Outer Hebrides
11 - 16 June 2007
Day One
We caught the afternoon Caledonian MacBrayne ferry from Uig on Skye to
Tarbert on Harris. It was sunny with a light wind so we sat on the
outer deck at the stern of the vessel with views of the west side of
Skye as we crossed The Minch. The crossing took just over one and a
half hours.
Day Two
Time taken - 3 hours.
Distance - 5.5 kilometres.
Height climbed - 650 metres.
Clisham is the only Corbett in the Outer Hebrides and this was my
client's reason for travelling to Harris as she was trying to climb
all these mountains.
The starting point was the A859 Tarbert to Stornoway Road at the
bridge over the Abhainn Mharaig where there was parking for a few
vehicles on the west side of the road. We set off in rain and wind
up the side of the stream but the rain soon ceased. We climbed onto
the south ridge of Clisham and into low cloud. We heard the alarm
call of the golden plover which was to be a common occurrence over the
next few days and had a sighting of the bird through the cloud.
On a couple of occasions the cloud briefly broke and we had views of
Taransay, Loch a Siar and West Loch Tarbert. The ridge was initially
grassy but higher up it became more rocky and narrowed. The summit
trig point and walled cairn was very obvious as it almost blocked the
ridge.
We sheltered inside the walled cairned for a coffee break before
returning to the start by the ascent route.
Day Three
Time taken - 3.5 hours.
Distance - 11 kilometres.
Height climbed - 630 metres.
I had the opportunity to travel to South Uist to climb the only Graham
on the Island, Beinn Mhor. I caught the early morning ferry from
Leverburgh to Berneray and thereafter headed south to Loch Aineort.
Quoted message said:From here I followed the North Aineort Road to its end where there is
some limited parking at a turning area.
A signpost marked the start of a footpath, which had recently been
improved, through a small forest and along the north shore of Loch
Aineort. It was sunny with lots of bird noises coming from the sea
loch. Further along the path a bridge and style were crossed and it
was at this point that the condition of the path deteriorated.
However due to a dry spell in the Outer Hebrides the boggy path wasn't
a problem. Further along I rounded an inlet where a group of
canoeists were camped. The strong north to north-easterly wind was
probably preventing them from heading back out to The Minch.
Beyond this inlet I crossed a wide open area of rough and potentially
boggy ground before a steep climb to Bealach Crosgard on the south
ridge of Beinn Mhor. Here I alarmed several golden plovers who
continued to follow me up the ridge.
It was very windy and cold on the ridge but the views made up for any
inconvenience. To the south was the Lochboisdale area, Eriskay and
beyond that Barra. To the east was the Island of Skye including the
distinct Cuillin, and across the Sea of The Hebrides to the Islands of
Canna and Rum. To the west was the very flat ground of the machair
and beyond that the Atlantic Ocean. It was a steady climb to the
summit trig point which was surrounded by a walled cairn. From here
the waves could be seen crashing onto the rocky east coast. I now
had views to the north of Beinn Corradail and Hecla which I would have
liked to include but I had the ferry back to Harris to catch.
The descent was by the upward route and lower down once out of the
cold wind it was a very pleasant walk out in the sun.
Day Four
Time taken - 7.25 hours.
Distance - 15.5 kilometres.
Height climbed - 1380 metres.
This was to be the longest day of the week's trip to the Outer
Hebrides, the ascent of the Grahams Tirga Mor and Oreval.
Despite Janice only being on Harris to climb the Corbett Clisham she
decided to join me on this Graham outing, probably because of the fine
weather. I doubt if she would have bothered if it had been wet and
windy.
We drove along the A859, the main road north out of Tarbert before
taking the B887 which ends at the beach at Hushnish. This is a
single track, winding road and I found a parking space just west of
Lochan Beag and east of Amhuinnsuidhe Castle, this accommodation being
a wee bit above my standard of living. From here we set off up the
track to the dam at Loch Chliostair. It was a sunny but windy day
and en-route we saw a hare dart across the track and disappear under a
large boulder.
On reaching the dam we crossed to its west side and commenced the
ascent of the south east ridge of Tirga Mor which varied from grass to
rock and was reasonably steep in sections. On the ascent we
frequently looked back across West Loch Tarbert, Loch a Siar and the
Sound of Taransay to the white sands of the beaches of West Harris.
The mossy summit trig point, which was surrounded by a walled cairn,
was eventually reached and here the views must be one of my Top Five
views from any summit in Scotland. In addition to the beaches
further south, we had views to North Uist and my previous day's
mountain, Beinn Mhor. To the west was the Atlantic Ocean and St
Kilda, to the north was the vast Isle of Lewis and to the east Oreval
and Clisham and across the water to the Isle of Skye.
It was a difficult decision to leave this summit, despite the cold
wind, but eventually we did and descended to the north end of Loch
Aiseabhat. On the descent we could see part of the overhanging cliff
of Sron Uladal. A sheep covered a large distance around us in search
for her lamb but we never saw it.
Quoted message said:From the loch we climbed towards Ulabhal and spotted a lone deer and
disturbed more golden plover. On reaching this summit we spoke
briefly to a lone walker. The walk continued along the ridge towards
Oreval meeting another two pairs of walkers going in the opposite
direction. The summit of Oreval had two cairns but it didn't
matter where we stopped as the views again were awesome.
The descent was over Bidigidh to Cleiseabhal where there was a trig
point and down some rocky ground to the road opposite Loch nan Caor.
Quoted message said:From there it was only a kilometre along the road to where we had left
the car.
Day Five
Time taken - 3.5 hours.
Distance - 7.5 kilometres.
Height climbed - 735 metres.
There was still a single Graham to be climbed on Harris accessed from
the same road as the previous day's walk but this time only as far as
the sea loch, Loch Mhiabhaig. Once again parking was limited on this
single track road. From the head of this loch we climbed over rough
ground to Uisgnaval Mor's south-west ridge where we came across a
Golden Plover's nest containing four eggs. Three deer higher up the
hill soon disappeared from view.
We disturbed more Golden Plovers as we ascended Uisgnaval Mor's south-
west ridge in the sun and strong wind. The ascent was mainly on
grass with the occasional rocky area with the final section along a
slight gradient to the cairn perched at the edge of a crag. The
views were good, although not as fabulous as day three as it was a bit
hazy and we couldn't see St Kilda.
The return was by the ascent route.
Day Six
After a mainly sunny week, except for day two, it was time to return
to Skye. It was a bit cloudy as we left Tarbert on the late morning
ferry which arrived in the Uig early afternoon.
Note:
Names on the current edition of the Ordnance Survey Maps for the Outer
Hebrides are in Gaelic which will be different from previous
editions. I have retained the English names for the Corbetts and
Grahams to avoid any confusion with reference books.
Photos taken on walk can be seen here:
http://www.caledoniahilltreks.com/gallery07/hebrides_june_07/index.htm
Apologies that there are so many to view. I did reduced them by
around half.
Lindsay
www.caledoniahilltreks.com