The Island of Rum (on a very good day)!
This week gave mixed conditions on Skye with four-seasonal weather making its presence felt. Wind, rain and hail mingled with clear skies and sunshine (not in the most favourable of proportions) to ensure the weather was anything but boring. Unfortunately for my battle-hardened aspirant Munroists from Dalkeith, by the time they arrived to tackle their penultimate Skye Munros all the variety had gone out of the weather and it was low cloud and rain almost all the way!
A family of red deer were taking a dip in the River Brittle and eyed me passively as I drove down to the Glen Brittle road-end. From here we donned waterproofs and set out along the well-constructed path that leads in an hour to the concealed entrance to Coir a’Ghrunnda. Here, Maggie wisely decided that discretion was the greater part of valour and courageously decided to return to the car and pursue alternative activities for the remainder of the day. Geoff donned his fetching grape-coloured cap as we turned north and climbed into the corrie. We followed the sketchy and at times indeterminate path that climbs up some scree, across a boulder field and up 2 rock bands before reaching the impressive Loch Coir a’Ghrunnda, a blue sheet cradled in a rocky amphitheatre which remains hidden until the last moment.
Sgurr Alasdair Towers Above Loch Coir a'Ghrunnda
Naturally, most of the finer details of this spectacular location were not so evident today! From the loch a fairly steep 180m climb up a stony slope puts you on the ridge line and a further 10 mins of fairly level ground leads to the conspicuous summit cairn of Sgurr nan Eag (924m; notched peak). No view today of course but those visiting on a good day will want to linger long and take in the wide and impressive panorama.
Sgurr Dubh na Da Bheinn From Sgurr Dubh Mor
Here, as I so ably demonstrated to my windswept and interested clients, holding a magnetic compass close to the summit rock can give a significant deflection of the needle. From here we descended through the murk along the outlying ridge to our second Munro.
Scrambling Up Sgurr Dubh Mor
Whilst this summit lies only 200m off the main ridge and requires only 50m descent and re-ascent to achieve, route finding here is difficult in the clearest of conditions. In mist it can be treacherous so take care and know what you’re doing. Deftly we picked our way down, along and up snaking our way over and around the various cliffs, crags and crevices that seek to hinder your progress to the top. And then suddenly we were there atop this peskiest of Cuillin Munros that really does try to make things difficult for you: Sgurr Dubh Mor (979m; big black rocky peak). Again, no view. Sorry folks; you should have been here yesterday!
Distant Sgurr nan Gillean From Sgurr Dubh Mor
We retraced our steps down, along and back up to Sgurr Dubh na Da Bheinn wisely deciding not to repeat the compass trick as the novelty had no doubt worn off in the rain! We traversed north along the ridge a few hundred metres before turning left and returning down into Coir a’Ghrunnda. We paused once more at the loch before descending back to Glen Brittle where we knew Maggie, the cars, some lightly sautéed potatoes and a glass of ale would serve as a fitting end to our day in the clouds.
Check out my future plans for similar walks on: http://www.hillways.co.uk/summer/summer.htm
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