Sgurr na Banachdich & Sgurr Dearg

Wednesday 4th July 2007

The weather was not so nice for this walk with bands of rain that kept passing over throughout the day, however they failed to spoil what was a truly memorable day. There was some rather terrifying ridge walking but my only injury was a scuffed knuckle (!), while my leg injury from the previous day gave me no problems. Starting from the hostel I walked straight onto the hillside up a path beside the Allt a'Choire Ghreadaidh. I love it when I can go straight from the hostel onto the hills so it is a pity that this is so rare in Scotland. Normally one has to walk some distance (or catch a bus) to get to the start, but not on this walk as I was climbing beside pretty waterfalls just a minute after leaving the hostel.

At the junction with the Allt Coir'an Eich I took a faint path that climbs steeply up the hillside into the small corrie. Looking back later I realised that I should have stayed in the corrie, but instead I branched left up the steep ridge that leads up to An Diallaid, but I don't suppose the screes in the corrie would have been any easier than the steep ascent on the ridge. From An Diallaid I had rock under foot all the way as I climbed up the steep slope to the cliff-edged summit of Sgurr na Banachdich. There, well away from the cliff-edge, I had my lunch and I had to make a decision. Do I proceed along the main Cuillin ridge with all the inherent dangers involved or do I return the way I had come? I did seriously consider abandoning the ridge and I sat there for a long time gazing down the steep slope off the summit onto the ridge that I would have to climb down through the dense mist that was making the ridge a lot more terrifying than it probably was. Eventually I went onto my backside and slithered down. I was doing the Cuillin ridge.

That initial descent proved to be the worst and things got easier once I had bypassed Sgurr na Banachdich's centre top. I like to know that if I do slip I won't go far before I stop, so the mist was terrified because I couldn't see the bottom. I had quite a few moments like that early on when I was literally clinging to the rock for dear life or sliding down on my bum while keeping my centre of balance as low as I possibly could. As I progressed things did get easier mainly due to the widening of the ridge. Beyond Bealach Coire na Banachdich there was a short easy scramble up a rock face (rather tricky in the wet) followed by a steep climb up to the summit of Sgurr Dearg. On passing through a gap in the summit ridge a terrifying apparition appeared out of the mist: an enormous column of rock, the Inaccessible Pinnacle. In these weather conditions the very sight of it was terrifying and completely unnerved me. I couldn't even get to the foot of the In Pinn let alone climb it. Technically the top of the In Pinn is the Munro, while Sgurr Dearg isn't even a Munro Top, but I was as high as I dared go. Practically, even in the best of conditions, on my own I would never have been able to get any further, and to have got where I did in these conditions on my first trip into the Cuillin was amazing.

All that remained was to descend the western ridge of Sgurr Dearg, and that was not an easy thing to do especially as the early stages involved paths that were just as difficult and terrifying as the main ridge. After passing over the western top (barely a 15 metre drop) the difficulty eased and the views out to the sea opened up as a reward for my accomplishments. An enjoyable rocky descent followed that was tricky but nowhere difficult. I had done the Coire an Banachdich round and it had terrified me, but I had survived to tell the story. During the descent the sun came out which enhanced the views of the spectacular Eas Mor waterfall that I had at the end of the walk. I found out on this walk just how difficult the Cuillin can be; they are in a completely different league to the rest of the country, a class of their own.

Bruach Na Frithe

Monday 2nd July 2007

After my over-exertions of the day before I was almost relieved to see heavy mist and rain when I got up in the morning so when I caught the bus I only went as far as Portree. My good weather plan had been to go as far as Sligachan and walk up either the Red Cuillin or the northern end of the Black Cuillin. On second thoughts it was a good thing that the weather was bad since a late start to the walk and a requirement to walk into Glenbrittle after the walk would have resulted in another very long day. Under the circumstances a walk was never a possibility so with no reason for me to linger in Portree I caught a bus to Carbost and the Talisker Distillery.

I have gotten into the habit of visiting distilleries when it's raining (they are a handy wet weather option and not just for me as the place was busy); I took the tour and after much debate with myself I bought a small bottle of Talisker. With not much else to do in the area, after lunch I began the seven mile hike in the rain along the road to Glen Brittle, which could have been a horrible experience had I not received a lift from a foreign couple to the youth hostel while I was half way along the road. After dropping off my bag I walked down the valley to the shore of Loch Brittle where I stocked up on food for the week in the campsite shop. Returning to the hostel I gazed at the scenery around about and looked forward to my next three days in the area. Showers were forecast for the next couple of days so my walking was going to be as adventurous as I would have liked.

Tuesday 3rd July 2007

The weather forecast for this walk was bad with scattered showers and even isolated lightening, but instead I had clear blue skies and a gorgeous day for walking; if only I had been able to enjoy more of it. With blue skies to the north but the Cuillin sulking under low dark clouds I started walking along the road until the point where the road begins to climb out of the valley. At this point I took the good clear path that is signposted to Sligachan and climbs over Bealach a'Mhaim where I left the path and headed up into Fionn Choire. My original plan had been to go straight through the middle of the corrie up to Bealach nan Lice, but with good weather around the ridge over Sgurr a'Bhasteir looked too inviting, so I crossed the corrie and climbed up to the col with Meall Ohar.

Now began my first serious climb in the Cuillin as I followed a path on the left side of the ridge before reaching the crest half way up. With an exhilarating look around me at the views I plunged ahead up the ridge into the clouds leaving the north ridge near the top to take easier routes via the north-western ridge. Once at the top I walked along the summit ridge while enjoying the exposure as I went. When I reached the main Cuillin ridge I was struck with awe, for appearing out of the mist was a huge tooth-shaped pinnacle of rock, the Bhasteir Tooth. While getting a closer look at the small top at the junction, I could see that there was an even bigger rock behind, An Basteir, a Munro, but any thought of going that way filled me with fear. Even in clearer weather this might not have been easy to negotiate but in the low cloud the way was totally impassable. I was truly in the Cuillin!

Turning the other way I saw another large peak of rock rising out of the mist, and this one seemed passable for a path could be seen skirting it's northern foot, and I had reason to believe that this top, Sgurr a' Fionn Choire, was scalable by mere mortals such as myself. Crossing to it's foot I scrambled up it's northern face to it's summit cairn. It was a pity there was no view to be had, but the feeling of exposure was enormous. Climbing back down to the foot of the peak I followed the easy path along the ridge to Bruach na Frithe and the trig point, the only one in the Cuillin. During lunch I was rewarded with a clearing of the clouds to the north that revealed stunning views down the north ridge and across the Isle of Skye.

With the improved visibility, after lunch, I started my descent down the north ridge staying on the very top of the ridge as much as possible. And that was when the accident happened. Fortunately the accident wasn't that serious; I was climbing down some rocks when the rock I was holding came away and I swung down into the rock face bashing my right shin into a sharp bit of rock. Upon rubbing my sore leg I noticed that my trousers were getting wet! Pulling my trouser leg up revealed that I had cut my leg open and I was bleeding profusely. Oh, well. Getting my first aid kit out I cleaned, plastered and bandaged my leg. As I said I wasn't seriously injured and I was able to walk down the mountain (albeit by much safer paths) back to Bealach a'Mhaim. These things happen and I was prepared with a first aid kit to treat it, but it could have been a lot worse.

Meanwhile the weather continued to improve and provided me with a warm, sunny walk back down the path to the road and thence along Glenbrittle to the youth hostel.