The Black Cuillin of Skye

I was last on Skye in May 2008. On a weekend that was both unnaturally hot and dry for Scotland's west coast I got my first taster of the infamous Black Cuillin of Skye. These dark, steep and incredibly wild hills are all that remain of the core of a long extinct volcano. Many of them reach Munro height and in 2008 I reached the top of three of the summits and got within metres of another two. I still have many hills left to climb on Skye and today I ticked another one off the list. Bruach na Frithe is considered the easiest of Skye's Munros.

A walk along the bank of the Allt Dearg Mor, a small burn which today had been choked by recent heavy rain, is followed by a hike through wild country below the northern end of the main Cuillin ridge. As I climbed up the path, the peaks at the northern end of the ridge - Sgurr nan Gillean, Am Bastier and Bruach na Frithe - were swathed in cloud spilling off the sea to the west. Above me ragged tears in the cloud allowed the sun to shine through, illuminating a tumbling waterfall on the allt.

After the walk up the path I headed up Bruach na Frithe's north ridge, a pleasant scramble up shattered rock that eventually brought me out onto the summit. I enjoyed fine views of the northern Cuillin before dropping back down by the easy route into Fionn Corrie, passing below Am Bastier and the impressive Bastier tooth, a pinnacle of black rock that presents a huge challenge to rock climbers.