As a few of you might know I'm an avid hiker and usually spend my summer holidays with a tent and a backpack (and with my significant other who - lucky for me - likes those kinds of trips too). The last two weeks we spent in Scotland
(maybe you noticed the absence of my constant babble and posting sprees in here) - most of it on the Isle of Skye where we walked the
"Skye Trail" - a long distance trek covering 128 kms and almost 4000 meters of height difference.
First of all: I can absolutely recommend the trek and Scotland in general - the landscape is awesome and the people are super friendly and always helpful, even if you're smelly and sopping wet which can happen in the Highlands, believe me!
The island itself is quite touristy, but during the day you will usually not meet too many other hikers and be mostly for yourself. In my opinion it's not the easiest walk, but absolutely doable for anybody with moderate hiking experience.
If any other forum user is planning to go the trail in the near future and has questions about it, feel free to ask me for advice.
Since I love to share photos, here's a few of them:
The famous phone box starting point of the Skye Trail. Still happy, still dry, feet and back still healthy.
(No need to comment on my hat, that's been done before without any effect).
Rubha Hunish from above, a small headland that's a breeding place for many seabirds and a good spot for watching seals and whales (if you're lucky which we were not)...
...and the view back up from the Hunish itself. In the middle of the cliffs there is a steep path which is the only way up or down, but it's not as dangerous as it looks from down there.
There's a lot of those cute wooly critters on Skye. Probably billions... Always eyeing you curiously and suspiciously and always running away if you're trying to catch them. Don't hunt them, the local people don't like you doing that.
Another one of the many amazing views... what you can't see in those pictures is that this peacefully looking grass can be treacherous. There's wet moorland everywhere and more than once did I sink in to my ankles or even knees when making a step I deemed "safe".
On the left you can see the Quiraing, a bizarre rock formation on the Trotternish Ridge which is the result of some very fascinating geological events that I can't remember right now.
The Trotternish Ridge. The ridge is more than 35 kms long and you walk about 25 of them on the Skye Trail. This stage is meant to be done in one day (28.5 kms, 1750 meters of climbing and the same amount of descending), but that's insane if you ask me...
...so we decided to split it up and camp on the ridge. Wild camping is allowed in Scotland and it was a beautiful evening looking down into the valley. There was a small river near our bivouac and I decided to freshen up in the evening. Worst idea I ever had! I had around 200 midge bites on my back (something you only start to realize the next few days) and was really happy I had at least kept my undies on!
Unfortunately the weather turned ugly during the night and the descent from the ridge wasn't too funny. Fog, a lot of wind and a drizzle that felt like needles in your face!
The "Old man of Storr", you can find
one million photos like this on the web. Still happy I could take one myself!
A flock of rams. Yes, those guys have balls!
Speaking of animals with guts... those gulls at Portree harbor looked cute at first, but they're malicious! There's a fish & chips street vendor and they regularly attacked people trying to eat their meal outside. And I really mean Hitchcock kind of attacked - my girlfriend had her Tippi Hedren moment there!
Even more nice views...
The Braes are a secluded area on Skye in which the local crofters successfully fought against eviction from their land. The picture shows the view into the Sound of Raasay and the small island of Raasay itself.
(click to enlarge)
Sligachan campsite - who couldn't sleep peacefully in such surroundings? Well... me, but that was probably due to the slope we put our tent on.
You wouldn't believe there's also a bar/restaurant with a very good whisky selection at this very place. Needless to say I had my share of single malts during the trip. Actually I'm drinking one right now -
Auchentoshan American Oak, very good if you like them light and fruity!
At one end of "Glen Sligachan", the valley separating the Black Cuillin and the Red Cuillin mountain ranges in the south of Skye.
Now who says the Scottish don't have a sense of humor?
(except certain Scots in the forum maybe, but there must be a reason they expelled him to Sweden)
We spent the last three days in Edinburgh - here's a view from Calton Hill over this fine city
(click to enlarge). They have the remains of a volcano turned into a public park right in the middle of the city which is amazing! But Edinburgh should do something about all those tourists - ugh!
Now that was more that I planned to post, but I hope you still enjoyed it a bit. Looking forward to some exchange with other walkers, hikers and trekkers from the forum... What would you recommend as next year's trek, I'm already pondering? And as I already said: if you have any question about the Skye Trail, feel free to ask. It's surely worth a trip!!!
(Some of them have been invading other parts of Europe, particular Sweden).
