Home

10%

The Skye Trail

Bits and pieces of the new Scottish classics

By Northern Adventures

Introduction

(Sun June 2nd - Fri June 7TH, 2019)

The Skye Trail, a recently introduced long-distance hiking trail across the largest island in Scotland's Inner Hebrides, the Isle of Skye, winds from Rubha Hunish in the north along the Trotternish Ridge and past the Cuillin to Broadford in the south.

Rather than a traditional hiking route with tens or even hundreds years of history, this journey is a well-crafted connection of day hikes, various footpaths and even minor roads put together in the admirable effort of creating a single long-distance trail across Scotland's most iconic island.

This, in fact, implies two things. First, there are beautiful walks forming parts of the Skye Trail since much effort has been put to include "the best" of the island into the route, however unavoidably there are also less interesting sections that serve rather as "connections" between these more adventurous day-hikes. Second, the instituted trail naturally leads to popularity of such an island crossing, with increased number of hikers who (unlike us) want to check "have hiked it through" mark on their hiking list.

With Lukáš and Filip, we originally intended to through-hike the trail, planning to stay in B&Bs or hostels along the way, thus combining day-hikes with evening beers and tasting local cuisine (our favourite way of hiking these days 😊). Nevertheless, the weather was firmly against it, and we had to do a few compromises.

The trail is often being described as not marked, requiring navigational skills, stamina and self-reliance, and thus suited for experienced hikers only. Though this may be true in the Trotternish Ridge crossing and the infamous Scottish weather cannot be underestimated neither, at the end of the day one realizes that the rather compact island cannot posses real danger or high risk to those with some decent experience and sound judgement. Yet, there have been people who had to be rescued from this trail (this even happened during the week we were there)...

Day 1: From Rubha Hunish to Flodigarry

We used a KLM-operated flight from Prague to Inverness via Amsterdam, followed by a 3,5-hours long bus journey to Portree, Skye's "capital".

Having spent an Airbnb night in this picturesque small town, we took a taxi to the northern part of the peninsula, getting off not far from the ruined Duntulm castle.

We followed the coastal path right from the beginning, observing ruins of Duntulm castle occupying its prominent position on a crag by the sea.

After a while, our path started to disappear, and we begun gently ascending north-east, soon joining the well-trodden "official" Skye Trail path proper.

Frequent rain showers were passing by as we gradually ascended further, eventually reaching the Lookout Bothy - a tiny open shelter maintained by volunteers from the Mountain Bothy Association, which was unfortunately under reconstruction after recent storms.

With constant rain showers and strong breeze, we were not really tempted to explore the Hunish headland below us, and continued hiking in the eastern direction towards the small settlement of Balmacqueen, passing the ruined St. Moluag's church along the way.

Brief moments of sunshine encouraged our spirit, and after some effort we finally reached Skye's eastern coastline, with unprotected cliff edge and unexpectedly stunning views of the rugged coast with basaltic columns twisted into strange shapes.

The subsequent wandering blessed by continuously improving weather was a delight as we gradually progressed along the cliffs, with wonderful views in both the directions.

The route tended to be boggy in places, however still quite manageable, and jumping across one of the water streams was an interesting unharmful exercise.

We had lunch on the top of a small hill (marked as viewpoint on our electronic map) with a prominent ruined building; besides fine views and the ruin giving at least partial shelter from blowing winds, a pitched partly torn camping tent was a strange treasure we discovered here, and to make this stop even more interesting, we also met a fellow Czechman here who was trying to do his best when circumnavigating the island on his motorbike.

The last miles to the Dun Flodigarry Hostel were straightforward and easygoing, and we soon found ourselves enjoying ice-cold beers in front of the hostel.

The (overpriced) Skye restaurant in the nearby Flodigarry Hotel was so busy preparing meals for their hotel quests that it couldn't accommodate us; at least this is what we were told. Has to be said we anyway wouldn't fit with our dirty hiking clothes into its wannabe-posh setting ;-).

Instead, tuna spaghetti with cheese and ketchup prepared from the humble supplies of the hostel's grocery store formed the evening's highlight, together with a few more beer rounds that naturally followed 🍻.

