Sgurr Na Stri and Glen Sligachan, Isle of Skye
November 2016
This route is absolutely brilliant.The views could arguably be the best Mountain views in Scotland. The last day spent in Skye, with a long drive ahead, I had one last run. This route I knew was a must since I first seen photographs of The Cuillins and Loch Coruisk that were etched in my mind. I left for Sgurr Na Stri from Sligachan Hotel and followed the path through Glen Sligachan to the Summit and back the same route.
All the photographs in this collection were taken using my Sony Xperia Z5 Compact.
Bla Bheinn from Glen Sligachan
Sgurr Nan Gillean from Glen Sligachan
Glen Sligachan
The Cuillins from Glen Sligachan
The Cuillins from Glen Sligachan
The Cuillins and Loch Coruisk from Sgurr Na Stri Summit
The Cuillins from Sgurr Na Stri Summit
Suunto Ambit 3 Peak with view of The Cuillins having began from Sgurr Na Stri
I left for Sgurr Na Stri from Sligachan Hotel and followed the path through Glen Sligachan to the Summit. Early in the run a strong shower of hail was stinging by head and ears through my waterproofs hood which made me doubt the day was going to be ideal conditions. With a strong tailwind behind I thought I'd continue on and fingers crossed it would improve. I was thinking of how horrible it'd be to bail so early and face the wind head on to go back. Luckily this cleared and I got good conditions to run quickly for the first 7k knocking a good chunk of the routes distance away early and letting me stop to take photo's comfortably along the way. I spend this first 7k avoiding all puddles and doing myself proud hopping rocks on river crossing but finally accepted wet feet. The route up to the hill top is undergoing maintenance and had some good renewd sections i could get some solid running on. The first summit turned out to be a false one and Sgurr Na Stri lay further back. This path was a little rougher terrain and was very wet. The summit views were a little cloudy but I stayed for 10-15 minutes, with 5 minutes of hail and wind I hid behind rocks to have some food. The wait was worth it and got to see the full ridge, wider angle lens would have been brilliant. Descending and returning Sligachan Glen i had a pain in my left knee (blaming te da before when i saved myself from a fall fall in mud at Fairy Glen and hurt my knee at the time) which had me running differently to try and protect which was taking its toll on my legs however i found every time i stopped it got worse and that continuing to run it was loosening and improving. I met Jack around 2.5 km out on the trail from Sligachan and couldn't stop to chat as the knee wouldn't like it and I was closing in on the 3 hour goal I'd set myself. The last 2.5 km i ran the best I could which felt brilliant. Probably helped to have a mate to compete with to the end. I finished the run in 2 hours 55 minutes which I was pretty stoked about.
To see this run check out the link to my Strava profile at the top right of my page and I seriously recommend this run or to take a long hike out, definitely don't forget a Camera!
