating as clouds now covered the sky, but I was now approaching the bay of Camasunary with the bothy not far away. I couldn’t resist stopping for a look inside noting that there is no fire or stove and seems a good place to stop, though it must get very busy at times. Soon after I left the bothy and before I reached the large, private house of Camasunary it started raining. It had been interesting passing though Cammasunary as it is a place that I have seen from afar on a number of occasions, but it would be great to linger in better weather and to spend the night in the bothy.

An alternative to the path from Camasunary takes a path around the shore to Loch Coruisk, but there is a bad step that would be particularly treacherous in wet weather, so I turned left in front of Camasunary house into Srath na Crèithach. As the weather worsened I headed north on a good path past Loch an Crèithach amongst grey, misty surroundings that had little appeal until I reached the Allt Teanga Bratlan near Loch an Athain where I stopped for lunch and enjoyed the views up into Coire Dubh where mist dramatically swirled around the rocks below Bla Bheinn. Soon after I started walking again, the rain finally stopped and gradually the clouds began to break and the sun came out, but it would take me several hours to walk out through Glen Sligachan whose broad floor lacked the dramatic appeal of the Cuillin that I had seen on my approach to Camasunary. I felt as if I had been sheltered from seeing the mountains while passing through Srath na Crèithach and when I did have openings into the heart of the mountains, such as into Harte Corrie, the mountains seemed too far away and shrouded in mist. The previous day, while walking around Loch Slapin, the views of the surrounding mountains had been fabulous, but this path lacked the sunshine that I had enjoyed then and even Sgurr nan Gillean was shrouded in cloud and looked very dark.

The clouds never successfully cleared the Cuillin, so by the time I reached the main road beside the Sligachan Hotel, the epic views south were overcast and grey leaving the statues of the early explorers, Collie and Mackenzie, to gaze across a shrouded landscape. I moved quickly past the crowds and over the road to the closed campsite making my way to the path that heads away from the dark clouds that lingered over the Cuillin and towards the sunshine above Loch Sligachan. I had originally planned to camp at Sligachan, but it didn’t open till the beginning of July and I wanted to start the next day further along the trail, so I pushed on along the path that follows the shore of Loch Sligachan. My map indicated there were two river crossings here that may be hard to cross in spate conditions, so I had become worried when it started raining earlier, but I needn’t have been as they were shallow and easy to cross. The weather away from the mountains continued to improve as I slowly followed the wet and often sketchy path enjoying the solitude and the sunshine that included Glamaig on the other side of the loch where many vehicles thundered below the steep slopes on the A87 road. Eventually I reached the tiny car park at the road end near the remote settlement of Peinachorran. Climbing the grassy slopes above I found a sheltered spot beside a stream where I was able to put up my tent. This was a varied day with both the weather and scenery that had started dramatically, but once I got to Camasunary the views were hidden and the weather deteriorated.

Skye Trail: Around Loch Slapin

Monday 30th May 2022

Even though there is nothing better than being at the top of a Scottish mountain, you do need good weather for it and I have been let down by the Scottish weather on many occasions in the last ten years to such an extent that I have become disillusioned with Scotland. This made planning my holiday difficult until I came across the Skye Trail, which is a long distance trail that was devised not too long ago and traverses the Isle of Skye. Suddenly I was excited by this holiday and the prospect going back to Scotland and walking across an island that I have visited many times, but not since 2016 and that was a brief overnight. However, as the start date approached I became quite nervous about it because it is described as challenging and aimed at experienced hillwalkers since it is unofficial with no waymarks on the route and many sections do not even have a path. The planning had been difficult as the usual direction to do the Skye Trail is to start in the north and head south, but the availability of the hostel in Portree and the buses on the island forced me to do the trail in the opposite direction, starting from Broadford.

Looking at the trail closely, I decided that starting in Broadford makes more sense, because the most challenging section of the trail is the Trotternish Ridge so leaving that till later in the walk would be better and I have noticed that many other people also do the trail in that direction. The day before I started the Skye Trail I had a rest day and after lunch caught a bus from Fort William to Broadford on the Isle of Skye, but when I got up in the morning it was raining, typical Skye weather. I donned all my waterproofs and left the Broadford Youth Hostel wondering where the official start/end of the Skye Trail would be, if it was an official trail. It could be from James Ross Park beside the bay, or from the end of the pier, but I started beside the mouth of the Broadford River. The Harvey Map of the trail, which I was using, starts on the road beside the bay and turns left onto the B8083 road, which is signposted for Elgol. Soon after leaving Broadford I came off the road onto the Marble Line footpath, which follows the route of an old mineral railway that I had previously walked in 2014.

