Our walk on the Isle of Skye

[Roeboe]

Our walk on the Isle of Skye...

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After completing the West Highland Way last year, which was my introduction to long distance hiking, I fell in love with Skye when we visited it on the last days of our trip.
Immediately I thought of hiking the misty Isle the year after and when I got home I started planning the trip! Only to be very unhappy when I broke my ankle a month later in a bike crash. After 2 surgeries I started my rehabilitation at new year, doing physiotherapy (self guided) 3 times a week and picking up hiking in the weekends.
The last did not go very well, my ankle hurted every walk, and the days after.

As the end of march approached, things started getting better and with some taping, my ankle would hold harder walks in the Ardennes (Belgium). I was still in doubt if I would be able to finish the Skye trail, but decided to try and if the ankle wouldn't hold, we would just make it a road trip.

So here the trail goes:

We left Belgium on Friday April 25th by car, hoping to catch the 17:10 bus to Rubha Hunish. After the ferry from Calais to Dover and a stopover at Scotch Corner (5h sleep) we arrived at Portree at 3pm (1500km) and were pretty tired. We left the car in the long stay car park and were just in time for the bus, as we had to load our backpacks with food and decide what we would and would not take with us.

The first night we stayed in the bothy at Rubha Hunish with a guy called Stuart. He would stay there for a few days, watching whales. We had wonderful weather, hardly any wind and a nice sunset.

Rubha Hunish by roeboe, on Flickr

Sundown Rubha Hunish by roeboe, on Flickr


After a long bothy morning we enjoyed the very nice sunrise before leaving for Flodigarry, I was the only one who was out of bed early enough to see a sea eagle!

Sea Eagle Rubha Hunish by roeboe, on Flickr

Sunrise Rubha Hunish 2 by roeboe, on Flickr

Rubha Hunish View Duntulm by roeboe, on Flickr

The first part of the trail felt very relaxed, we had a light breeze, blue skies and a good meal at the Flodigary Hotel.

Toward Flodigarry by roeboe, on Flickr

Flodigarry Hotel by roeboe, on Flickr

We then decided to hike further, up quiraing and camp there, since it was only 1PM and we were not feeling fatigued at all.

Up Quiraing by roeboe, on Flickr

Kristien Loch Hasco by roeboe, on Flickr

Quiraing Towards Trotternish View by roeboe, on Flickr

silhouette Quiraing by roeboe, on Flickr

By the time we were up Quiraing, my girlfriend (Kristien) was overheating (not my fault this one time) and our water was running low.

Quirang by roeboe, on Flickr

After a filter stop near the top (new sawyer mini filter) we put up our tent and went to sleep.
When we woke up the sunrise was fantastic, but soon cloud was rolling in and we decided to stay in the tent for a little while, we were ahead of schedule after all.

Top Quiraing Tent by roeboe, on Flickr

Top Quiraing Sunrise by roeboe, on Flickr

Kristien Sunset Quiraing by roeboe, on Flickr

Quiraing Morning Dew by roeboe, on Flickr

Mist Coming In Quiraing by roeboe, on Flickr

We left at 11AM, as we planned to only walk half the ridge and to wild camp near Bealach na leacaich and(where there would be a nice wall if the wind picked up) were in no hurry.
The first kilometers were in fog, but afterwards it cleared and we were walking in our t-shirts again, we had the best weather imaginable and wondered if we were in the wrong country.

Ruben Quiraing Towards Beinn Edra by roeboe, on Flickr

Sheep Skull Trotternish by roeboe, on Flickr

I tried contouring to make the walk easier for Kristien, but that took us a long time to go around Beinn Edra, and because of the tough going terrain, my ankle started hurting caused by the slope angle.

We were soon running out of water which meant I had to do the mans job and go down the bogs to find a water source.

