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So this weekend, the weather looked to be good, and we had some extra time off work, so a trip to Skye was on the cards - The first since my accident there almost exactly 6 months ago.. Couldn't wait to get back..
Dougie left on Thursday night and did a cracking sounding route up Clach Glas then went on to Blaven - sounded brilliant
but he was tired by the time I got there at 8 on Friday night, and plans to walk into Camasunary were shelved until the morning, and we camped out below Blaven, the moon rising over the ridge a spectacular sight.
The morning came and we drove up the road to the busy car park and we set out up the rough track.
We had maybe over packed a bit as we had thought it a short easy walk, but with the big packs full of supplies and the sun beating down, the going was rather arduous
Nevertheless, it didn't actually take that long to get to Camasunary, where we followed the track over to the bothy, which is shut at the moment (although a substitute bothy is open at the other end of the bay). We were camping however, and set the tent up nearby. We had lunch and a couple of hours lounging in the sunshine. A chilly breeze had got up, which spurred us into action. Sgurr na Stri had been on the radar for ages, and it was such a bonny day - felt so lucky
We crossed the river and continued on the path round the coast.
We eventully found the stream and gully that we had been looking for, and we could see our intended buttress from there (the one on the right) - looked absolutely amazing
The trudge up to the base of it wasn't too bad for gammy ankle, nice cushioney softness rather than tussocky hell - just kept getting better.. We were soon up to the bottom of the initial slabs. Slabs are particularly sore at the moment for me, so I found another wall further over which was a bit more easy going.
It was then a slabby and heathery walk to the bottom of the buttress proper.
We headed up generally to the left of a dyke, moving into the recess as we got a bit higher.
Up above that, there was lots of slabs
Still some foot holds to be had though, which made the whole thing bearable enough to be called fun
There were a couple of overhangs, one with a fun way round to the left, the other was too tricky so I found easier ground to the right and enjoyed watching Dougie tackle it.
The going got steeper again near the top, but there was nothing tricky and a wide variety of lines could be taken.
All of a sudden we were at the top, nice views to the Cuillin opened up, didn't linger at the first summit, but headed down and up painful slabs to the other summit, which we then worked out was the lower of the two.. The views were better though and we sat a long time taking it all in. An eagle came gliding over above, and all seemed right with the world
Eventually we headed off, back to the central gully, which we followed down for a short way.
When the gully got steep and bouldery, we cut off left, crossing the buttress we had climbed on a terrace which soon took us steeply down. This side of the hill was a great deal more tussocky than the slopes we had climbed earlier, and I was really slow down the steep 's' shaped gully that took us down toward Camasunary.
With the steep bit over, I had high hopes of the terrain improving, but it wasn't to be, so it was 8PM before we got back to the tent - ouch!
The following morning, Dougie went off to do the Dubh slabs round by Loch Coruisk, while I knew I wouldn't manage that, so set my sights on this buttress nearby:
There was a grade 1 route described in the book, and it looked quite fearsome from the campsite, so thought it was as good a thing to do as anything. I followed the river upstream, passing by a fantastic slabby section, until it split, and there were stepping stones.
It was then that I discovered that the instructions for the route, which Dougie had photocopied for me, had been lost already
Oh well, I think I could remember roughly what it said, and I think I could see the first gully anyway, so I knew where to start. The going was tough so I chose to swing round under some slabs just for a bit of variation, or probably just out of habit. By the time I got to the the gully, my ankle was screaming.
The gully was steep and heathery and not much fun, so I managed to gain the nose to the right, which gave a nice easy scramble for a while. At the top of that gully, you are supposed to follow a grassy ramp left if I remembered rightly, but that looked horrifically steep and difficult, so I managed to scramble up above it, where a basalt seam gave a nice ledge to follow in the right direction for a good long distance - that part was great fun
Eventually my crevice led to some treacherous looking steepness, so I had to backtrack to find a way back down to the ramp. It was only a short distance to the crest, where some delightful easy scrambling took me up to the easy angled ridge above.
The ridge was very pleasant, it being possible to link up a series of rocky parts to add interest to already interesting views.
I reached the first top, but the higher one is further on, so I crossed over to it before having a good long rest at the summit. My attention was drawn to a great deal of croaking and screeching below, and saw two ravens having a mid air fight with the eagle. The eagle flew up to the cairn on the first top where I had been 5 minutes before and sat there preening himself for a good 10 minutes.
Eventually I decided to go back by Loch Coruisk as I was still feeling quite fresh, and it wasn't even lunchtime yet. The descent route back to camasunary would be rather steep and painful anyway. I headed further along the ridge, a path now evident. It was fairly steep, with a scree gully thet wasn't that fun.
I got down to a good path though and enjoyed following it until I realised it was not as not descending as expected. I got the map out and sure enough I was a long way up the hillside from the path marked, my GPS confirmed
Fortunately the hillside looked like easy ground and it was, so I just free styled it down the hill, soon seeing the path that I had been intending to take from the bealach. How did I manage to miss it, it was huge
Once on the path, I made good progress, the path going over large slabs every now and again.
I stopped for lunch down at the loch, a solitary seagull swooping in to keep me company. He got a slice of salami out of my piece for his efforts
I carried on round to the coast, the path deteriorating somewhat toward the bad step. I kept low, but the tide was too far in, so I had t retrace my steps and find a higher way.
I got to the bad step eventually, rough ground had made my ankle weak and shaky so I wasn't feeling confident, but looked easy
When I got to the top of that ledge though, I couldn't see where to go.. I was on a sloping slab, sea below, almost vertical slabs above, and I didnt know what to do.. There was a wee crack going up to a grassy tussock which looked like it was well travelled, so I edged my way up fairly easily, consciously trying not to look down. From there though I was really stuck, retreat the way I had come looked terrifying, all other routes looked too exposed and steep to be done safely.. This surely wasn't the way
I saw a bit of a relief going up to a small recess, and lurched up, no handholds only friction, I made the mistake of looking down and my stomach lurched, just as I got to the recess.. I was at least in a safe position there
It was then I saw a dutch guy above 'what are you doing down there when there is a good path up here' he said. 'Oh I'm just having some fun, I replied casually 'I'm working my way up to the path'. For some reason to admit I was struggling seemed like the wrong thing to do
Anyways, with an audience now, and only 12 foot left to go to the path, I did a run at it, like I was on Ninja warriors warped wall, and managed to gain a solitary hand hold which allowed my legs to catch up - only about 5 foot to go now, I pulled and ran and managed to get my hand up onto the path. Pulling myself over, and lying amongst the rocks, I laughed heartily - I was alive! Then I thought about how I was going to go home and write a WR about failing the bad step and laughed some more. It was a long time before the fits of giggles subsided.
So now I was on a crazy high path that went up and down and over cliffs. I could see the proper path below, but there didn't seem to be a feasable way down, so had no choice but to follow it to its crazy conclusion.
I made it back down eventually, but once again made a poor choice and ended up back high
The paths came back together again, and the path improved somewhat coming round to where we had headed up Sgurr na Stri yesterday - I knew it wasnt far from there and I was glad as really had taken on a bit much for gammy ankle.
I got back not long before Dougie, and we had a nice evening, but in the morning, the drizzle was on, which didn't motivate us to get going early. Dougie had to go home anyway, so we packed up and set off for the car.
At the top of the hill, who should be waiting for us, but my Mum and Dad - I had planned to meet up with them later, but they had come over early, so it seemed like a short march back while we blethered.
Really good weekend, I'll never forget failing the bad step
Can't wait to go back to Loch Coruisk with a mended ankle to tackle more routes