In fact, while planning for a north to south journey I had considered missing out this section because I’d done it before, but I’m glad I didn’t as it makes for a good start to the trail along an easy track and soon the rain stopped. Eventually the track moves away from the road and narrows to climb over a low pass, wet at times into the stunning surroundings of the abandoned village of Boreraig. I had enjoyed being in Boreraig in 2014, so I was glad to return because it is a fabulous, tranquil location beside the sea with the ruins of abandoned buildings in many places and a few scattered sheep who had been the original cause of the village’s demise. Before leaving Broadford I had bought something for my lunch, but since there was no room in my rucksack I had carried it all the way to Boreraig where I decided I would now eat it while sitting on the wall of one of the ruined houses while the sun started to peak through the clouds.

Setting off from the village I followed a great path that keeps above the shoreline and below crumbly cliffs, although it was depressing to see large amounts of plastic. The views out to sea were stunning, especially towards the Isle of Rùm, until eventually I was dragged away from the shore and up the hill towards the abandoned village of Suishnish, although there is hardly any trace of it left and it lacks the tranquil atmosphere of Boreraig. A signpost directed me away from some farm buildings and soon brought me onto the access road. With a strong headwind and stunning views of the mountains around Loch Slapin, including Bla Bheinn still shrouded in cloud, I made my way along the track beside the coast, but I was troubled by a pain in the big toe of my right foot that was leaving me almost hobbling along. When I reached the road end at Camas Malag I stopped to have my lunch and to attend to my feet. Changing my socks seemed to help, so I was happier when after eating I set off along the road inland through a lovely wood and into the village of Torrin, which was decorated with many flowers. I remember driving through Torrin in 2016 and seeing many crocosmia flowers that encouraged me to grow them in my own garden.

The mountains around Loch Slapin had now shaken off their cloud caps and with the sun shining the views were stunning with rugged Bla Bheinn attracting the most attention, but the smooth-sided Red Cuillin on the other side of the loch also looked good in the sunshine. Slowly, I made my way along the road to the head of Loch Slapin from where there were great views down the loch until eventually I reached the Blaven car park where I had started my walk up Bla Bheinn in 2016. There I finally left the road and took a path that climbs through woodland on a very good path until I came out of the wood where it became abominably wet underfoot. Eventually the path improved with many wildflowers at my feet before descending to the road where my big toe complained again all the way down into Kirkibost where I turned left onto a road that took me back to the coast. If I had stayed on the main road, I would have soon reached a track that heads over the hills to Camasunary, which would have given me a big shortcut on the trail and was the route I’d used in 2011 when I’d walked to Kirkibost from Sligachan.

Instead I stayed on the trail walking beside the rhododendron-decorated Abhainn Cille Mhaire stream to the sea where I had stunning views across Loch Slapin to Suishnish. I had originally planned to camp at this point but signs forbid camping though it was also too early to stop, so I kept going along the road with the views up the loch towards the Red Cuillin attracting my attention. A footpath continued after the end of the road, but my big toe was hurting again, which seemed to be mainly on descents, so I changed my socks, though ultimately the problem was my innersole and there was nothing I could do about that. On reaching another road I passed through the small community of Glasnakille and over the hill into picturesque Elgol where the dramatic Black Cuillin dominated the views from the harbour. After the rain had cleared on this walk, the weather was stunning and left me with fabulous views of the mountains around Loch Slapin. I was surprisingly not bothered that I hadn’t been at the top of any of those mountains and enjoyed the views nonetheless on an epic walk through the glorious landscape of Skye.

The Western Mamores

Saturday 28th May 2022

With good weather on this day I was looking forward to getting up a mountain, but first I had to contend with midges. The evening before in Glen Nevis there had not been any, but when I got up they had descended into the valley seemingly in abundance and possibly for the first time this year. My mood was not improved after dealing with the midges when I realised that I had lost my gloves. I feel as if I have a habit of losing things and I have left a string of items around the country over many years, so usually I am very paranoid about checking that I have picked up everything. Therefore it is a mystery how I could have managed to lose my gloves. And this was only a day after I’d realised that a pocket on my rucksack had been left unzipped which had let my sun cream fall out. This is not what you want to discover when you are about to go for a walk in sunny weather, but there is nothing better to lift your spirits when you are down than a walk in the mountains and the walk I wanted to do was in the Mamores, which is a range of hills just to the south of Ben Nevis that I absolutely love. I had planned to do the Ring of Steall, which is a classic mountain trail in the Mamores, but I was worried about a river crossing after the recent rain, however the real reason was I wanted to do a walk in the western Mamores instead.

