Kirkibost - Sgurr na Stri - Sligachan

[GalTelAviv]

I want to start by saying this was our first time on Skye, and also the first time waking an unmarked path, so many errors were made

The first was to decide that we could do such a long walk when starting at 14:30 (the conference ended at 13:00). The result was walking for 3 hours in pretty complete darkness to Sligachan, but at least by then we had a path to follow.

We set out from Kirkibost as pre AndrewP's instructions and headed to Camasunary. It was raining, and continued to rain all day, but as an Israeli this was actually something special (Israelis have this notion that walking for more than 10 minutes in the rain is fatal). The views were still amazing and we just had to follow the path so no stress yet.


We crossed Camasunary, and headed for Sgurr na Stri. You have to cross the river here but it was pretty low I guess and was possible to cross on stepping stones.

Here we mad our second error, namely didn't spend a few minutes looking at the map and terrain before going up. In retrospect, the route AndrewP described was probably pretty easy, but at some point we diverged from it and eventually had to climb near vertical walls of mud - which was only possible by grabbing on to the well rooted heather. Of course it was pouring rain the whole time which only added to the difficulty - but we got through to the ridgeline eventually.
The view from Sgurr na Stri is amazing even in rain, but sadly doesn't really go over in photos - you have to go see it (as with any other mountain view I guess ) here are some anyway:
On the way up:

Probably shouldn'ta been here :

Wall of mud:

Finally at the Summit:



Next we made our third and final error, which was pretty much the same as the previous one, and instead of walking on the ridgeline, walked about 100m below it, for about a kilometer (on a 100% sideways incline) until we realized this, climbed up and found the path to Sligachan.
The next photo was taken at 10pm:


We got to the campsite at about 1am, with the headlamps on, quickly set up our tent (btw the Vango Tempest 200 is really an excellent tent for 2) and went to sleep for about 12 hours
We spent pretty much all of next day sleeping and munching (nothing better on a rain day ), except for a short stroll around Sligachan bay.


The next day was amazing weather and we did Bruach na Frithe, which (especially without the 30lb packs) was realtively easy.

[monty]

Nice report Galtelaviv,
I love the reports on sky walks. The pictures are always atmoshperic, even in the rain You were keen starting in the afternoon. Shame the weather wasn't a bit better but good effort.

[Paul Webster]

That's an epic effort starting in the afternoon - and carrying a tent as well

[pwilkinson]

This is the most recent post on Sgurr na Stri, but if it's the wrong place to ask the question then I'm sorry.

Is there anywhere suitable to pitch a small tent (TN laser) at or near the summit? Or is Camasunary Bay likely to be the nearest place that will be comfortable? I can't find any photos showing the ground, just the view, and google earth isn't much use either.

Thanks in advance.

[mountain coward]

Like Paul W says - that truly was an epic! You must have real drive and determination. The pictures came out beautifully anyway (which I find they often do in rain). Great report!