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North Lee, South Lee and Eaval

PostPosted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 9:00 pm
by foggieclimber
Hills:
Li a'Tuath (North Lee) [Marilyn],
Li a'Deas (South Lee) [Marilyn],
Burabhal (Burrival) [HuMP],
Eabhal (Eaval) [Marilyn]
Date: Tuesday 17th August 2010
Company: Beinn (for Burabhal and Eabhal)
Dog friendly: Yes (several fences en-route to Lees but all have gates)
Time walking: 8Hrs 30Mins


After two days of clag, with limited views, today was a lovely day :D.
To make the most of the good weather, I set off walking at 06:00am.

I parked opposite the mobile phone transmitter on the A867, approximately 1.5 miles from Lochmaddy. There is parking there for two cars.

The walk in towards North Lee and South Lee was better than expected, albeit quite wet underfoot.

North Lee from near start of walk:
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Despite North Lee and South Lee being situated really close to Lochmaddy, several sea lochs lie between Lochmaddy and these hills.

It is essential to skirt round the end of the sea loch Bagh Leirabhagh prior to heading towards the Lees.

Skirting the end of the sea loch Bagh Leireabhagh:
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Bagh Leireabhagh:
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As I made my way towards the Lees, the light started to improve.

North Lee:
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South Lee:
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I didn't take Beinn on this walk, as I saw several fences on the 1:25000 map. The route is however dog-friendly as all of the fences have gates.

Looking across Eilean Leirabhagh towards Lochmaddy:
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As I passed close to Lochmaddy, I could see the Calmac ferry getting ready to depart. The sound of early morning birdsong was broken by the sound of vehicles boarding the ferry.

Calmac ferry at Lochmaddy:
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As I walked towards North and South Lee, I heard an unusual sound overhead. I looked up to see an eagle above me. By the time I got my camera out it had disappeared behind some knolls :(.

The weather continued to improve with blue skies now overhead :D.

North Lee:
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South Lee:
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During the ascent of North Lee, I watched the Calmac ferry depart from Lochmaddy.

Calmac ferry departing from Lochmaddy:
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During the ascent I also stopped to take photos of Marilyns I ascended two days previous.

Crogary na Hoe:
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Beinn Mhor:
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Crogary Mor:
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On reaching the ridge of North Lee, I decided to head for the North-top of North Lee first. I am glad that I visited this top as the views are better than the views from the summit.

Eaval and North Lee from North top of North Lee:
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Eaval from North top of North Lee:
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From the North-top of North Lee, I followed a line of bamboo-cane flags towards the summit of North Lee.

Lochmaddy from summit of North Lee:
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The summit of North Lee is a rock. The small cairn lies below the summit.

South Lee from summit of North Lee (Eaval in background):
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I descended from North Lee, again following the line of bamboo-cane flags. When the descent changed from rock to grass, I took a more direct line towards Loch Lee.

South Lee:
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I walked along the length of Loch Lee, which is situated between North Lee and South Lee. The loch has a dyke at both ends.

Loch Lee:
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Loch Lee:
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I ascended South Lee from the East-end of Loch Lee. The ascent was quite straight-forward.

Looking back to North Lee:
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Lochmaddy from summit of South Lee:
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North Lee from summit of South Lee:
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A minute or so after departing the summit of South Lee, I looked up to see the eagle. This time I was fortunate enough to get the camera out just in time before it disappeared out of view.

Eagle above summit of South Lee:
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Eagle (zoomed):
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From the summit of South Lee, I decided to also ascend the South-top of South Lee. Again, it is worth taking in this top for better views than the actual summit.

South Lee from South top of South Lee:
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Eaval from South top of South Lee:
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Loch Euphort from South top of South Lee:
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I descended directly from the South-top of South Lee. The ascent was very easy down a nice grassy slope.

Loch Hundair from descent from South top of South Lee
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During the descent I looked up to again see the eagle. I was like the cat that got the cream when it was joined by a second and then a third eagle. :D :D :D.

Eagles:
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Eagles:
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On reaching the base of South Lee, I crossed a grassy area making my way back towards my in-bound route.

Grassy walk back from base of South Lee:
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Ruin near sea loch:
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Sea loch:
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My feet were really wet by the time I was walking out but I wasn't caring. I was having a great day.

Walk back alongside Bagh Leireabhagh:
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Looking back to North Lee and South Lee from start of walk:
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On getting back to the car, I went back to Lochmaddy for a change of socks and to pick up Beinn before heading back out for another walk.

I drove to the end of the road alongside Loch Euphort for my ascent of Eaval. There is parking there for around 10 cars.

I was surprised to find a quite obvious path for the walk-in to Eaval.

Eaval from near start of walk:
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The walk-in was very hot with the sun shining overhead. Beinn jumped in several lochans to cool down.

Stepping stones:
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Burrival:
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During the walk-in I decided to ascend the HuMP Burrival.

Eaval from summit of Burrival:
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South Lee from summit of Burrival:
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Thankfully I found the grassy line during the descent. Burrival is a rocky hill.

Looking back at descent from Burrival:
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The walk-in to the base of Eaval took longer than I had expected. Lots of ups and downs along a very muddy path.

Eaval:
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The ascent of Eaval was straight-forward. I passed several groups coming down as I was heading-up.

