Friday May 7 : Sgurr na Banaichdich

Today we would try to reach the summit of Sgurr na Banachdaich, one of the easier Munros. That's familiar terrain for me but it will be Gillean's first Munro. The track starts directly opposite of the Youth Hostel and passes a waterfall very close to the edge of the little ravine. Just before the 2km mark, where two steppingstones are used to cross a little stream, the path forks. If you stick to the main path alongside the Allt a Choire Ghreadaidh you'll end up at An Dorus to scramble either Sgurr a'Ghreadaidh on your right or Sgurr a'Mhadaidh on your left. We followed the path into Coir' an Eich.

The slog up the nasty scree underneath An Diallaid was tiring but we managed to catch up with 4 other walkers who were so kind to take a picture from me and my son at An Diallaid. At that moment Gillean had never been at that altitude.

The views of Sgurr Thormaid and Sgurr a' Ghreadaidh were great.

We soon continued our now easier walk to Sgurr na Banachdaich. The summit was reached after 2 hours and 45 minutes. Congratulations to Gillean for summiting his first Munro at the age of 11. I was 36 when I bagged my first Munro (Ben Nevis).



His first Munro, Sgurr na Banachdaich



Ledges leading to Sgurr Dearg

A cold wind was blowing so we put on our jackets before having lunch. Three of the 4 walkers we met were continuing to Sgurr Dearg and I fancied joining them but Gillean didn't so we joined the fourth walker and baktracked to Choire an Eich.

At 15.30 we reached the waterfall near the YH and spent more than an hour playing with rocks and water.

A very satisfying day.

Thursday May 6th : The Old Man of Storr and The Quiraing

From Glenbrittle YH it was a 45 minutes drive to the the parking near The Old Man of Storr. This day meant new territory for me. I had never been here before but had seen it several times from the summits of the Black Cuillin. Low clouds shrouded the rockformations of the Trotternish peninsula. We started walking and soon came out of the little forest underneath The Old Man. The man himself wasn't visible although we were right beneath the rock itself. Visibility was down to 20 yards, sometimes less. Quiet. And spooky.
My son and I soon went into the labyrinth behind the Old Man and Needle Rock, despite a sign saying not to proceed because of possible rockfall. We're Dutch so we proceeded.

Routefinding didn't proof difficult despite the mist and rockfall didn't occur. We enjoyed this mysterious world of strange formed rockformations in a silent white world. As we reached the southwestern end of the corrie, after some tricky bits of path, the clouds had risen and were slowly resolving. We walked along the edge of the forest back to the main path. Tourists were already gathering in the sunshine to take the obligatory photograph with The Old Man in the background. The carpark had completely filled up. Our next destination was to be The Quiraing.

We parked near the graveyard and walked upto The Prison and soon passed the Needle and The Table. We abanded the idea of climbing upto The Table, a large flattopped rock big enough to play a footballmatch. Too much loose scree would drain our energy in the by now warm afternoon.

We returned to our car via a path leading to the viewpoint and massive carpark at NG 440 679. The views towards Staffin and onwards to the mainland are indeed grand.

Wednesday 5 May : to Glenbrittle and Coire Lagan

This morning started with an overcast but while driving to Kyle of Lochalsh the higher clouds dissolved. The hills around us - having their own weathersystem - kept their blanket of clouds. Despite major road maintenance on Skye we reached Glen Brittle YH at 9.45am. Enough time to check in and put on our walking clothes.

Our goal today was Coire Lagan, a relatively short walk but still wetting the appetite for more hills. This was going to be Gillean's first hillexperience. His previous heightrecord stands at 160 meters.

The track started at the Mountain Rescue building and we soon caught up with a group of - excusez le mot - tourists. To Gillean's delight one of the members of the group turned out to be a Dutch woman. Someone else to talk to instead of dad !

From Loch an Fhir-Bhallaich we saw the Rubha an Dunain peninsula covered in very low clouds while we were walking in glorious sunshine. Coire Lagan itself was also hidden in clouds. Negotiating the vulcanic slabs just before entering Coire Lagan itself turned out to be a doddle for Gillean. His first wee scramble and he was ahead of us all on the lovely gabbro.

In the picture you can spot Gillean at the edge of the lochan just left of the big boulder. The low clouds added to the mysterious feeling of being at a sacred place.
We had lunch and a walk around the wee lochan before returning to the youth hostel.
I think Gillean did very well today and tomorrow we'll be going to The Old Man of Stoor and The Quiraing.
I've never been there myself and hopefully Gillean will experience some more of Scotland's mysterious touch.   

Tuesday 4 May : arriving in Newcastle

Yesterday we left from IJmuiden harbour in The Netherlands. The sea was quite rough and during the first hours big waves were crashing the ship from the north. The 'King of Scandinavia' from DFDSSeaways is a big ship but the movement of the ship did put another dimension to walking. One big step forward, two to the right and other variations. Gillean and I didn't get seasick and we slept well regarding the circumstances.
This morning we arrived in sunny Newcastle upon Tyne. Our goal was Ratagan YH near Shiel Bridge. We started driving at 9.45am and followed the A1 towards Edinburgh. Of course (?) it started to rain as soon as we crossed the border with Scotland.
At 4pm we arrived at Shiel Bridge, it had dried up and there was occasionally sunshine.
Tomorrow we'll drive to Skye.  

7 days and counting

Next Monday we'll be leaving Holland. We is I and my 11 year old son Gillean. Our ferry leaves IJmuiden on the third of May at 6 o'clock in the evening. On Tuesday we'll arrive in Newcastle and drive to Shiel Bridge to spend the night in Ratagan YH. The next day we continue driving all the way to Glen Brittle, Skye, and hopefully do some good walking in the Black Cuillin. We'll be there for 5 days after which we'll move onto Glencoe for two days and after that another two days at Loch Lomond YH. The Cobbler will be our main hill over there. The longterm weatherforecast says 'unsettled', so everything is normal.

Have you noticed ....

.... this colour in the sky ? Without any condensation stripes from aeroplanes at all !
No noise from planes on a sunny day. Incredible. I live roughly 30km from Schiphol Airport where 45 thousend people arrive or leave (or do both) every day.
Thank you Volcano !

All dressed up ...

Just to show my favourite shade of green.