Skye Weekend

When good weather blesses Skye it really is the best place on earth – and we were very lucky to have sun and blue skies for the weekend of 2/3rd June.

A small gathering arrived at my house on Friday evening – Shona , Graham - who arrived via sgurr nan eugallt at kinloch Hourn, Ali, my friend Marina and myself. A few refreshments later, plans were made to do a traverse of Glas Bheinn from the north near Luib over to the southwest at Torrin. Shona and Graham had the hill to bag, but I was very keen to investigate the ‘marble pools’ on the way down which I had been told rivalled Skye’s famous ‘fairy pools’ but were a long kept Skye secret from the tourists !

We headed out after a leisurely breakfast with Graham giving us some fascinating ornithological input en-route. We disturbed a nesting greenshank family on the ascent, among other birds (names of which have eluded me, apologies) and we also saw a golden eagle on our descent !

A short couple of hours later saw us lunching on the summit.....

.....joined by the joyous midgies, so we didn’t hang around sun bathing for too long. Graham peeled off once we reached the bealach with Belig as he had to return to aberdeenshire, and the rest of us carried on down towards Torrin, picking our way through the scree as we made trail. Despite being popular and busy in the summer, Skye has many quiet glens and this was one of them – wonderful!

We approached the start of the marble pools and were greeted by a fantastic hot-tub shaped pool high up in the corrie and, with Graham safely out of sight, it was time for a ladies only dip.

The water was amazingly mild we sat there enjoying the moment for a good while – very rare to have the water so bearable here !

Reluctantly we dressed and continued down the side of the river past pool after pool after waterfall, green from the clear water and the marble rock, delighted to have found this stunning area of peaceful beauty on a busy island ! The only other person we saw was a naked man also enjoying the solitude in a pool half way down – naturally we passed by without looking, shyly shielding our eyes from the very sight.

Supper was sausages on a makeshift bbq outside the house to enjoy the sunshine and views.

The evening found us at Skye Guide’s recently renovated Basecamp hostel. This is run by Mike Lates and other Skye Guides, and is a great resource to Broadford, where I and other musicians go of a Saturday night to play music and socialise with the tourists, locals and climbers alike.

A very quiet night was had, with a few cups of tea….

The next day Shona and Ali headed off to conquer Beinn Loinne in Kintail.

As Monday was a school holiday, I headed off with Archie + pals...

....for a night at Coire Fionnaich Bothy just east of LochCarron on the path to Maol Cheann Dearg – perfect weather with sun and a breeze for a beginners bothy night.