On a low battery - Sgurr Na Stri

[Salahuddin]

This walk was initially suggested by my darling wife and only until i read about it i realised the potential.

Red cuillins, Black Cuillins, the vast glen at Sligachan and then the panorama from the summit of Sgurr na Stri just a few reasons this walk could be a winner.

Parking the car at the entrance to the Glen, the walk is straightforward with a very easy to follow path up to climb at Sgurr na Stri however the route crosses many many streams so waterproofs are a big advantage, even then your probably going to get your feet wet.

Marsco checking our ID as we enter Club Sligachan

The distance is long for a day trip but doable if you go at a respectable pace, The weather we had for the day was for a dry start with a nasty looking batch of cloud apparently going to hit us half way through the day, we were weary of this and took appropriate clothing/supplies/emergency kits.

Am Bastier/Sgurr Nan Gillean the bouncers on the right...

Immediately the glen is guarded by Marsco on the left (East) and the iconic image of the Am Bastier/Sgurr Nan Gillean on the right (west) the walk in did not feel so long since its uncharted territory and your mind is so preoccupied with the surroundings, walking past Marsco you will come across a cairn that splits the path one going south to the Loch in Sligachan. The second path being your destination heads up towards Sgurr na Stri and Loch Coruisk and the belly of the Black Cuillins, this path is easy to spot as it initially crosses a large stream which heads down towards Loch Na Creitheach (which was fast and quite deep on the day we went but then it had been raining all week) and then heads up an ominous looking slope (rocky and loose in places good shoes an advantage) which looks worse than what it is, its the distance of the slope that will tire you rather than the steepness.

The path is simple to follow the slope to our left is the foot of Marsco's west side which you will walk under.

Pure Evil

Before the slope is reached an incredible sight to the south is seen Bla Bheinn's (Blaven) impregnatrable western wall towers over the landscape it also has this incredible eclipsing effect of the sun in the morning.

The path up to Sgurr Hain easy to spot since it scars the hillside.

Sawblade mountain BlaBheinn looks awesome as you past Marsco, Sgurr Hain on the right is where we are headed.

In the shadow of Bla Bheinn we trudged up the slope which is rocky but not difficult we reached the first of a few cairns that mark various routes around the col, some down to Loch Coruisk others towards the top of Sgurr na Stri and Sgurr Hain. The latter being the hill you climb towards as you exit the Glen and one could easily think is the destination as it hides Sgurr Na Stri behind it on approach. Cloud began to set in but the route up to this point is very clear and easy to follow.

Bla Bheinn's come and have a go if you think your hard enough pose.

Peek a boo, walking in Bla Bheinn's shadow.

Past Sgurr Hain, the path initially is easy to follow but becomes bouldery and in patches the path is faint as it is lost between rocks and minor streams. The direction however is clear enough for one not to get lost whilst going uphill.

This is where the story gets interesting...

Firstly we arrived at the top (very minor scrambling near summit) the top is comfortable only careful near the west side especially as it is deceptively steep. The panorama is utterly breathtaking rivals anything in the north of the mainland and in fact most places ive been to on Earth. So well worth taking some great photos?

I almost broke down as the red light of death apperaed on my digi camara and realised i hadnt packed additional batteries (schoolboy error ) so your just going to have to take my word for it...

One of the few pics on the way up before the camara died.... Cloud obstructs the tops of Sgurr Nan Gillean and friends

Pulling out the sarnies the sky suddenly became very dark as we looked over our shoulder towards Bla Bheinn, a very nasty storm cloud headed straight for us invading the remaining blue sky we had left with the emperor's theme tune from Star Wars playing in the background *dun dun dun dundadun dundadun* (well it was in my head).

Then *rumble* we thought it best to get off the summit....

This picture just off the summit was salvaged and is now my desktop!

A torrent of rain and wind followed and the path back down seemed to have disappeared as visibilty was horrid we spent 30 minutes looking for the path again and gave up so we roughed it back down to the slope entering Sligachan just at the col we rejoined the path and look back up and saw that we had somehow ended up 30-40ft below the path?!? Roughing it was not too bad but in those conditions some of the boulders we hopped across were very slippery.

The long walk home.....

Ohh, Why, oh, Why, did i forget those blasted batteries?.....

Gutted about the picture situation we set off home, the route back was the same as the route in. A rollercoaster day ended with a limitless walk back through the Glen this time it felt like decades had passed before we eventally got back to the car. This one will be done again in my lifetime but i will probably take 5 camaras and 10 packs of batteries though....

[skuk007]

Don't be too hard, still got some good photos there. At least you only forgot the batteries, I've been on walks only to find I'd left my camera in the car.

[mountain coward]

For a moment there I thought we had a battery-operated walker or you had a pace-maker or something! Thank goodness my lovely old film camera doesn't need things like batteries (said she smugly) Thanks for the detailed walk description as I want to do this sometime - and the photos you got are great!

[Salahuddin]

Me run on batteries? nah... however, i think i might be slowly becoming solar powered after the last 5 wet walks in a row

[walk aboot]

I enjoyed reading your report, thanks for posting - loved the 'pure evil', etc. photo headings

[talisker96]

Shame about your low battery but still managed to get some pretty good pics despite the Misty Isle living up to its name! If the weather's to be better I'll hopefully be heading back off down this walk in May after the drizzle stopped me from getting out my camera on top of Stri (...and then down at Loch Coruisk) two years ago. At the end it's the only time I've seen my dog actually properly tired, but how can I tell him to pace himself when we start off?!! Any advice welcome people.
Anyway, hope you're legs weren't too shot to pieces after it and that you'll be taking up some extra batteries next time, cheers
...just off now to try and convince my better half that it's not as far as it looks on the map...

[ChrisW]

Don't be too hard on yourself, you still got some good pics and wrote a great report - thanks for posting - I look forward to seeing the 'pics that got away' next time