Images (10)
Fieldnotes (1)

Images

Image credit: Mike Purslow

spencer Jul 11, 2016

Rum and Eigg

Image credit: Mike Purslow

spencer Jul 11, 2016

Eigg seen from Arisaig. An Sgurr L

Image credit: Mike Purslow

spencer Jul 11, 2016

Image of An Sgurr (Hillfort) by thelonious

29/06/2016 – The fantastic pitchstone ridge of An Sgurr. Not a bad place for a fort.

thelonious Jul 5, 2016

29/06/2016 – The impressive south side of An Sgurr. The photo shows the whole length that the fort wall encloses.

thelonious Jul 5, 2016

27/06/2016 – Summit area of An Sgurr (I didn’t go too near the edge!)

thelonious Jul 5, 2016

27/06/2016 – Steepest bit of climb on the actual ridge to the top. Red dots on the rock marked the best route up. The wall of the fort can be seen at the top of the photo.

thelonious Jul 5, 2016

27/06/2016 – Gully giving access to the ridge and fort

thelonious Jul 5, 2016

29/06/2016 – The eastern end of An Sgurr

thelonious Jul 5, 2016

29/06/2016 – The approach to An Sgurr

thelonious Jul 5, 2016

Articles

An Sgurr

Hillfort

thelonious Jul 5, 2016

27/06/2016 – Morning ferry from Mallaig for a few days on Eigg. The highest place on the island is the magnificent pitchstone ridge of An Sgurr. As the ferry gets closer to Eigg it’s hard not to be totally captured by the hill’s ever increasing dominance of the surrounding landscape. The walk from the harbour is pretty straight forward. Just head west and then follow the red dots marking the way on the track leading to the hill. Approaching from the east, the sheer sides of the hill makes access seem a near impossible task but follow the track along the north side and about 500 meters west of the top a small gully allows access to the ridge. It’s then just a case of following the red dots to the top. Nothing too technical but a small word of caution, the three sides of An Sgurr are sheer and it wouldn’t be a great place to be in the wind and rain. I have no head for heights and did find the feeling of exposure a bit hard work. The views from the top are amazing. Rum, Skye and back to the mainland, very good indeed.

There is not much to see of a fort on the top though, just a dry stone wall running north-south near the access gully, that cuts off the eastern end from the rest of the ridge.

It’s possible to make the climb to the top and back to the ferry on a day trip but if you can it’s better to stay over a few days on wonderful Eigg and take the whole place in. The hill is a special one. It’s been 10 years since I was last on Eigg so it was great to finally make it back to visit this hill. Fantastic day.