July 18: Day Hike into the Cuillins
This was the longest, most challenging hike of the trip for many of us, and we were fortunate enough to have spectacular weather for it: a fairly consistent 70 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny with a cool breeze. David, our Cuillin guide for the day, met us at the Bunkhouse in Carbost along with our bus driver, Stuart, a native of the Isle of Skye. We drove to an area known as Glen Brittle at the edge of Glen Brittle forest, which was where one group of us began our ascent into the Black Cuillin with David while the other group followed a level path out to a point along the edge of Loch Brittle.
On our way up into the Cuillins, David described some of the local flora and fauna—including the sea eagles and golden eagles that frequented the area. A short way up the path, we encountered the scenic Eas Mor waterfall and several peat bogs as we scrambled up the rocky path towards the ridge of the Cuillin. It was one of those rare, crystal clear days on Skye that allowed us see the outer Isles of Rhum, Eigg, Canna, and Muck as we climbed up to the Summit. We learned that Rhum is exclusively a nature reserve, and Eigg has belonged to the people of the island since a successful community buy out back in 1997.
We rested a while when we reached Coire Lagan, a body of water located in a circular hollow at the base of the infamous Inaccessible Pinnacle, surrounded by smooth volcanic slabs. The low route along the headlands above Loch Brittle took students out to the 19th century ruins of the ancestral home of Clan MacAskill. At the mid-point of their hikes, students in both groups wrote in their journals and sketched and photographed the western panorama across the Minch to the Outer Hebrides.
David, our guide for the Cuillin climb, discussed a variety of indirect routes up to the Inaccessible Pinnacle that would be difficult to discern without prior experience climbing the hillside. We watched with interest as several unsuspecting hikers blindly followed climbers whom they perceived to be more knowledgeable about the formidable rock formations ahead of us—only to find themselves stymied by the ambiguous paths that lay ahead at higher elevations.
At the end of the afternoon, both groups met up at the beach on Loch Brittle where many students swam or soaked up the sun prior to our bus ride back to Carbost. Everyone rose to the physical challenges of the day, and both hikes set the stage for Thursday’s ramble to the Fairy Pools, Skye’s most frequently visited natural attraction.
