Skye Week - Day 4

[NevJB]

Tuesday 12 May 2015

Suisnish and Boreraig

Overnight the wind howled – we could hear it lifting the tiles on the roof and it almost seemed as if the house was shaking. So you can guess, although the weather was ‘improving’, it was still far too windy to venture up high. Paddy suggested a [mostly] coastal walk to take in the one-time crofting villages of Suisnish and Boreraig. The crofters had been evicted from the land by Lord MacDonald during the ‘clearances’ of the nineteenth century – apparently they [the crofters] were not using the land to its fullest extent – for which read, I can get more money from sheep than the rents you pay. Another glorious episode in our nation’s past. I would like to think that we now live in more enlightened times, but I fear not. Money and profit always seem to speak louder than the well-being of a community (think Donald Trump). Sorry, better back to the walking.

Rather than start at the old church cemetery we opted for the car park at Camas Malag; it all boils down to whether or not you want to walk the road first or last. It had been sunny (ish), but a hefty shower took away our next major decision; whether to wear over trousers or not. The rain didn’t last long so it made the walk to Suisnish very pleasant.

Dave & Neill - note the angle of the straps on Neill's pack

At Suisnish we left the track for a footpath to skirt around the walled remains as lambing was in full swing. We were treated to a display of ‘Two Men and their Dogs’ as they separated ewes that had had their lambs from those that hadn’t – or so it seemed to us, they could have been doing something quite different. Anyway, it was absorbing; I never ceased to be amazed as to how clever [and well trained] the dogs are – brilliant stuff.

Two Men and Their Dogs

‘Around the corner’ of Carn Dearg we had our first glimpse of the crags along the coast – beautiful – a mixture of cliff, waterfalls and shoreline. We stopped for lunch below the crags enjoying the views and the warmth of the sun out of the wind. Think we saw a couple of choughs nesting high on the crag, but cannot be 100% sure as they could have been hooded crows. I was hoping that another sea eagle would glide into view, but no such luck.

On to Boreraig and a look at the ruined crofts.

Then a steady climb by Allt na Pairte before descending to the grave yard at Cill Chriosd with a good view towards Bla Bheinn along the way.

Finally, we made our way along the road to Kilbride and Torrin before turning off on to the track leading to Camas Malag. This was my least favourite part of the walk - walks along roads always seem to go on for ever, especially at the end of the day.

I ‘phoned Paddy that evening to see about the prospects for Wednesday. It looked good and we were to meet him at the Glen Brittle turning next morning.