So far, the rain had limited our adventures on Harris and Lewis but today was forecast to be mostly sunshine with patch showers - certainly the best weather so far. The morning was a hot one, so we took the opportunity to head to Luskentyre beach and enjoy the sun. Herbie and I had our eye on the
Clisham horseshoe but the entire ridge had been in cloud all morning. However, while we were having lunch on the beach, we watched as the clouds suddenly lifted. It's funny how a simple glance between two people can mean so much; we were straight into action - gear sorted and in the car heading back towards Tarbert. Just as we approached the parking bay at the side of the A859, the clouds reappeared and the heavens opened on us.
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| Herbie, ready to go! |
Undeterred, we merrily set off straight up the grassy slopes around Sron Carsacleit. Despite the rain, it was still rather warm; almost too warm for waterproofs... annoyingly warm. Herbie was super-excited, as this would be his first 'proper' summit in Scotland and he had been nagging me to take him up a hill for a while. As it was quite late in the day and the weather wasn't great, I knew we wouldn't be able to take in the entire horseshoe; instead we took the
direct route.
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| Heading into the Clisham boulder field |
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| Heading into the Clisham boulder field |
We were going well and we gained a lot of height very quickly and we would have had a great view... but unfortunately we were well and truly in the mist and cloud. Just over half way up, the gradient steepened and we entered into the Clisham boulder field. It was a little tricky picking our way through the large rocks but it didn't slow us down too much, but some care was needed as the rocks were wet and slippery. On exiting the rocks, I picked up a well-trodden path heading straight up the last steep grassy section. The wind had picked up and we were being buffeted a little so it was hoods up and heads down for the final push to the top.
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| Soaked - glad to be at the top of Clisham |
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| Clisham summit |
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| Herbie enjoying the rain at the top of Clisham |
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| Looking north from the summit of Clisham, Harris |
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| Looking south from the summit of Clisham, Harris |
We found a large drystone circle surrounding the trig point at the top - we also found more cloud, lots of it in fact. No view, but spirits were high; Herbie was well chuffed and I was proud that he had made it to the top with ease. We took shelter and had a quick snack and just before we started to set off back down to the car, the cloud started to lift and we were treated to spectacular views all around Harris and Lewis. The clouds stayed away for the descent back down to the road and we held the grins on our faces all the way down. A great day with great company.
