Huisinis, Glen Leosaid, Loch Ghlinne, Loch Cleabhaig, Harris, Outer Hebrides.
[20.5 km] Sun 14 Apr 2013

NA 9925 1205

I drove over the Clisham pass and took the minor road to Huisinis. It’s a single track road but I only met one car coming the other way. My plan was to do a walk in the walks guide book I’d bought last year. The guide is rather odd as it recommends parking on the B887 near the power station turn off, doing the walk and returning the same way. I realised the best way was to start at Huisinis where there is a car park, walk the 5 miles to the power station turn off and do a circular route.

This makes sense as there are no parking areas where the guide recommends starting. There was already a car parked in the car park and a camper van. The camper van occupant asked about the road conditions, which I said were fine. It was overcast, windy with a bit of rain as I set off along the road. I had about 5 miles to walk but it didn’t seem to take too long. A van driver even stopped to offer me a lift, which I politely declined. I reached the turn off and headed along the track as advised in the book. The power station was much smaller than I was expecting as I saw it in the distance.

The guide said to cross the bridge after a mile and follow a faint path. There was no faint path. I headed off across featureless bog to reach an old sheiling, croft ruin. Higher up I met the old original track towards the path. It was good walking and must have started some time after the bridge and not straight away as stated in the guide. Once on the old track the going was straightforward all the way up Abhainn Leosaid.

The higher I got the stronger the wind became. Over the summit I had a good view of Loch a Ghlinne followed by a steep descent. The way down was well made but eroded in places. Before the loch was an area of old crofts then I took the indistinct and rough route along the south side of the loch.

As I progressed the wind became even stronger and after the end of the loch I logged 32m/s (71.5mph) which is just on the limit of being able to stand up. I reached the sea shore and came across some more ancient crofts and large areas of old agricultural ridge and furrow remains. The Loch Cleabhaig appeared before me and I followed its south shore past the shooting lodge of Crabhadail. There is no obvious access to the lodge other than the path or boat from the sea and a short walk.

Caolis an Scarp from the high track

The path along the loch was under cliffs then a steep climb before an interesting traverse to an exposed pass that isn’t described very well in the guide. After a steep climb over sea cliffs I descended to a jetty and a sandy track back to the car park. By now the wind was so strong I was covered in sand when I got back to the car.