Water seeker by roeboe, on Flickr


Finally by 6PM we reached the Bealach and were putting the tent up again, in dense fog!
Few hours later, I saw a couple walking by, with no map. They asked for directions and I advised them to camp nearby, since it was nearly whiteout conditions. I lend them my waterfilter, and boiled them a coffee, they were the first other walkers we met on the trail.

Bealach Leacaich by roeboe, on Flickr

Bealach Leacaich by roeboe, on Flickr

Dark Misty Night Trotternish by roeboe, on Flickr

The next morning, cloud was below the ridge, we were up early and heading for the Storr. We were both tired and suffered from the heat, the were not expecting that was possible in Scotland.

Tan lines & Quaker Oats by roeboe, on Flickr

Misty Morning Towards Storr by roeboe, on Flickr

Unknown Beetle by roeboe, on Flickr

Up Flasvein:
Top Flasvein by roeboe, on Flickr

At the bealach before the last climb up the Storr, I started to feel the last 6 months where I was working 12 hours a day, had no time for endurance training and was a little dehydrated. I also think the long drive and overall fatigue got to me and I was struggling up the hill, my heart pounding in my chest. I was happy we got to the top and a little further down the Storr we had a very nice picknick, eventually the sun came trough the low clouds and we walked down and decided to take the bus to portree and complete the last part from the Storr to Portree later.

Portree by roeboe, on Flickr

Old Man Of Storr by roeboe, on Flickr

Portree by roeboe, on Flickr

The next days we spent resting, eating and "rehydrating" at the Old Inn in Carbost, where we took refuge as the weather was turning. Remembering our great time up trotternish!

Loch @ Old Inn Carbost by roeboe, on Flickr

Guinness Old Inn by roeboe, on Flickr

Old Inn by roeboe, on Flickr

Cappucino with sides in portree:

Cappucino by roeboe, on Flickr

Millionaire Old Granary by roeboe, on Flickr

Yum Yum Old Granary Portree by roeboe, on Flickr

During our resting days we drove to Neist Point which has nothing to do with the Skye trail, bur for the photography lovers here goes:

Neist Point Lighthouse Cabin by roeboe, on Flickr

Wool by roeboe, on Flickr

Lighthouse Close by roeboe, on Flickr

Neist Point Lighthouse by roeboe, on Flickr

Eagles by roeboe, on Flickr

Soon it was time to restart the trail, the next part would take us to Sligaechan, there we would meet a friend who I met last year on the west highland way, he would join us for the remainder of the trail! The weather was very nice AGAIN but since I hate road walking we took the bus to Peinchorran and just continued from there. At the end of the Loch, we saw our first midges!

On the road again:
Portree Rest by roeboe, on Flickr

Portree Docks by roeboe, on Flickr

Sligachan by roeboe, on Flickr

Portree - Sligachan by roeboe, on Flickr

Rob's Perfect Mountain by roeboe, on Flickr

Ruben Loch Sligachan by roeboe, on Flickr

As you see we had nothing but time and took a lot of pictures, blue blue blue....

Loch Sligachan by roeboe, on Flickr

Loch Sligachan 2 by roeboe, on Flickr

Towards Sligaechan by roeboe, on Flickr

The campsite at Sligachan was nice but we did not like the food at the hotel. Nonetheless, we had a lovely evening meeting Rob and planning the days ahead. We were uncertain to take the path to loch coruisk, over the bad step or not.

Sligaechan Campsite by roeboe, on Flickr

The day after, we decided to let Kristien choose the route taken and again the weather was good but cloudy, the going was nice and she decided to tackle the bad step. (2 happy men)

Downhill Rock Slabs Coruisk by roeboe, on Flickr

Loch Coruisk by roeboe, on Flickr

The Bad Step ahead by roeboe, on Flickr

Bad step by roeboe, on Flickr

The path to Camasunary, past the bad step was horrible. The 3 of us were really happy when we arrived at the beach but not so happy to find the bothy occupied by a very large group of mountainbikers, so we camped on the beach.