This was the first walk I did in the Mamores, back in 2005, and I tried to do it again in 2012 to correct an error I had made earlier only to go the wrong way again. To start, I walked along forestry tracks through Glen Nevis where the conifers that used to dominate the valley are slowly being replaced with deciduous trees, which was already making the valley look fabulous. Broom lined the track adding its distinctive yellow flowers to the scene as I slowly made my way to the junction of paths where I remembered going wrong on my previous attempts at this walk. Now a clear signpost showed my previous route to be part of the Achriabhach Trail, whereas the route I should be taking was labelled as Mamore Hill Access. This took me towards the Allt a’ Choire Riabhaich, but before I reached the stream I saw a narrow path, though with no signpost, that climbs steeply up the hillside to my left. This well-made path gave me a great climb through the wood and over a fence onto the open hill where all semblance of a path disappeared in the wet boggy ground. Slowly, I made my way up the hill and as the terrain became dominated by heather a path began to materialise beside the fence while the views developed to my left across the Mamores that I have loved for many years.

While a cold wind blew across the ridge I continued my slow ascent as the ground became rockier underfoot and the gradient steeper until eventually I reached the top of Mullach nan Coirean, which is the easternmost Munro in the Mamores. I thoroughly enjoyed the climb up that ridge and loved being back at the top of a mountain in good weather. It wasn’t very windy at the summit, I had great views in all directions, the mountain top was covered in rock and there was no one else there. No place I would rather be. With the beautiful Mamores arrayed before me, I descended the slopes and made my way along the fabulous ridge around the top of Coire Dearg with views to my right down into the valley far, far below of the West Highland Way that I had walked along the day before. The undulating ridge took me over several tops before climbing the steep slopes of Stob Bàn onto the summit that is covered with the white quartzite stones that dominate the views of this mountain all the way down Glen Nevis. I was mesmerised by the views from this picturesque mountain, but I didn’t linger and carefully scrambled down the rocky eastern ridge until I reached safer ground.

When I did this walk in 2012 it was at the beginning of my holiday and it was very hot, so by this point in the walk I was very tired, so I decided to follow Ralph Storer’s directions and take the good path that goes down into Coire a’ Mhusgain. This time I wanted to keep to my route of 2005 so I passed by Lochan Coire nam Miseach and climbed a good zigzagging path up to a grassy saddle that sits below Sgorr an Iubhair. Turning away from that hill I faced the start of the grandiosely named Devil’s Ridge. Initially I kept to a path that shirks the top, a short distance down the western side of the ridge, until eventually I climbed up to the top and along the ridge up to the top of Stob a’ Choire Mhail. So far the ridge had been relatively easy and it had afforded me with fabulous views towards the eastern Mamores across Coire a’ Mhail. I wish I’d had an opportunity on this holiday to climb those mountains, but that will have to wait another year. Beyond the top the ridge narrowed deliciously which left me rather nervously making my way along the ridge that was beginning to justify its name. There is a notch in the ridge that is particularly difficult to cross and although I may have kept on top all the way in 2005, now I scrambled down early on the bypassing path before getting back onto the ridge beyond and continuing towards Sgurr a’ Mhaim.

After I reached the end of the Devil’s Ridge, a tiringly steep climb brought me up to the summit of the highest mountain on this round, Sgurr a’ Mhaim, and from where the views were again stunning with Ben Nevis to the north, across the deep gap of Glen Nevis, dominating the views. My descent took me across the sea of white quartzite stones that decorates this mountain. In 2005 I slid all the way down the stones completely ignoring, or destroying, the path, but now I tried to keep to the path, slowly descending and not sliding down, though this was very difficult especially towards the bottom of the stones where the path had deteriorated. Even after I had come off the stones the steep descent continued on a zigzagging path. At one point I slid over onto my poles and when I got up I discovered that one pole that already had a slight bend in it was now bent in half. Therefore I had to do the remaining descent with just one pole, so I was very relieved when I finally reached the bottom of the path beside the Allt Coire a’ Mhusgain. I really did not enjoy that descent even though in 2005 I had said it was “a most enjoyable descent.” Now I prefer slow and gradual descents and this was just too steep.

Upon reaching the road I walked past the new car park that didn’t appear to have been finished yet, and from the top of the mountain had looked like a scar amongst the otherwise natural scenery with the newly laid tarmac shining in the sunlight. My return to Glen Nevis through the Nevis Forest brought me back to the campsite where I was staying after a rather mixed day. The actual walk on top of the mountains was fantastic in awesome weather, so I thoroughly enjoyed that and I loved doing the Devil’s Ridge again after seventeen years even though it was more nerve-racking than I remembered. The views were extra special and to see mountains in all directions is something I never tire of, but I did not enjoy the descent especially as it led to a broken pole. Even though the day had not started well and did not end well, this was a fantastic mountain walk.