Over The Hill

At the end of three great days in The Ling Hut we left Torridon on the Tuesday morning and had a leisurely drive from Torridon, taking the scenic route via Loch Carron and onwards to Skye, making two very important stops along the way: firstly at Hectors Bothy in Kyle of Lochalsh for our now customary Full Hector Bothy Breakfast, very filling and satisfying as usual; secondly at the Co-op in the metropolis of Broadford to restock our much depleted food stores for the coming week at The Glen Brittle Memorial Hut. Thanks again to Brian for the invite, and for a wonderful week on Skye, our exploits which can be followed in the upcoming reports.

Wednesday morning dawned with the promise of good weather, and so Bruach na Frithe was set as the target for the day by almost everyone in the hut. It was going to be a busy hillside. A very short drive along Glen Brittle and we were taking to the good track which climbs to the 344m Bealach a'Mhaim before it descends towards Sligachan.

The largest of cairns marks the high point of the bealach, and it was here that we left the track and took to the slopes of the north west ridge of Bruach na Frithe, climbing steadily at first over a mixture of grass and scree before encountering the ridge proper, where a rocky ascent is made alternating between ridge line and dropping down below the main ridge on the western side to bypass the more exposed sections.

A hard, but very enjoyable climb saw us arriving on the summit to be greeted by Neil and Sandra, who had been up at the crack of dawn and set off some time before the main group, and had the luxury of sitting and watching our efforts as we made the final steep climb before joining them, on what became a very crowded summit.

Departing the summit, we descended on the rock and scree to Bealach nan Lice where the group split, some continuing down into Fionn Choire for the return to the Bealach a'Mhaim, while the remainder of us decided to continue descending the scree below Am Basteir before making a steep ascent to the head of Bealach Am Bhasteir, the stated intention being "Just to have a look at Am Basteir from the bealach!" That old ploy didn't fool anyone, and it was no surprise that once we were at the bealach the next statement was, "Well being as we are this far, we may as well go on to the summit."

It wasn't everyone's choice, and so as some remained at the bealach, a smaller group then started up the steep slopes, at one point making an airy traverse along a narrow ledge and onto the narrow ridge above the "bad step". It was at this point, on the ridge above the bad step that I decided that this was my limit for today, and so I remained, perched on a comfortable rock on the ridge and observed an even smaller group descend the bad step, and then, make what was now a relatively straight forward climb up the final 35m of rock to the summit; where congratulations were in order as Julie completed her 12th and final Skye Munro, having already topped the other 11 on previous visits.

As the intrepid few returned, this time climbing the bad step, and joined me on the ridge, we then made our way back to re-group with those still patiently waiting our return at the Bealach Am Bhasteir. From here we made the fairly torturous climb back up the scree slopes below Am Basteir and onto Bealach nan Lice, from where a very rough path was taken down into Fionn Choire and then traversing the lower slopes of the north west ridge and back to the good path at the 344m Bealach Mhaim for a leisurely evening return to Glen Brittle.

What a brilliant day, and thanks to Kenny, Dave and Alan for seeing us all over some tricky spots.

PS: Even as I complete this report a week on, I am still smarting at not completing Am Basteir - so I'll be lobbying for it to be back on the programme for Skye next year!