Day 3: The Trotternish Ridge

Where did the second day go?

Well, we periodically checked the weather forecast for the upcoming day during the evening spent in the Dun Flodigarry Hostel, however only to realize it's becoming worse... and even worse than bad.

Ferries to Outer Hebrides were cancelled, and constant rain with gale-force winds were forecast.

Our judgement of the situation was swift and sound: there is no point to try our luck in the 28-km long Trotternish ridge crossing.

Instead of that, we tried to pursue Stage 3, from Old Man of Storr to Portree.

So, with the rainy and windy weather already settled in, we got off the morning bus from Flodigarry at the Storr parking lot (to some decent amusement of fellow bus passengers and the bus driver), and after a kilometer or so of hiking we realized it would be just a pointless exercise to try to make it further; this was one of those moments where one realizes it's fur much more important to enjoy the trip than just to do the hike for any cost - and that's why we took a taxi to Portree to spend a well-deserved resting afternoon in the lovely Portree Independent Hostel with a bottle of single-malt 🥃👍.

In the morning of the next day, we got on a morning bus from Portree to Flodigarry, and got off at the Loch Langlaig lake to finally pursue the almost 30-km long Trotternish ridge crossing.

Unfortunately, the weather still didn't look much promising, although not much rain was forecast and there was even some sunshine promised for the afternoon. Anyway, this was the best in terms of weather we might get, and so we set out on the trail without hesitation, swiftly ascending well-maintained footpaths below the iconic rock formations of Quiraing.

Intermezzo #1: Quiraing during a sunny day

In June 2009, I took part in a road trip across Scotland with a few friends of mine.

We spent two days on the Isle of Skye, and visited the Quiraing area for a short walk around.

It was nice to revisit photos from those old days, also to realize it's possible to avoid constant rain and wind when in Quiraing! 😊

Having reached the Quiraing pass with a narrow tarmac road and a small parking lot, we continued hiking on the opposite (northern) side, passing a false summit on a grassy platform before a short descent and subsequent final climb to the summit of Bioda Buidhe.

In improving weather, we were rewarded with good views over Staffin Bay and the Quiraing during our short lunch stop on the mountain top.

Steep descent that followed took us to Bealach Uige from where the long, steady climb ahead up the flank of Beinn Edra was seen. Its summit at 611m was not visible until the last minute but offered some great views when we finally reached it.

Then, a series of ups and downs followed as we continued walking at the escarpment line of the ridge, passing numerous peaks along the way (mostly with stunning views of the Trotternish ridge and the northern part of the island).

From the summit of Hartaval at 669m, which was reached after a short but steep climb, we descended again to Bealach a' Chuirn with some rocky outcrops which were easily skirted round.

The path disappeared in the valley, however having gained some altitude on its opposite side it was not difficult to hike on the slope back to the northeast, finally founding a few footpaths below the Storr peak on its eastern side.

Further round the path descended to finally reach a small hill offering the classics view of the Old Man and the nearer Needle rock, backed by the Storr Lochs.

Things became crowded here, also thanks to the improved evening weather.

Continuing downhill turned out to be a ridiculous endeavour: with our dirty hiking clothes after a near 30-km long hike, we were meeting people in their white sneakers, cowboy hats, designer trench coats, short skirts, you name it... such is the Instagram power these days 😉.

We took a taxi back to Portree's Independent Hostel, and after a necessary shower we went out hunting... for a free place in a restaurant!

This deserves an explanation. Back in June 2009, we found Portree being a small laidback town, certainly with a few tourists and hikers around, however with their numbers well within norms and expectations. In June 2019, however, the situation was completely different: with accommodation capacities being 99% booked out, evening streets were full of hungry visitors... who struggled hard to find a pub with free tables to have dinner at!

Most of the harbour restaurants operated on the "first come first serve" basis, reasonably realizing reservations wouldn't really improve their business - simply, it was packed throughout the evening! The unlucky souls who hoped for dinner after 8PM may have ended up in one of the two Indian rip-off places; early birds having their dinner time set for 5PM were lucky, and 6PM time also seemed to be a safe option (naturally counting with a 30-60min waiting time).

