Wilderness Harris I - 01/03/05

Harris day today, so go on the 10 o’clock bus down to Bogha Glas on the border with Harris. Driver raises his eyebrows when I ask to be dropped off opposite Aline Lodge [Ath Linne]. Trudge up the path towards Langabhat, and am overtaken by a snowshower on the pass, at 235 m. Oh, met my friend from Balallan Westend on the bus, she is going to the area around Toddum. Just beyond the pass, I leave the stalker’s track and veer off towards the vertical buttress of Creag na Clibhe. It’s a bogslog, but I finally reach the foothills before 12. I keep close to the rockface, well above Loch na Clibhe. Then it goes southwest to Cleit Earscleit, still keeping above the water of Loch Langabhat. Creag na Lubaig rears up above the southern bank of the loch, with Stuabhal above. Have lunch a little way south of the inflow of the Langadale River. There is an inlet off the river. Continue upstream, with a stunning mountain vista unfolding to the south. Right under Stuabhal (579m) the track from Kinloch Resort comes over the mountains. Unfortunately, the bridge has been washed away, so a crossing is out of the question. Shame. I head up the path towards Glen Vigadale, with Mulloch an Langa towering up above. Just before the summit, a cairn is found to be at the junction of two paths; one of them curves down towards the valley bottom. As I have loads and loads of time before the bus comes, I dawdle down the glen. It’s cold today, and as I take a break between 3 and 4, I am pelted with hail. The bus turns up at 4.05, in the middle of the roadworks. Sally and her companion are also on board, and I chat to them on the way back to Stornoway and Balallan.