free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
This walk is also covered in a TR by Beery Hiker at
https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=71238 . I've included it here as my TRs are also my own record of my walks, and also some readers may enjoy a different perspective on the route.
We were staying at the excellent Old Inn at Carbost.
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Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
This was a great base for exploring the island, and it's also the nearest pub to Glen Brittle. It also has a great situation on Loch Harport - this is dawn on the first day.
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Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
We had enticing early-morning views ahead of the Black Cuillin while driving to Glenbrittle from the Old Inn.
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Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
With an excellent weather forecast for the day, we decided to have a go at one of our main targets for the week - Sgurr na Banachdich. The path from the Youth Hostel was very clear, and a branch path leading up to the right into Coire Eich was pretty obvious too. Air clarity was superb, and as we climbed we got wider views and more Hebridean islands kept popping into view.
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Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
A low sea-mist can be seen below the hills on the islands.
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Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
I was reminded of the Canadian Boat Song - and the sad history of the Clearances that seem written into all the hills around us.
"We are exiles from our father's land
From the lone shieling of the misty island
Mountains divide us, and the waste of seas;
Yet still the blood is strong, the heart is Highland,
And we in dreams behold the Hebrides."
This was a theme which would pick up again later in the week, when we walked to the former settlements at Rubh' an Dùnain. But for the moment, after a stony ascent at the back of the corrie, we came out on the ridge of An Diallaid, with great views all around.
First sight of Sgurr a' Ghreadaidh
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Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
Taking a stroll out along the edge of An Diallaid, with a view towards Sgurr Thuilm.
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Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
Looking up to Sgurr Thormaid and two of its Three Teeth.
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Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
The view north-west from An Diallaid. Macleod's Tables and the sea-cliffs of western Skye are in the distance.
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Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
Coire a' Ghreadaidh.
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Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
From An Diallaid, a broad stony flank rises towards the top of Banachdich. The volcanic moonscape reminded me of my visits to the Andes, and the lower slopes of the big volcanoes in Argentina and Bolivia.
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Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
Loch Brittle, Rum and Canna.
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Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
First glimpse of the spiky Coire Lagan skyline to the south.
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Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
A little higher on the ridge, and we had a good view of the twin tops of Sgurr a' Ghreadaidh, with Sgurr Thormaid below it. The faraway snowy peaks to the right of Ghreadaidh are, I think, Liathach on the left and the Loch Monar hills on the right.
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Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
While way to the south, Ben More on Mull came into view above Eigg and Ardnamurchan.
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Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
The summit - my first Cuillin summit!
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Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
Sgurr na Banachdich has two translations: Milkmaid's Peak and Peak of Smallpox. It was Dr Jenner who took note of the "common observation that milkmaids were generally immune to smallpox" (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Jenner). ;
Milkmaids were prone to the milder disease cowpox - Jenner developed a cowpox vaccine to immunise against smallpox. I wonder if there is a language connection between the two meanings in Gaelic?
(Jenner, by the way, is said to have "saved more lives than any other human" through his pioneering of vaccines and immunisation. More randomly, he was also the first person to realise that cuckoo chicks push other baby birds out of the nest.)
Views from the top - cue Canadian Boat Song again - this was indeed a dream like view, beholding the Hebrides. This is Loch Harport, the Duirinish and Trotternish peninsulas, and the Outer Hebrides all along the skyline, with the highest hills of Harris on the centre horizon.
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Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
Sgurr Dubh Mor. The snowy dome of Ben Nevis can be seen bit to the left of the centre skyline. Fainter, on the right-hand side, is Bidean nam Bian.
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Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
Loch Coruisk, Bla Bheinn and its satellites and the mainland.
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Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
A zoomed view of Bla Bheinn. On the left, the Mullardoch/Affric hills appear above Garbh-bheinn, and Ben Fhada is above Clach Glas. Sgurr nan Conbhairean, I think, is above Bla Bheinn's north summit and Mullach Fraoch-Choire and A' Chralaig above the south summit.
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Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
Looking south along the Banachdich ridge to the highest Cuillin peaks.
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Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
A wider view
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Setting off back down the hill, Sgurr nan Gobhar in the background.
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Descending the stony slopes back down in Coire Eich.
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More stones. There are a lot of them in the Cuillin.
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Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
Looking back: afternoon sun on the hills.
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Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
A waterfall and pool near the road.
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Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
Early evening sun on Coire Lagan, from the Glenbrittle seaside car park.
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Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
A trip to the beach - Loch Brittle.
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Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
Evening light on the Red Cuillin across Loch Harport, the perfect accompaniment to a pint or two of Skye Red. The dog, by the way, is not a real one.
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Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr
