Hills: Ben Meabost
Date: Friday 28th December 2018
Company: Just myself
Distance: c.5km, Ascent: 380m
Time: 2Hrs 15Mins
Prior to attending the Moray Mountaineering Club's
New Year meet in Kintail, I decided to head across to Skye for a few days.
As is often the case on Skye, on awaking this morning it was raining and the
cloud was down fairly low. The weather was however set to improve later in
the morning but leaving insufficient time to ascend anything substantial
e.g. something on the Cuillin ridge. I therefore opted to ascend one of my
seven remaining unclimbed Sub2000ft Marilyns on the island.
I have
wanted to ascend Ben Meabost, above Elgol, for a number of years but had
just never got round to it. I decided to remedy that today. I parked in the
small parking area at the start of the track which leads to Camasunary.
I followed the short track for several hundred metres until reaching a
gate in the fence running alongside.
Setting off along the track
which leads to Camasunary:
Once
through the gate I just headed up, which is generally a good plan when
wanting to get to the top of a hill
.
Looking
down towards Kirkibost during initial ascent:
It
was great to see the Cuillin ridge come into view but alas it was capped in
cloud. Would it clear as forecast?
The Cuillin ridge capped in cloud
and Bla Bheinn:
During the ascent I admired Bla Bheinn's South Ridge. It looks a really nice
route up the hill.
Bla Bheinn's South Ridge:
Once
above a short band of rock I progressed over numerous slabs and then short
grass towards the summit.
Ascending Ben Meabost via numerous slabs:
Looking towards the summit:
Ben
Meabost is a fairly good viewpoint albeit not quite as good as nearby Sgurr
na Stri which I really must ascend again on a better day.
Looking
back towards Bla Bheinn, Beinn na Cro and the Beinn na Caillich group above
Broadford:
Moody skies:
On
reaching the summit I stopped to take a few pics and posted one up to
Facebook and Twitter on finding I had 4G. Never get a signal down in Elgol.
View towards the Cuillin Ridge from the summit of Ben Meabost:
On
returning from the summit the cloud started to disperse providing better and
better views of the Cuillin ridge. I returned to the van via roughly the
same route.
The Cuillin Ridge:
The
Cuillin Ridge:
The
Cuillin Ridge and Bla Bheinn panorama:
After the walk I visited Elgol for a short time before returning to
Broadford. During the drive back I had to stop at Loch Cille Chroisd to take
a photo of the wonderful reflections.
Reflections at Loch Cille
Chroisd:
An enjoyable short walk providing great views with minimal effort.