The walk: Bla Bheinn, Isle Of Skye

Distance: 8 miles/13km

Time: 6-8 hours

AFTER fifty-two continuous days of rain on the Isle of Skye, the old Celtic Gods smiled kindly on us as we set off from the rough track between the Broadford to Elgol road and Camasunary.

I’d been making sporadic visits to the Misty Isle a few summers ago to make a documentary for the BBC and we’d been plagued by the weather, so much so that I was considering writing a guide to Skye’s cafes and coffee shops. But on this day we were blessed with that early autumn vibrancy that follows a frosty night and a clear sky. As we topped the low rise above the lovely bay of Camasunary the south ridge of Bla Bheinn rose to the sky in a series of rocky steps.

I was in the company of Alistair MacPherson, at the time the local land manager for the John Muir Trust, who own about 12,500 hectares in this part of Skye. He was telling me of the work he had been doing taking sheep off Bla Bheinn to allow regeneration of plants and woodland. He remained true to the party line but I suspected such an action must have caused a hint of remorse in someone whose grandfather was a shepherd on Skye in the early years of last century.

If he had any regrets Alistair didn’t show it but instead took delight in showing me some of the plants on the hill that, after years of browsing by sheep, are flourishing again. Better still he took my arm at one point, pointed upwards and said those magic words – golden eagle! This was the first of three golden eagles we were to see and this one was intent on showing off. It would spiral high then close its wings together and drop through the air like a stone, before spreading its wings again into another glide and upwards spiral.

The south ridge of Bla Bheinn not only offers a great route to the south summit of the mountain, it avoids the endless screes of the usual Munro-baggers route from Coire Uaigneich. It’s a dozen years or so since I last climbed this route and I was amazed how the path has developed, although I’m not surprised by its evident popularity. The views across to the Black Cuillin are astonishing – Alastair, a Skye man born and bred commented on its Tolkienesque quality and he was right, nowhere else in all the mountain regions of the UK can you witness such savage grandeur.

Bla Bheinn, 929m/3045ft, is the most southerly of the Red Cuillin and not only offers a splendid platform from which to gasp at the audacious outline of the Black Cuillin but also gives you the opportunity to appreciate the subtler curves of their pink-red neighbours. On a day of gusting winds and racing clouds I once struggled up the eastern ridge and broke the skyline just as the wind tore a great gash in the clouds. Through that hole the sharp, tortured peaks of the Cuillin appeared as crooked remnants of some hyperborean wilderness and through the roar of the wind I could hear something else. It was the cacophony of geese. Their music was clear, blending with the wind into a natural melody that had me trembling in delight.

Alastair and I reached the south summit in surprisingly quick time and saw the north summit, the true summit, only a short distance away. However, getting there is not straightforward. Between the two summits is a deep chasm, and the descent and ascent to the main summit involved a rough scramble, a fairly delicate traverse on wet rock and another short, but steep, climb to the summit cairn and trig point. Indeed, you have to do it twice for the best descent route from the mountain is down the slopes of the south peak to where a very eroded footpath takes you down to Coire Uaigneich and the path back to the John Muir Trust car park on the shore of Loch Slapin where we had left a car earlier.

For those who don’t have the advantage of two cars, you can return to the Camasunary track by following the Abhainn nan Leac from the bealach at the head of Coire Uaigneich.

Cameron McNeish

ROUTE PLANNER

Map: OS 1:50,000 Landranger sheet 32 (South Skye & Cuillin Hills); Harvey 1:25,000 Superwalker, The Cuillin

Distance: About 8 miles/13km

Approx Time: 6-8 hours

Start: Car park on B8083 Elgol road just S of Kilmarie (GR: NG545172)

Finish: Car park on B8083 near the head of Loch Slapin (GR: NG562215)

Public transport: None to the start

Information: Portree TIC, 01478 614906, www.isleofskye.com

Route: Follow the track that runs W then N to Camasunary. At a junction of paths continue N towards the S ridge of Bla Bheinn. Cross the Abhainn nan Leac and climb onto the S ridge. Follow ridge to S summit. Cross deep defile between the two summits by descending a short distance down a scree filled gully then traversing N to reach a narrow col. Climb to main summit and trig point. Return to S summit and descend SE down scree-covered slopes. Head NE into Coire Uaigneich and follow the eroded path down to the Allt na Dunaiche from where the path improves significantly all the way back to the Elgol road near the head of Loch Slapin.