The Pier Hotel restaurant we visited three times had - besides really tasteful seafood and a few other meals - a tangible advantage: the Pier Bar located just across a small corridor, a place which proved to be a fine albeit a bit worn waiting place for the restaurant, serving different beers and other drinks. As a plus, the bar was frequented by locals (mostly fishermen, often drunk) - frankly, it was just impossible to understand their thick Scottish accent, maybe also due to the fact they were often switching to Gaelic...

Three evenings we spent in Portree were lovely, especially the last one after the Trotternish ridge crossing.

We learned that couple of hikers had to be rescued from the Trotternish ridge yesterday (the day with a really bad weather) - their tent was torn apart by gales, and with persisting heavy rain and even with some minor injury, they had to call 911.

Later, we were wandering - wasn't it better to spend a lazy afternoon over a bottle of single malt instead of hazardously challenging ourselves in a risky attempt of the Trotternish crossing, battling unfavourable weather just to prove "we can make it"? Well, for us the answer was clear 😊.

Day 4: From Sligachan to Camasunary bothy

In the Portree Independent Hostel, we had a short chat with its owner (?) about the Skye Trail. Apparently being an avid hiker, he was pretty clear about the Stage 4 (from Portree to Sligachan), shouting "why would you do that??", "it's a fu***ng roadwalk!!!" in his typical Scottish accent.

There was not much more to say or think about, and we swiftly focused on the subsequent route from Sligachan, carefully observing a promising rainless window in the otherwise wet weather forecast.

We took a midday bus from Portree to Sligachan, resisted the temptation to have a beer in the local Sligachan brewery, and set out on the trail from the Sligachan Hotel across the Dunvegan road and the old stone bridge following the path up the Glen Sligachan.

The path continued clearly up the glen, although it became stonier and boggy in places. There were fine views of Sgurr nan Gillean to the west and the Red Hills and then Marsco hill to the east. The path crossed numerous small streams, and after 3 km or so reached a larger one - the Allt na Measarroch; even this stream was not difficult to be crossed over, in fact.

Having reached the pass in the middle of the long glen where two small lochs came in view to the west, we had quick lunch hidden behind a few boulders partially protecting us from the blowing wind. Luckily, there were still no raindrops falling on our heads despite rainy clouds moving frantically above us.

The path then forked at a large cairn, with the right fork heading up towards Sgùrr na Stri hill and further to Loch Coruisk. With low clouds and forecast rain, we took it easy and followed the left fork further down the glen, admiring the views of the mighty Blà Bheinn (Blaven) peak.

After some easy effort we finally reached the beautiful Loch na Creitheach lake, and eventually the flat green land at Camasunary. The main private house here serves as a fishing lodge as we later learned, however we kept walking to the Camasunary bothy that we entered just when it started to rain again. I recall we had three German and two Dutch hikers as our easy-going company in the recently-built stony and cosy hut.

Day 5: From Camasunary to Elgol

The rain was about to cease during the morning, and knowing that the remaining part of Stage 5 to Elgol is just a short walking stretch, we wanted to explore the beautiful and rugged surroundings of Camasunary before moving out, hoping for some nice views.

After looking at our map and observing the landscape, the mighty Blà Bheinn came as a natural choice, though it was clear we won't be able to make it to its top - it's a fairly long climb and clouds were anyway lying still quite low which would obscure further views.

We made it halfway; elevation around 450m.

Here, even with moving clouds and limited visibility of the Cuillin range, the views were stunning, encompassing the long Loch na Creitheach to the north and the Camasunary bay (Loch Scavaig) to the south.

We spent half an hour here on a small flat viewing platform, and then retraced our steps back to the mountain bothy - a perfect three-hours hike.

The path from Camasunary towards Elgol was well trodden and easy to follow, yet interesting enough and providing some really nice coastal views.

