Date: 02-Oct-2011
Map: Landranger 32
Weather: Warm sunshine and blue skies.
A walk from Loch Coriusk landing steps, up Sgurr na
Stri, down to Camasunary
Bay and
along the coast path to Elgol
:
8 miles – as measured on memory map
This was
one of those walks that gave everything to me – pure
pleasure all the way. After seeing many pictures
from the top of Sgurr na Stri, I’d made my mind up to go and
see the same view, hopefully when it was clear.
After a
mixed week of weather and a couple of good walks (one with
Ian Stephenson of
http://www.mountainfreedom.co.uk/home.htm ) we headed
down to Elgol for the last couple of days. I’d been hoping
for a sunset or two and finally got one on the Saturday
night, which bode well for the Sunday trip. Incorporated
into this walk was a boat ride from the jetty at Elgol on
the Bella Jane -
http://www.bellajane.co.uk/ , chosen because it ran on a
Sunday. I think the Misty Isle boat is run by the locals,
but they must go to the Kirk as they don’t go anywhere on
the Sunday. It took 45 mins across flat water to reach the
landing steps at Loch Coriusk, and on our way we had views
of a basking shark, plenty of seabirds and of course the
seals at ‘seal rock’. The boats hadn’t sailed across the
loch for about 3 weeks due to the weather, so we were lucky
to catch this one.
Low cloud
topped the summit of Sgurr na Stri, but looking around I was
sure that it would be clear later on. Halfway across the
loch I realised that I had forgotten my sandwich, but
thankfully had a few snacks to keep me going. After a stroll
around the boggy shores of Loch Coriusk you quickly realise
that this is an amazing place, surrounded by the jagged
Black Cuillens, a stunningly beautiful place to visit,
peaceful to the extreme in the sunshine. The dome slabs of
Gabbro are easy to walk over and very ‘grippy’ as the
surface of the rock is quite rough – fall on this stuff and
you would know about it. There is a climbers hut nestled
below the steep slopes, facing south and catching the sun –
you need to be a member of a climbing group to use this
though.
After
returning to the landing steps and waving goodbye to the
Bella Jane, I was alone in utter silence, no wind, just
sunshine, with the clouds lifting above most of the summits.
A short walk around the shore along what must be the
shortest river in the
UK
– 0.2 miles – brought me to the stepping stones across the
River Scavaig. I’d wondered about staying dry as the rivers
and burns have been running in spate over the previous week,
but it was nice and dry. With the aid of two walking poles
for balance it was an easy crossing to the other side, then
a steady traverse around the shore, gradually gaining ascent
up towards the Allt a’ Choire Riabhaich – a small river that
flows down the gabbro slabs from the loch above. I passed by
a couple of deer, which didn’t seem to be bothered about my
presence and let me snap away merrily. My camera doesn’t
have much of a zoom, so I didn’t get much of a close up of
these. As I got higher up the slopes behind me the
Inaccessible Pinnacle came into view, almost lost amongst
the higher jagged peaks.
Before I
got up to the loch I decided to cut away from the main path
and head up to Sgurr na Stri to the south. There are traces
of paths here and there, mainly made by the deer – I didn’t
find a regularly used path. The ground was ok, a mixture of
gabbro slabs and boggy, grassy tussocks. It was quite energy
sapping at times, but I’m sure most would find it reasonably
easy. As I got higher and higher the views began to open up
and I found myself stopping and staring over to the Cuillens
an awful lot of the time. I was puffing away and literally
bumped into a Stag. I spent a little time snapping away, me
staring at him, and him at me, before he bellowed a couple
of times and toddled off down the hillside. I met him again
later on, when he did the same thing, obviously getting
ready for the rutting season.
Eventually after much more ascent I came out at the top to
what must be the best view in Britain
– it’s outstanding and the vista takes in the whole of the
Black Cuillen Ridge and a bit more beside. I wished I could
have done it justice with my shots, but the afternoon sun
shining into the lens put an end to that. It would be best
to get up here earlier in the day for the best chance of
capturing it’s beauty – I’ve stitched a couple together. The
drop below your feet is steep which allows you to capture
the beach and lochs below, as well as the high peaks. I
could have stayed for hours, but I had a long walk down and
back along the coast, so didn’t spend as long as I’d hoped –
a good reason to return again.
For the
journey off the mountain I’d downloaded a GPX track from the
Walk Highland site, and a little scramble took me onto the
right path / deer track. This veered to the NW below some
crags and was quite a distinct path, again boggy and steep
in places. At a grid ref of NG49993 20175 I started to drop
down the slope, about a 1000ft to the river
- Abhainn Camas Fhionnairigh – following the river
bank to take me to another set of stepping stones. The river
is quite shallow and is easy to cross, especially today on
the dry rocks – again the walking sticks helped. After heavy
rainfall it should still be ok to cross, but the water maybe
a little higher up the leg
I was now
down at
Camasunary
Bay, another peaceful spot
with a beautifully situated bothy, that looks south out over
a stony beach. I sat here and had a snack and a drink,
conscious that time was ticking on. The ground behind the
bothy looks ok, nice golden grasses swaying in the breeze,
but like much of Skye it was very boggy. Two ladies had
parked their trainers outside to dry and thought I was there
to spend the night. They were busy tidying up and throwing
away someone’s rotten fish. I knew that sunset was about
7:15 pm, the afternoon light was getting a nice evening glow
to it, so I upped and got going again, a little unsure about
the coastal route. I’d read a couple of walk reports, but no
one had mentioned that it was very high above the beach,
slippery and narrow - It’s about 4 miles to the road at
Elgol. Thankfully Ian the guide had warned me a couple of
days ago that I would have been better taking the track over
the beallach at Am Nam and down to the road near Kilmarie.
