Over The Hill

The forecast for Monday was still rather gloomy, with very high winds and some rain showers, although the cloud base was expected to lift later in the day. However, this was not a day for the ridge, and so we are off to Glamaig, one of only two Corbetts on Skye, which we hoped would offer us a nice circuit on steep, but not too exposed tops.

Glamaig is an imposing sight as you approach it across the low, heather clad, hillside from Sligachan Hotel as its conical slopes rise steeply from its base in one unbroken and unrelenting wall of grass, rocks and scree directly to its summit, some 600m above. With such a uniformity of hillside,, there was no need for route finding, it was just a matter of getting your head down, striking uphill and just keep going.

It was an arduous climb at times, with the loose scree making for tough going, all of which was not aided by the strong gusts of wind that buffeted us on the higher levels. During one such buffeting I had dropped to my knees and as I looked around to see that Alan and Lawrie where also hugging the ground, I was then quite amazed as my gaze swung further round to pick up Lindsay, who was calmly standing bolt upright just a few metres down the slope - I think her expressions said "wimps" or some such comment!

On cresting the summit of Glamaig, its whole appearance seems to change. The conical view from the Sligachan approach is replaced by a summit from which a long ridge runs northeast towards the minor top of An Coileach, a most inviting ridge, that just draws your attention, and which you just know you are going to include in the round. We found ourselves a reasonably sheltered spot on the north edge of the summit in which to have a lunch break and take in some wonderful views as we looked out over the Isle of Rassay and beyond to the Applecross peninsula.

The ridge from the summit along to An Coileach did not disappoint, it was a very pleasant walk on easy grass and rock with great views over towards our next objective, Beinn Dearg Mhor. The minor top, at 673m sits above a rocky knoll and once again provided great views down and over the coastline and surrounding islands. Although, its exposed position meant that we were again buffeted by some strong winds, and again we, and this time I include Lindsay, had to lie low until they eased.

We re-traced our steps back to the eastern edge of Sgurr Mhairi summit before descending the very steep scree slopes which drop dramatically down to the Bealach na Sgairde, some 350m below, before having to immediately regain the lost height by clambering over the more rocky slopes up to the minor, un-named top at 598m on the opposite side of the bealach.

We were now on the northern end of the undulating Beinn Dearg ridge, with the skies brightening and the wind easing to a more manageable strong breeze as we set off to the highest point on the ridge, the 731m top of Beinn Dearg Mhor. Once again this was a very pleasant and relatively easy ridge walk, as it dips and rises over the final two minor tops, Beinn Dearg, 606m and Beinn Dearg Mheadhonach, 651m.

We returned back along the ridge from Beinn Dearg Mheadhonach for 200m before branching off onto the north west whaleback ridge of Druim na Ruaige and its easy grass slopes for our descent to the 429m Sron a'Bhealain knoll and onwards via a steep descent down to the wet and boggy lower reaches of the Allt Daraich and an equally wet and boggy path back to the Old Packhorse Bridge and the Sligachan Hotel.

This was a day for firsts: my first high level walk on Skye, and if this is a taste of what Skye has to offer, then I hope the weather allows us to taste more - A great walk with some challenging moments.

And another first; my first pint of Pinnacle in the Sligachan Hotel to wash away the scree dust - Just magic.

Great day - Thanks All