First it climbed a little across a hillside and crossed a stile over a wire fence. A short rocky section above a steep drop followed, and after a couple of kilometres the path passed above another steep cliff, at times a bit perilously close to the edge. Soon, the path descended to the rocky bay at the foot of the Glen Scaladal.

Beyond the glen, the path climbed again to a bit vertigo-inducing section, before leaving the edge of the cliffs and eventually emerging through a gate onto a lane at the top of Elgol village.

We descended down the village "centre" where we got some luck in the still-open tea shop (no beers, unfortunately, however delicious coffee and pastries). Then we returned back uphill to our Airbnb accommodation, offering beautiful views, friendly owners and relaxed atmosphere. Delicious dinner, a few rounds of beer and finally a single malt tasting followed 🍲🍺🥃😊.

Intermezzo #2: Loch Coruisk from Elgol

Back in June 2009, we took our chances and set out on a short boat trip from Elgol to Loch Coruisk; the weather was much better than we encountered in 2019, and the trip was enriched with seal spotting and a short walk on the shores of Loch Coruisk.

Day 6: From Torrin to Broadford

To put it frankly, we became somehow lazy in Elgol. We didn't want to camp the next day (actually we hadn't used our tarp during our journey yet), and the stage from Elgol to Torrin didn't look appealing either.

So, we took a morning bus, get off in Torrin, and opted for the Stage 7 (the last stage of the Skye trail) instead. Retrospectively, it was a wise choice: beautiful sunny weather that rolled in around midday suited the unspoiled coastal walk pretty well.

First, we followed a minor road from Kilbride leading to the sea shore at Camas Malag. From here a 4WD track headed gently uphill to the south; looking back, we enjoyed sublime views of the southern end of the Cuillin, Blà Bheinn and the Red Hills, now almost without clouds cover.

After 3km or so the track reached the former settlement of Suisnish, passing remains of a much more recently ruined house on the right and remains of crofts.

The population of Suisnish was forcibly removed as part of the Highland clearances in 1853. The WalkHighlands site has the following to say - the geologist Archibald Geikie was visiting the area at the time of the clearance, and his recollection is rather touching: 'A strange wailing sound reached my ears... I could see a long and motley procession winding along the road that led north from Suisnish... There were old men and women, too feeble to walk, who were placed in carts; the younger members of the community on foot were carrying their bundles of clothes... while the children, with looks of alarm, walked alongside.... A cry of grief went up to heaven, the long plaintive wail, like a funeral coronach, was resumed.. the sound re-echoed through the wide valley of Strath in one prolonged note of desolation'.

From Suisnish, the footpath continued eastwards below high cliffs; most of the way we followed a beautifully graded path as it was originally the main route to Boreraig, with several fine waterfalls cascading down from the black slabby cliffs.

Eventually, we reached the first of the ruins in Boreraig, and continued a little bit further on the path to cross a stream by a stone slab bridge just above the shore - a beautiful place, very suitable for a prolonged lunch break we took here.

Boreraig was a fertile, sheltered and beautiful spot in the past, with abundant livestock (cattle, sheep) and lovely coastal atmosphere.

Nothing in this idyllic scene except for the ruins reminded us of the horrific past of this place - it was brutally cleared by Lord Macdonald at the same time as Suisnish with all residents being evicted and their homes burned to make way for the more profitable sheep.

From the ruins we followed a path running up to the right, northeast. Having crossed a moorland we finally reached a cairn marking the summit of the pass, and headed down to remains of one of the Skye marble quarries.

At the former quarry, we started the follow a lovely grass-covered track, which was keeping its altitude whilst winding along the slopes - remains of the Marble Line.

The Marble Line was a route of a railway line that ran between Broadford and a series of marble quarries which closed in 1912; they had been worked for at least a century and in 1907 a railway was built to transport the marble to Broadford, but the company soon folded.

We followed the old railway as it contoured along the side of Strath Suardal, passing through two gates above houses at Suardal and ignoring any turnings to the left until the path reached the road with a forestry plantation on the far side. The last mile to Broadford was a rather uninspiring yet unavoidable road walk; beers and pub meals in the atmospheric Cafe Sia came as our well-deserved reward.

