A long walk to Loch Coruisk
Originally posted in my WordPress blog 'Over the bridge and far away' in 2011; reflections on a spectacular winter walk when I lived on the Isle of Skye, 2007-2012.
This is without a doubt, one of the most spectacular walks on the Isle of Skye, and as coastal walks go, one of the most challenging. Once you’ve walked into Camasunary Bay the route skirts along the cliffs of Rubha Ban and Rubha Buidhe (White Point and Yellow Point) to the notorious Bad Step at Loch nan Leachd.
I’ve only done this once and it was February, one of those magnificently clear Winter days which are ideal for walking, if there isn’t too much snow or ice about. Broadford had been clear of snow but we encountered about a foot of it by the time we made it up to Am Mam on the Camasunary Path, dazzling our eyes in with the sun so low in the sky. We cut off the path for a quicker descent to the bay, anxious to ford the river without delay, while the weather was still favourable. The tide was out, which helped as we picked our way across, feeling the frigid cold of the water as it seeped in over the tops of our boots. Before us the black ribs of Sgurr na Stri ‘ peak of strife’ protruded through a blanket of ice and the needle point of Gars-bheinn beyond it reared up like the Matterhorn.We made our way along a thin ribbon of dirt track hugging the mountainside, often perilously eroded, as we rounded Rubha Ban. Once around the headland the path became clearer, easier and somewhat sheltered as it wound its way towards Rubha Buidhe. From here onwards the going became tougher and the trail required scrambling in places, over fallen slabs and boulders; a test of stamina and concentration. We were coming closer to our final challenge, the Bad Step; a sliver of a crack running up a massive slab of rock. The ‘step’ is just about wide enough for the edge of a boot in places and hands are required to haul your body along to firmer footing once you’ve cleared it. Brian went ahead of me and I quickly followed, placing my feet after his and taking care to shift my body weight inwards, keeping three points of contact between me and the rock-face and not look at the sheer drop below. I calculated that the fall would be survivable, about 20-30ft of a drop, but hypothermia would finish you off in minutes.
Once over the Step the path cuts on the inside of Rubha Port Sgaile to the neck of the Scavaig River, crossable by stepping-stones to reach Coruisk; Coir Uisge, the cauldron of water at the Cuillin’s black and heart. That day it greeted us, seething and storm-coloured, mirroring the icy daggers of the peaks. Quite simply a landscape more dramatic than any I’d ever encountered. The Romantics had a word for this; sublime, a beauty that is astounding and terrifying.
We did not linger, the journey back would take what was left of the daylight. Coruisk lingered with us though. A memorable day out.