Camasunary Bothy by roeboe, on Flickr

Camasunary by roeboe, on Flickr

The next morning, after a rainy night all rivers were in spate, we reckoned crossing the river would have been impossible today and a long detour would have been needed!

We left early, up the hill, and decided to go straight to Torrin (as there would be nothing in Elgol on Sunday) and find a camp spot there.

Rob led far ahead, but I found Kristien lagging behind, struggling to keep up and fatigued from the day before. And the pouring rain was not helping her bad mood. I tried unsuccesfully, with all my charm, to get her motivated.

We finally got to the road to Torrin and a camper van stopped and offered us a lift as we rounded the loch. As democracy goes, the vote was 2 to 1, I didn't want to stop and not finish the trail. We were back in Portree. Again, to return to the Old Inn in Carbost (as there were no vacancies nearby). After a nice meal, we dried our clothes, tents, sleeping bags and went to bed after to much Guinness. Not much photo's taken, fog, rain clouds,...

The day after we drove to Torvaig campsite and decided to finish the Storr to Portree section, a nice walk with the wind in our backs and nice dark clouds with little rain over the hills.

Portree Storr by roeboe, on Flickr

Rob Trig Point by roeboe, on Flickr

Towards Portree by roeboe, on Flickr

Wind was blowing fantastically hard in the back, which was nice and it took little effort going uphill!

Portree Storr by roeboe, on Flickr

Waiting for the bus back to Portree:

I Spy with my little eye... by roeboe, on Flickr

I still wanted to finish the Skye Trail, and the day after we stayed at Torvaig campsite, we drove to Kilbride where we left the car at Camus malag and finished the trail into Broadford.

I did not know what a nice stage this last one would be, including the cleared villages of Suisnish and Boreraig. When we arrived at Boreraig, the sight of the cleared village gave us an undescribeable feeling which would stay with us for a long time. We could sense what tragedy happened here. It would have been a nice camp spot and we were very sorry we did not have our camping gear with us.

Towards Boreraig by roeboe, on Flickr

Boreraig Cleared Village by roeboe, on Flickr

Rob & Ruben towards Broadford by roeboe, on Flickr

Toward Broadford by roeboe, on Flickr

We also drove to Elgol to enjoy the view over the Cuillins:

Elgol View Towards Black Cuillin by roeboe, on Flickr

Rum from Elgol Harbour by roeboe, on Flickr

Empty by roeboe, on Flickr

Lodge Elgol by roeboe, on Flickr

Elgol by roeboe, on Flickr

Camas Malag by roeboe, on Flickr

We celebrated our last evening together with Rob at Camus Malag and the day after we dropped him at Morvich where he would start his TGO challenge.

The Firemaker by roeboe, on Flickr

Dover - Calais by roeboe, on Flickr

Now back home, I'm planning the next adventure!

K&R Ferry Dover by roeboe, on Flickr

[writerwalks]

This is terrific! We are Canadian, and are thinking of doing the Skye walk next summer or around the Isle of Arran. Did you find the trails on Skye disappearing at any point (a lot of what I've read say in some parts they aren't really marked)? What guidebook are you using in these pictures? Thanks!

[floma]

Thanks for sharing these wonderful pictures.
We were on our way to Skye late October last year but changed plans due to bad weather, ended up walking the easier West Highland Way instead so Skye Trail is still waiting for us. Your pics are inspiring!
Dank U!
floma

[LDPWalker]

RoeBoe

Thanks for that - some splendid pictures for us to enjoy. Well done.

Roger

[Roeboe]

This is terrific! We are Canadian, and are thinking of doing the Skye walk next summer or around the Isle of Arran. Did you find the trails on Skye disappearing at any point (a lot of what I've read say in some parts they aren't really marked)? What guidebook are you using in these pictures? Thanks!

Sorry for the late answer, I used harvey's skye trail map, very useful. Also interesting is Cameron Mcneish's book and the cicerone Guide on the skye trail. A lot of the Trial is pathless and not signposted so a little experience in navigation is needed, especially in bad weather!