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Sub 2k Marilyns: Sgurr na Stri.
Date: 10 - 12/04/2019.
Distance: 23 km + 4.5 km.
Ascent: 800m + 90m.
Time taken: 7 hours, 30 minutes + 1 hour, 20 minutes.
Weather: Sunny and hazy with cold breeze.
Link to previous partWe had decided to abandon working our way north up the coast for a few days on Skye instead - there was a greater variety of walking here, and we had been looking at it all week from Applecross. Plus the weather looked reasonably settled for getting a couple of good summit camps in...
We finally departed the hostel in Applecross on Wednesday morning and swung by the Co-op in Kyle for a re-stock of supplies. By 2:30 pm, we were parked up at Sligachan for the walk-in to Sgurr na Stri.
Glamaig Both of us had
summit camped on this before separately (in fact we had both approached it rather unconventionally via Marsco
), but is was one we were both keen to camp on again. Jackie's camera had stopped working on her previous visit so she was keen to get some better photos than the ones from her phone. I did my usual messing around and we didn't get going until after 3pm. The weather had improved over the afternoon and was now a mixture of sweatily warm in the sun and rather chilly in the shade (or when the breeze got up).
Glamaig and Beinn Dearg Mo We soon saw off the tourists who tend to visit the first few hundred meters of the Camasunary path, after which we passed very few people. We weren't taking in Marsco today thankfully, and settled for a nice sensible walk along the path to Druim Hain.
Marsco 
Crags on Marsco 
Bla Bheinn 
Clach Glas and Bla Bheinn 
Zoom to Clach Glas 
Garbh-bheinn and Bla Bheinn 
Bla Bheinn We passed some mountain bikers descending from Druim Hain - they had been trying to reach Loch Coruisk but had run out of time. Probably for the best as their intended route on was around the coast via the 'bad step' - I don't think they were aware of how much carrying this would have involved! A guy with a dog was also headed our way with his tent - could be some competition for camp spots up there?
Sgurr nan Eag to Sgurr Alastair 
Jackie heading for Sgurr na Stri 
Crossing Sgurr Hain 
Loch Coruisk It was a bit of a slow, sweaty trek to the summit from Druim Hain - there is a path of sorts but it is faint, and we had both forgotten how far it was. We had gear and supplies for a couple of nights out as we were considering dropping to Coruisk and doing a section of ridge the next day (Gars-bheinn to Sgurr nan Eag), but I suspected this was a bit ambitious for Jackie just now. No harm in taking the stuff just in case though! I topped up on water at the last burn before the summit and by 7pm we had the tent up. No sign of the guy and his dog, even though he hadn't been far behind....he was concerned that his dog was tiring, but it looked like he had stopped just short of the top and its brilliant views. Oh well, we get it to ourselves then!
Bla Bheinn 
Out to Muck and Rum 
Rum from Sgurr na Stri 
Jackie on Sgurr na Stri 
Northern Cuillin from Sgurr na Stri 
Garbh-bheinn and Bla Bheinn 
Rum Although the air was chilly once the sun set, it was still a great evening to sit out looking at the Cuillin and out to sea. Sunset hadn't been that spectacular, but it was almost windless and we were on for a good sunrise, we suspected.
Tent up on Sgurr na Stri 
Out to Rum 
Coruisk 
Ben Meabost and Elgol 
Coruisk and sunset 
Sunset behind Sgurr Dubh Mor 
Sgurr Dubh Mor 
Summit camp 
Garbh-bheinn and Bla Bheinn We were up in time for sunrise, and despite the cold (even a smidgen of frost around), it was pretty good. Alpenglow on Gars-bheinn wasn't quite up to the standards of my last visit, but when the situation is this great, who's complaining?
First light 
Muck and Rum 
Sleeping bag cloak over Coruisk 
Sun up 
Rum 
Sunrise on Gars-bheinn 
Rum 
Coruisk 
East to the mainland 
Gars-bheinn 
Loch Coruisk 
Bidean Druim nan Ramh to Sgurr nan Gillean As it was a bit chilly, we went back to bed after the best of the sunrise and napped a bit longer. Strong sunshine on the tent woke us again to a glorious late morning. A party of 7 or 8 folk had hiked up from the Coruisk hut, but we managed to outstay them, drinking tea for hours. Finally at about 1pm, we were ready to head back - no Black Cuillin summits for us today
.
Gars-bheinn from Sgurr na Stri
Loch Coruisk 
Loch na Cuilce and Loch nan Leachd 
Gars-bheinn 
Loch Coruisk 
An Garbh-choire and Loch Coruisk 
Rum and Rubha an Dunain 
Other summit of Sgurr na Stri 
Across Loch Scavaig We headed back to the path via a memorial that I've often seen marked on the map but never actually passed - the walk out was a bit of a trudge even though the scenery was even better than on the way in. I think we're getting lazy
.
Dubh ridge and Loch Coruisk 
Northern Cuillin from the memorial 
Sgurr nan Gillean 
Garbh-bheinn and Bla Bheinn 
Bla Bheinn 
In Pinn 
Sgurr nan Gillean 
Sgurr nan Gillean and Pinnacle Ridge 
Am Basteir 
Dubh Ridge 
Pinnacle Ridge 
Basteir and Sgurr nan Gillean b
In Pinn 
Walking out to Sligachan _______________________________________________________
A look at the weather highlighted Friday night as another potential cracker, so we decided to do something a little more leisurely for Thursday night. Abandoning my car at Sligachan, we headed up to the north of the island for a night at the Lookout bothy.
The walk-in is a fairly straightforward 35-40 minutes along a path that I hadn't expected. We suspected this might be a busy so carried a tent with us. Good plan - the bothy has sleeping area for 5 or 6, and was already full. We could probably have squeezed in somewhere, but the tent seemed more appealing. We found a great spot not too far from the bothy on the cliff top.
North end of the Trotternish 
West from Rubha Hunish 
On the way to the Lookout 
Lookout Bothy 
Camping on Rubha Hunish 
Over the cliffs at Rubha Hunish Another good sunset, although the air was becoming increasingly hazy and the Western Isles were barely visible. We were lower down this evening, so slightly warmer.
Sun going down 
Sunset 
Jackie 
Sunset 
Sunset at the Lookout The following morning, we had a leisurely start and inspected the bothy before walking back out to the car and taking a leisurely drive down past Kilt Rock to the next of our summit camp plans...
Hunish from the Lookout 
Inside the Lookout 
Lookout Bothy 
The Lookout 
Kilt RockLink to next part