Inverness

The following day, we took a bus back to Inverness, and then explored the Highlands's capital as part of our short walk through the city.

On Saturday evening the downtown was packed, also thanks to Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds giving a show in the town's park.

Not much interested in the ageing man's britpop reminiscences, we were lucky with seizing a table in the craft-beer oriented Black Isle Bar, a cheerful place with good vibe, friendly staff, tasty pizzas, and - most importantly - inspiring selection of craft beers.

Intermezzo #3: Sweetheart Abbey

Back in 2009, we were blessed by beautiful sunset scenes when visiting the fairy-tale ruins of Sweetheart Abbey, a former Cistercian monastery founded in 1275 in what is now the village of New Abbey, in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Dumfries and Galloway.

Intermezzo #4: Findochty

Another highlight of our 2009's road trip across Scotland was the unexpectedly beautiful and picturesque village of Findochty, which we more or less accidentally discovered when searching for a camping spot for the night.

The highlight of this settlement was a picture-postcard scenic harbour overlooked to the west by a local war memorial; in setting sun, the scenes here were serene, timeless, and truly beautiful.

Intermezzo #5: Neist Point

Back to Skye. Another famous spot we visited when traversing Skye in 2009 was the Neist Point promontory with its iconic lighthouse; it was a nice walk down from the viewing platform to the lighthouse and back.

Intermezzo #6: Castles of Scotland

Out of the castles in Scotland we visited in 2009, we had most luck in terms of weather when passing by perhaps the most iconic one - Eilean Donan, located on a small island in Loch Duich.

Ruins of Elgin cathedral brought some special game-of-light moments, Blair castle was snow-white and the garden of the Glamis castle was a delight to stroll through.

Intermezzo #7: It's a Single malt time!

Back in 2009, neither me nor Martin were really into Scotch single malt whisky yet. However, when on a road trip across Scotland, we couldn't miss a chance to visit a distillery for a whisky-tasting experience.

So it just came we visited Dalwhinnie distillery which is producing single malt Scotch whisky that is classified among the Highland single malts.

Dalwhinnie site was chosen for its access to clear spring water from Lochan-Doire-Uaine and abundant peat from the surrounding bogs. Set in splendid mountain scenery, Dalwhinnie is the highest distillery in Scotland. The name "Dalwhinnie" means meeting place, which refers to the meeting of ancient cattle drovers' routes through the mountains.

Afterword

Having previously visited islands in the Mediterranean or the Atlantic for our hiking holiday, time has finally come for Lukáš, Filip and myself to focus more on the north, choosing Scotland's premium Isle of Skye for our week-long hiking destination.

The Skye Trail is a well-designed attempt for Skye's through-hike, there is no doubt about it. Still, there are two questions in my mind. First, what about the beautiful and iconic areas that are missed (Cuillins, Fairy pools, Kilt rock)? Second, what about the rather uninspiring 4WD or even road walk sections?

Has to be said we were a bit unlucky regarding the weather. After a few sunny weeks that almost led to forest fires on the island, we came to Skye when it entered a cloudy and rainy period. Sunshine was a rare blessing, drizzle became an acceptable weather pattern, low clouds formed a norm, and strong gales accompanied by heavy rain were something we simply had to occasionally accept.

This means it was a wise choice to design the trip in a more relaxed way, having B&Bs or hostels as overnight stays and hiking as light as possible, counting with evening meals in local pubs; in fact, the pub scene was part of the Skye experience anyway.

There is surely some substantial magic in tackling this trail. The Trotternish ridge is a must-do; waiting for better weather does really pay off here. Rubha Hunish to Flodigarry was unexpectedly beautiful and scenic, and Camasunary to Elgol and Suisnish to Boreraig coastal sections of the trail came pretty close.

The closing point to make here is quite simple: there is no need to tackle the whole trail. Focus on what you like. Enjoy the scenery. Try local food, beer, and single malt. Skye trail is (fortunately) no Camino de Santiago (yet); do what you want, listen to locals, forget about the boring stuff. Cherry-picking works well here.