Ascent of Eaval:
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Looking East from Eaval:
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Skye from Eaval:
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I spent around 20 minutes at the summit of Eaval. Time to take several photos and to take care of a blister.

Burrival, South Lee, North Lee and distant Harris hills from Eaval:
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Looking towards Beinn Mhor on South Uist:
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St. Kilda looked quite impressive from the summit of Eaval. Better views than from the South Harris hills.

I have adjusted the contrast in the following photo to improve the visibility.

St. Kilda from summit of Eaval:
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I descended Eaval via the same route.

Lochans, lochans and more lochans:
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Looking back to Eaval:
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Instead of ascending Burrival on the way back, I skirted round the base of it.

Was glad to eventually reach the car.

A wonderful day :D.

Re: North Lee, South Lee and Eaval

PostPosted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 9:19 pm
by Michelle
We did Eaval from Loch Euphort back in May... I hardly remember the walk in, it's all a blur save for something about being ankle-deep in bog and blinking midges out of my eyes... I suspect my brain has blocked out the memory for psychological benefit :lol:
The views from the top were well worth it though (I can say that now!)... unusual, and completely different than anything seen on the mainland hills. I'd return in a heartbeat :D

Re: North Lee, South Lee and Eaval

PostPosted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 8:38 am
by mountain coward
I'm really surprised at you meeting 'groups' coming down Eaval - I know it's a popular hill but things must have really changed since I stopped finding time for my annual visit to the Uists! I never used to meet anyone in the hills at all!

Also surprised at the bamboo canes everywhere on North Lee! I wonder if they're a navigational aid for walkers (would be surprising as few people do the Lees, or did perhaps I should say)? Did you find the walk into the Lees was scattered with hordes of dead sheep? When I did them, I found the walk in very depressing due to the sheer amount of dead bodies scattered along the route - I know life's hard for sheep in the Hebrides but the amount smacked more of bad crofting than anything else for that particular area!

I was very unfortunate in the case of one lamb (although nothing like as unfortunate as it was!). I saw a lamb stuck in a bog near some grazing sheep and it looked dead - perfectly still, head resting on the bog etc. I was just setting out on the walk to the Lees so continued without examining it - a mistake I will never make again! When I came back several hours later, I looked again and saw the birds had been pecking at it's sides and had made away with quite a bit of it's innards... then I saw the poor bugger move! :o I felt truly awful I hadn't rescued it from the bog on the way out! :( I thought I had to do something so pulled it out of the bog, carried it to the roadside and wrapped it in a peat bag to protect it from further predation - I'm afraid I'm not good at delivering quick death-blows to put things out of their misery or I would probably have done that. I then drove all round the Lochmaddy area trying to find a vet to put the poor thing down but couldn't find one :( Luckily, by the time I got back to it about an hour later, the poor thing had finally expired - what a horrible way to go though! :( :(

Nice to see a report and pics from one of my favourite old haunts anyway - just wish I could find the time to get back there - Munro-bagging can be a bad thing as well as a good thing...

Re: North Lee, South Lee and Eaval

PostPosted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 8:14 pm
by foggieclimber
Hi MountainCoward

I read some of your Uist reports prior to going. Thanks.

In five days of walking there I did: Crogary Na Hoe, Marrival, Beinn Mhor (N Uist), Crogary Mor, North Lee, South Lee, Eaval, Ben Scrien (Eriskay), Arnaval, Easaval, Beinn Mhor (S Uist), Ben Corodale and Hecla.

Fantastic place.

Didn't come across any dead sheep en-route to the Lees.
Good to use the Marilyns (or HuMPs) as your main list, then you can climb pretty-much what you want.

Re: North Lee, South Lee and Eaval

PostPosted: Sat Aug 28, 2010 1:21 am
by mountain coward
I've done all those except Crogary na Hoe - what was that like? It's near Dun an Sticir isn't it? (superb Dun with great causeway). I loved Crogary Mor (or Grogarry Mor as we called it then) - did that with my Mum - couldn't believe how steep the top was. You could put a report out on that one if you have pics :D Glad the sheep crofter's tidied up a bit!

Re: North Lee, South Lee and Eaval

PostPosted: Sat Aug 28, 2010 8:55 am
by kinley
Nice report Andy - more Sea Eagles than you can shake a stick at! :D

Hope to get out this way next June for a week or so - looking forward to it 8)

Re: North Lee, South Lee and Eaval

PostPosted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 6:20 pm
by Dr Dave
Good report

You might like to know that I was on one of the boats in Loch Euphort, in your photo. We sailed as a flotilla of Gaff rigged boats and expect that's the first time for ages there have been five gaffers in there at the same time . Amazing that you should have been there to take our picture. Hope to get some more pics from others in due course but meantime you might be interested in these shots, which include the very narrow entrance.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23326619@N03/4913751951/in/set-72157624783555976/

Cheers
Dave

Re: North Lee, South Lee and Eaval

PostPosted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 3:51 pm
by foggieclimber
Dr Dave wrote:Good report

You might like to know that I was on one of the boats in Loch Euphort, in your photo. We sailed as a flotilla of Gaff rigged boats and expect that's the first time for ages there have been five gaffers in there at the same time . Amazing that you should have been there to take our picture. Hope to get some more pics from others in due course but meantime you might be interested in these shots, which include the very narrow entrance.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23326619@N03/4913751951/in/set-72157624783555976/

Cheers
Dave


Enjoyed your photos, thanks.