On previous ascents of Sgurr Mhairi on Glamaig, Isle of Skye, I started from Sligachan, so on this visit I planned an easterly approach which avoided the scree, appeared easier and allowed me to include the Graham Top, An Coileach.
I left my car in the lay-by on the west side of the A87 just south of the Moll junction and the Sconser Golf Course. I walked a short distance south along the main road to a gate in a stock fence where the ground on the other side was rather muddy having been churned up by cattle.
Beyond this area I crossed some wet and boggy ground with traces of a walker’s path on the south side of the fence. The gradient later increased and it was a steep climb through the heather following the now more obvious path. There was lots of pieces of old rusty wire lying around waiting to trip up walkers.
The path passed to the south of some cliffs then the gradient eased as I crossed a grassy and mossy area which led to a gully full of loose stones and boulders. The winter’s rain and snow appeared to have made conditions here worse so I opted to climb through the rocks to the north.
Above there was more grass and moss as I continued to follow the line of old fence posts.
Some rocky ground was then encountered before arriving at the summit of the Graham Top, An Coileach, marked by a cairn.
It was rather windy here so I didn’t linger and descended south-west on rock and grass to reach the col with Sgurr Mhairi.
I then commenced its ascent on a path, mainly through grass, still following the fence posts. On leaving them to head for the summit of Sgurr Mhairi I was engulfed in cloud. On reaching the summit cairn I found a bit of shelter from the wind and waited for the cloud to lift but it didn’t, although I briefly had views of Loch Sligachan and Sconser.
The return was by the upward route although at the gully I descended through the rocks on the south side.
On the final section of the steep descent through the heather I spotted, just off the fence line, what I later discovered to be a Highland cow lying on its side. On investigating it appeared to have died recently while calving. There was no croft house or farm nearby to advise the owner of the cow’s demise.
- Time taken – 2.75 hours.
- Distance – 6.5 kilometres.
- Height climbed – 830 metres.