6. Bla Beinn (252) (19/08/2005) (P600 6)

The Black Cuilin The craggy summit of Bla Beinn Looking south east from Bla Beinn A glorious day on the island of Skye and what we thought would be a nice easy mountain to climb. It wasn't too long or arduous, but there were a couple of tricky bits, making the climb more nerve-racking or more exciting, depending on your viewpoint (I'm of the latter opinion). The path lead from the car park up into a fabulous corrie, where it became indistinct, but we found it again to the north a bit higher up, on the eastern shoulder of the hill. This climbed through the scree and up a steep gulley to the higher of the twin peaks and passed some jagged buttresses of rock along the way. There was a fine panoramic view of the whole Cuillin ridge from the top and we even caught glimpses of the islands of Eigg and Rhum through the whispy cloud. The journey to the south peak was a bit tricky, with one bit where one had to edge along a ledge. Once there we made our way down the scree slopes to the south. As the mist descended, the scene became quite Tolkienesque, the razor-sharp rocks being reminiscent of Emyn Muil. Here you get the bast view of the corrie, then retrace your steps down the original path. We were then attacked by armies of midge, which had been lying in ambush by the car, but this didn't spoil what was my favourite hill so far.