But I decided to give it a go as it had been dry all day and
I wanted to stick to the coast and see the beach at Cladach
a Glinne – this is the location where fossil turtles have
been found, but I believe they have all been removed now.
From the bothy the path took me across the bay towards
another privately owned building, by passing this to the
right and up to a rough bridge that spans the river. At this
point I had to scratch around a little to find the route but
there is a distinct path that takes you away from the bay
and up to higher ground above the cliffs. A little boggy at
first, but soon the path became thinner and about a mile
from the bridge the path starts to be very close to the
edge, actually overhanging the beach far below at one point.
A slip here would be deadly, as the drop is around 150ft at
its highest point, with not much to stop the fall. I’m
surprised that this section of path is still open, as you
have to duck and weave through overhanging branches at one
stage – a little awkward if you have a big pack. But as I’m
quite used to heights I felt ok, and just made sure I had my
walking sticks ready to plunge into the ground in case of a
slip. The beach down at Cladach a Glinne is much the same as
at Elgol, with plenty of rocks and boulders to hinder a walk
along the shore – although at low tide I’m sure it could be
done, albeit slowly. On the slope down to the beach there is
a newly buried thick pole and alongside a sturdy aluminium
frame – I assume that there will be a warning sign going up
here soon.
Beyond
Cladach a Glinne the path generally is not so exposed,
although it has a couple of dodgy points where a little rock
scramble is needed to continue on. At this point I was
thinking that it would be irresponsible to advise people to
take this route, rather they should take to the road at
Kilmarie and walk up to Elgol from there. For me now the
views back to the Cuillens were as good as ever and the
light was ever softer as the sun slowly set. Clouds were
coming in to cover the higher summits and I was happy to
have had a clear day. All that was left was 1 ½ miles to
Elgol and the end of one of the better walks I’ve ever had –
definitely way up there on my list of top walks, and one I
shall repeat next year hopefully as I plan a long walk on
Skye.
the jetty at Elgol with the Cuillens in the distance - this isn't the Bella
Jane
this is when he started motoring
anyone for a shag?
the bad step on the coastal path - mid picture - up a bit then down a
bit
Sgurr na Stri above the landing stage and mountain hut - very tranquil
now
Loch Coriusk surrounded by high hills of the Cuillens
looking back at Sgurr na Stri - note the boggy shoreline
you can walk all the way around the shore, but it's pretty boggy
a couple cross the stepping stones - these would be covered when in
spate, but you'd be ok with walking poles as stabilisers
the view from the landing stage,
awaiting the Bell Jane
the first set of stepping stones from the loch shore
leads to the second set of stepping stones
the views across Loch Coriusk when you gain height are superb
ladies first - I met the stag later on. They didn't seem worried by my
appearance
a steady climb took me up and over the next crag to the small burn
fairly boggy ground ahead
The Innaccessible Pinnacle not looking
so big from afar
my route up from the stepping stones
grippy Gabbro slabs are easy to walk up
there is a gradual path up to the ridge, but I cut up to the right here
to save some time
ever improving views back to the Cuillens
hard to stop staring all the time
Loch Coriusk down below - sublime views
the northern hills start to come into view as Loch a Choire Riabhaich
disappears. Marsco is on the right
and then this boy appeared, posing below Bla Bheinn across the valley
what a great beast, ready for the rut
he stood still for a long time
and then decided he'd had enough
then it was up to the 'Best view in Britain?' Looking down to the
landing steps, and the stepping stones
with all the Cuillens in view - absolutely fabulous
there's a little beach you can walk around to from the boat landing at
bottom left
my way down was across the slope below me towards the big bluff at
middle right
looking down on Loch na Creitheach and Bla Bheinn above
Camasunary Bay is positively
glowing in the late sunshine. You can see the path over to Kilmarie.
I think he was waiting for me
A last look back before dropping off Sgurr na Stri
my path is in shadow but it dropped down below the big butress
Camasunary Bay and beyond is the coastal route back to Elgol
my route down was a rough path from the crag at middle top of picture
the stepping stones across to Camasunary Bay - all the river was quite
shallow
and the second part of stepping stones
the bothy at the bay - Elgol at the distant point
a lovely location for an overnight camp
the view from the bothy
old farm equipment glowing in the late afternoon sunshine - Bla Bheinn
up to the right
getting higher up on the coastal path
a dodgy bit of path - it's a long way down to the rocks below
clouds now getting lower - I'd had the best part of the day
down to the beach at
Cladach a Glinne
next stop is Elgol
a great view back to Sgurr na Stri
the sun setting over Soay
looking down on the harbour at Elgol
a panoramic of one of the best views in Britain - a
fantastic walk
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