Marvellous Morar Marylin

On Saturday John and Ann had recovered enough from an appalling journey west on Thur evening to drag themselves up the tongue-twistingly monickered Sgurr Eireagoraidh. This fine 548 m Marylin is just east of Mallaig and on the southern edge of Loch Nevis, the southern boundary of Knoydart.

Sgurr Eireagoraidh from the approach path

The first km or so was on a surprisingly good path to a small picnic spot. After that normal service was resumed and it was a semi-trackless wander through the bog, despite a path being shown on the map. This followed the line of what looked like an old water pipeline that we guessed must have supplied Mallaig. As we got closer we abandoned the path-quest and went straight up the front of the hill to the summit. This was interesting with some nice bits of gully, some scrambling and two eagles keeping their eyes on us.

Looking west from the summit to Eigg

The view from the top was stunning in all directions, depsite the heavy squally showers all around. We were glad we had headed west rather than sticking it out around the Ben.

The view down into Inverie bay

From the top we headed north east, to the peak of Sgurr an Eilein Ghiubhais for the best views down Loch Nevis and of Inverie. Another fine vantage point and time to head back down through the bog. It almost made up for this being the first time for four years that I hadn't managed to ski on my birthday weekend. I was trying to enjoy the irony that of any year it could happen it was this one, given the performance before Christmas.