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Sub 2k Marilyns: Dun Caan.
Date: 12 - 13/04/2019.
Distance: 19 km.
Ascent: 850m.
Time taken: 5 hours, 25 minutes.
Weather: Sunny with overcast interval, and gusts of cold breeze.
Link to previous partHaving packed up and had a lazy dawdle down from the north of Skye, we were ready for the 3pm ferry to Raasay in good time. The sun was out and it was looking promising for another high(ish) camp
. This would be my 3rd time up Dun Caan - on our last visit in July, we had scoped it out as a great summit camping opportunity, and now we were back to give it a go!
Raasay ferry terminal Off the ferry, and we started walking immediately. There was plenty of daylight available for my proposed circuit round via Fearns and Hallaig - another chance to glimpse a bit of the impressive east coast of the island. Even low down, the wind was rather ferocious and cold, and we wondered whether we had made the right choice.
Nah, we're just going to Fearns. Boring! After more than 3 miles, we finally reached the end of the tarmac, with great views to southern Skye, Kintail and Applecross. The walk around the coast to Hallaig was on a good path/track, although it was pretty cold out of the sun.
Red Cuillin from Fearns 
Towards the Skye Bridge 
Fearns road 
Kyleakin hills 
Applecross from the Hallaig path 
Scalpay and Red Cuillin 
Applecross Soon Dun Caan came into view. 'We're going up WHERE?!' was Jackie's initial reaction - I sometimes forget that she is supposed to be taking it easy, and hiking a heavy overnight pack up steep heather is not that
.
Dun Caan and Hallaig 
Applecross from Hallaig 
Back towards Fearns The path became less distinct as we entered woodland around Hallaig, then it was a case of ascending steep but easy grass slopes to one of the higher tiers of the village. My original plan was to walk down the side of Loch a' Chadha Charnaich and ascend a steep gully to get us through the crags guarding the cone of Dun Caan (although preferably not the way I came down previously, which was awkward!). Jackie soon spotted a more convenient break in the crags so we went for that instead, and while steep, it was quite straightforward.
Hallaig woodlands 
Hallaig 
North end of Raasay up the east coast 
Loch a’ Chadha Charnaich Fortunately we weren't the first to try this, and there was a faint path through the heather leading towards Dun Caan. There were lots of cracks, faults and landslips in this hillside - rather like Beinn Tianavaig, the Quiraing and the Storr.
Approaching Dun Caan from the south 
Loch na Mna 
Loch na Meilich and Ben Tianavaig We dodged around, eventually hitting the standard path up to the summit shortly before 7pm - it had taken longer than expected! While I had put my jacket on earlier, Jackie hadn't, and had been feeling the cold from the relentless wind. It took her quite some time to warm up properly from that. Fortunately the actual summit area was less windy than the surrounding hillside, and we were able to pitch in the lee of a small bump. Now to have dinner and wait for sunset, although the skies had clouded over substantially.
Dun Caan summit camp 
Trotternish 
Sunset is looking interesting but not classic 
Dinner time 
Reflection of Ben Tianavaig 
Red Cuillin Although the light was quite strange, it was also spectacular in an unusual way, so well worth watching. However it was cold and we were tucked away in our sleeping bags shortly after sunset!
Trotternish from Dun Caan 
Going down... 
Almost sunset time 
Cold! There were some quite ferocious winds forecast overnight in the latest weather update, but we seemed to avoid the worst of them thankfully. We set our alarms early again - glad we did as this was probably the most impressive sunrise of the holiday
.
Dawn on the summit - green worm emerging 
North end of Raasay 
Ben Tianavaig 
Red Cuillin from Dun Caan 
Across to Toscaig and the Crowlin Islands 
Torridon 
Sunrise 
Summit and Red Cuillin 
Red Cuillin sunrise 
Towards Kyleakin 
Trotternish 
Ben Tianavaig 
Cuillin across the Sound of Raasay Repeating out Sgurr na Stri pattern, we went back for a nap after the best of sunrise, before making a more leisurely departure later on in the morning. We decided to follow the path down the Inverarish burn as this appeared to be the shortest way back to the ferry. Boggy in places but nice
.
Red Cuillin in full daylight 
Back to Dun Caan The wind was still strong away from the summit so it was nice to get lower down. Our dawdling had cost us the 12:15 ferry, and there was quite a long wait until the next one.
Descent next to the Inverarish Burn 
Sgurr nan Gillean from Raasay 
Glamaig from Inverarish Having dawdled down to the ferry terminal, we sat outside eating leftover food to begin, before being driven into the cosy waiting room by the relentless wind. Another enjoyable trip to Raasay
Ben Tianavaig and the Storr I was convinced that I'd spend the afternoon taking a quick walk/run up Sithean a' Bhealaich Chumhaing, but was soon seduced by ice cream and bumming around in Portree, followed by an early pitch of our tents in Sligachan, a lovely warm shower, then dinner and a few pints/whiskies in the pub. This was turning out to be a rather excellent holiday!
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