Coire nan Laogh

I love Sgurr nan Gillean! It is the ridiculously shapely pointy mountain at the north eastern end of the main Black Cuillin ridge on Skye, and is most often photographed from near the Sligachan Hotel. Why is it so good? It is a massive lump of Gabbro which is a volcanic rock with real grip, so much so it is like climbing on sandpaper - very unlike Basalt which is like soap when wet. To get to the summit by the simplest route requires an exposed grade 3 scramble to reach the tiny flat table at the top of the obvious point, and it has huge drops on nearly all sides. This place is just breath-taking. This shot was taken from the summit of neighbouring Marsco, looking across Gen Sligachan, in fairly typical 'interesting' Skye weather (a few minutes after this shot, Monty and I were pounded by a hailstorm....). To the left in this shot is the central part of the Cuillin Ridge, including Sgurr Dearg with it's shark fin silhouetted against the sky - the Inaccessible Pinnacle - now there is another day out to remember!.

Looking across from the summit ridge of Marsco to the quite wonderful peaks of Garbh Bheinn (left of centre), Bla Bheinn (right) and the little lump of Ruadh Stac. If you like hills, Skye is the place to come!

Success on Sgurr na Stri the day before meant that I had bonus days to tick off more minor Bucket List items. The first was Marsco, which is another very well placed mountain that is another superb vantage point to get a different view of the Black Cuillin of Skye. Marsco is the finest of the 'Red Hills', being 736 metres or 2414 feet high, with a very well defined summit ridge. This is looking along that summit ridge towards the south top. Beyond that is the pointy peak Garbh Bheinn which has a tiny summit table and big drops all round. Connected to it by the famous Clach Glas ridge is the brooding magnificance of Bla Bheinn, surely one of the finest mountains in these Isles. Following the ridge down to the right in this picture you get all the way down to sea level at Camasunary, Loch na Creitheach and the sea loch of Loch Scavaig. The little inconsequential bump centre right is Sgurr na Stri, and from here it is hard to beleive it is such an amazing viewpoint. On the far right is Gar Bheinn, the southern end of the main Black Cuillin ridge. As you can also see, we encountered some more usual Skye weather. The hail-storm over Garbh Bheinn and Bla Bheinn fortunately missed, but we did't stay lucky...

The rightly famous Black Cuillin ridge of Skye, as seen from the nearby Marsco.
In the centre of picture is Sgurr Dearg with its shark-fin ridge, the Inaccessible Pinnacle - climbing that is the most fun you can have with your clothes on! The craggy bulk on the left of the right of the picture with it's peak in dark shadow is Sgurr Nan Gillean, another of my very favourite mountains. God, I love Skye!