Follow the route used by pall-bearers to carry the dead from the Bays district over to the west side of Harris for burial on the machair. The return can be made using the old main road.
Bog Factor
Waymarked moorland paths and tracks. Return leg is on sections of old road and stretches beside the new main road.
Parking at the recycling bins or at the Bays Cafe, Leac a Li.
Bus from Tarbert or Leverburgh.
NG126929
The walk starts from the T-junction by the recycling bins at Leac a Li in the Bays area of eastern Harris. The Bays cafe is just along the road to the south; you can either park here if stopping for refreshments, or at the recycling bins. From the bins the route turns right up an old stretch of road, signed as a footpath to Ceann a' Bhàigh and Seilebost. The broken road passes a picnic table and then ends at a sheep fold. Take the path through the gate alongside the left edge of the sheepfold; it then continues ahead by a fence.
Eventually another path is reached at a T-junction; turn left here. Cross a footbridge and continue ahead, ignoring a stile over the fence on the left. The path continues by the fence before descending with a zig-zag to cross a stile and reach a white house. Cross a bridge and turn right alongside the garage. The next section of the walk follows an old coffin route by which the dead from the Bays district would be carried for burial on the west side of Harris.
The path is clear at first, and crosses a stile at one point as it passes above Loch Creabhat. Further on the going deteriorates, becoming very wet underfoot in places; the way is indistinct but still marked with the blue posts. The flat top of the Bealach Eorabhat will be reached with some relief as the going immediately improves and becomes dry underfoot.
The first distant view of the stunning Luskentyre Sands can be seen in the distance. The path soon becomes a track, running downhill past Loch a'Bhealaich and eventually reaching a T-junction with an old disused section of road near Loch Carran. Turn right here, following the old road until a stile leads down onto the modern, fast road. Turn right along the verge to begin the walk back.
Ignore the turning for Losgaintir on the left, and instead fork right after 1.2km onto a long stretch of the old road (signed for Laxdale Cottage). The old route leads past the cottage and passes to the south side of a series of lochs. At one point it leads through a working quarry - obey any signs here - before eventually rejoining the modern road. Turn right along this, and after a few yards fork left to walk along a second, shorter stretch of the old road. Rejoin the new road briefly before forking right onto another section of old road that cuts the corner and meets the minor road that - with a right turn - leads back to the start.
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