Marsco

[johnkaysleftleg]

We returned to Skye following last years hiatus and were greeted with a wonderful evening, I made the short drive to Sligachan to take in the sunset and grab a few snaps.

Marsco from Sligachan by johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr

Cuillin from Sligachan by johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr

Glamig from Sligachan by johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr

Cuillin Sunset by johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr

For the Sunday we had a walk up Marsco planned and set off up Glen Sligachan with light rain and occasionally blustery winds. Whereas the path up the Glen is very good the path up by the pretty Allt na Measarroch had almost as much water on it as the burn did. With the weather not looking great we decided to push on up to the bealach to get a wider view of conditions. We had lunch and decided things were looking up so we continued our squelch up the hill. We crossed the stunning Allt Mam a Phobuill with its watersides and falls and finally found consistently firm ground at around 500 meters.

Glen Sligachan by johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr

Marsco and Allt na Measarroch by johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr

Conditions improving by johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr

Crossing the Allt Mam a Phobuill by johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr

Hughie looks towards Loch Ainort by johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr

Garbh-Bheinn's North Ridge by johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr

The route steepened, but not too much, as we followed the fence posts all the way to the shallow col between the main summit and the small rise to the south. We had nice views out to sea and down to Harta Corrie but with the clag still sat at around 700 meters or so no Cuillin views yet. The boggy lower slopes were forgotten by now as we walked up the fine grassy sweep upwards until the ridge narrowed dramatically. The narrowness of the summit ridge comes as a surprise as none of the views of the mountain elude to it. For me Grace and Hughie it wasn't a problem but Nicola was decidedly unsure so all credit to her she battled through but had to sit down and cling on upon reaching the cairn (see photo). We returned to wider ground to wait for things to clear but we had no luck and returned the way we came.

View from the bealach by johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr

Heading up to the summit by johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr

Hughie on the somewhat airy ridge by johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr

Grace and a nervous Nicola on the summit by johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr

Hughie on the summit by johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr

By the time we returned to the col Bla Bheinn and Garbh-Bheinn had just about emerged so I jogged up to the South summit to get a snap. We returned the way we came ruefully noticing Marsco had broken from the clag by the time we were back in the Glen.

Sgurr na Stri by johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr

Bla Bheinn by johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr

Harta Corrie by johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr

Garbh-Bheinn and Bla Bheinn by johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr

Marsco by johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr

Sgurr nan gillean by johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr

Glen Sligachan by johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr

Marsco is certainly a fine hill even taking into account the lack of a summit view and the boggy lower slopes. I can certainly see why some regard it as the finest of the Grahams. All in all a great start to the week.

[Collaciotach]

Great pics and a cracking wee dog

[AnnieMacD]

Fantastic photos as always. I'll have a good look at them on Flickr later. Good for Nicola sticking with it.

This one is very high on my list too - hoping to combine it with Ruadh Stac if it won't make for too long of a day!

Wow, I've just discovered something. When posting a reply, if you scroll down to the report and click on Expand View, you see the photographs much larger than in the report. They look really fantastic this way!

[BlackPanther]

Fantastic set of photos One of the best viewpoints on Skye. I must visit it again.

[Lightfoot2017]

Some stunning pics at the start of that report especially. Well done!!

The wee dug looks quite miserable, though…

[johnkaysleftleg]

Great pics and a cracking wee dog

Thank you and he certainly is.

Fantastic photos as always. I'll have a good look at them on Flickr later. Good for Nicola sticking with it.

This one is very high on my list too - hoping to combine it with Ruadh Stac if it won't make for too long of a day!

Wow, I've just discovered something. When posting a reply, if you scroll down to the report and click on Expand View, you see the photographs much larger than in the report. They look really fantastic this way!

Thank you Annie, Marsco's a great hill, it should be OK to combine with Ruadh Stac as, boggyness apart it's easy going. Can't find the expand view thingy however

Fantastic set of photos One of the best viewpoints on Skye. I must visit it again.

Thank you and of course you should, best place on earth for me

Some stunning pics at the start of that report especially. Well done!!

The wee dug looks quite miserable, though…

Very kind, Hughie hates his photo taken but he liked Marsco, plenty of grass to scamper around on.

[Fife Flyer]

Loved the first few photo's absolutely stunning

[Johnny Corbett]

Stunning photos, i got this earmarked for my next trip to Skye

[Nigels3011]

Good report. Great photos. I did Marsco on Wednesday last week and yes, the path up by the Allt na Measarroch is a wet trudge but the summit is such a great place to be. I stayed up there for nearly an hour, even though it was a bit chilly, waiting for the cloud to clear from the Cuillin ridge. The views were still stunning. Had the whole hill to myself all day too.

[jupe1407]

Fantastic report, walk and pictures. Superb.

[johnkaysleftleg]

Loved the first few photo's absolutely stunning

Stunning photos, i got this earmarked for my next trip to Skye

Fantastic report, walk and pictures. Superb.

Thanks all for the kind words

Good report. Great photos. I did Marsco on Wednesday last week and yes, the path up by the Allt na Measarroch is a wet trudge but the summit is such a great place to be. I stayed up there for nearly an hour, even though it was a bit chilly, waiting for the cloud to clear from the Cuillin ridge. The views were still stunning. Had the whole hill to myself all day too.

Thank you, the summit is indeed great and it must be awesome to get a full Cuillin view from here, I'm sure it's well worth the wait but we were getting hungry