A Long Walk on Skye
Just returned from a fabulous week’s backpacking on the Isle of Skye, wandering through two of the most amazing landscapes in the country.
Most hillgoers will be well aware of the savage grandeur of the Cuillin but I wonder how many are familiar with the high level promenade down the length of the Trotternish peninsula? Gina and I started our little odyssey from the ruined castle of Duntulm, in the north of Trotternish. The old castle was once a fort of the Macdonalds of the Isles. Before that it was used by Vikings - to this day you can see the scratch marks of the Norse longboat keels on the rocks close to the castle.
Our route took us south over the incredible landscapes of Trotternish visiting the area’s two iconic landmarks - the Quiraing, and the Storr Rock. We spent almost three days on the ridge, drinking in the most incredible views from the hills of Assynt in the north-east and out to the mountains of Harris in the west. We explored the hidden recesses of the Quiraing, watched a pair of sea eagles and were in turn watched by a golden eagle, and dropped down to have a close-up view of the Old Man of Storr.
We traversed the full ridge as far as Portree, then the next day took the quiet minor road through Braes to the footpath that runs along the north shore of Loch Sligachan. Braes has particular historical relevance in the whole Land Reform story - the last Battle of Britain took place here in the late 1800’s when local crofters, when trying to secure tenure of their crofts, were set upon by a team of policemen brought from Glasgow. Curiously enough I met an old friend at Upper Olach who had recently retired after 29 years in the police service. He reckoned it was a shameful event, although he did say it was mostly the women who took on the police - he reckoned the men probably stayed indoors and smoked their pipes!
From Sligachan we hiked down the glen to Coruisk where we spent the night - the most magical camping spot you could imagine, before heading south by the shores of Loch Scavaig (and the infamous Bad Step) to Camasunary (where we met my old friend Colin Prior and some of his photography class) before continuing to Elgol.
The walk was a recce for this year’s Adventure Show Christmas Special, and I’ll be heading back to Skye at regular intervals over the summer and autumn to film it. Meanwhile, if you’re looking for a fantastic walk through the finest scenery in Britain then Duntulm to Elgol takes some beating.
June 8th, 2009 at 10:55 am
Glad you got the weather Cameron! Been enjoying it myself too. I thought I saw you in the chippy in Kyle the other day but it was a doppleganger! Must say though, “ouch”, to that tent colour at Coruisk
Pray tell what the adventure show is doing on Skye!
June 13th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
That was no doppleganger - that was the real thing. Worst chips I’ve tasted in a long time too
My wife and I were doing a recce for a BBC Scotland Boxing Day documentary which this year will feature a long journey through Skye.
June 14th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
Hey Cameron, glad to hear you are doing an Xmas special on Skye. Could I recommend making detours from that Braes roadwalk, one for Ben Tianavaig (the south ridge is fantastic) and one out onto An Aird peninsula, which is stunning, especially with the sea birds at the moment.
I’ve often wondered about setting up a long walk on Skye; you’ve got the northern half, then from Elgol you can continue over to Glasnakille and then along the coast to Torrin, through the cleared villages of Suisnish and Boreraig, then the Marble Line path to Broadford…
June 14th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
Sorry, forgot to mentoon. You really should start at Rubha Hunish, north of Duntulm, with a little easy scramble down the cliffs. Guaranteed whale-sightings in the summer, and probably the most beautiful place on Skye with great cliffs of basalt columns as well as an MBA bothy in the old coastguard lookout.
And not just because it is quite near my house!
June 15th, 2009 at 8:30 am
Thanks for all that Paul. We might well begin at Rubha Hunish - the guy who runs the Duntulm Castle Hotel was rhapsodysing about it, and the whales! The big probl;em we’ll have on this journey is what to leave out!!!
I might well contact you when we arrange our first bout of filming.
June 15th, 2009 at 10:12 am
Cheers Cameron, would be great if we could help. I don’t know how much camera gear is needed and how easy it would be to get it down to the Hunish, but it would be well worth it!
June 15th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Thanks Paul. Shouldn’t be a problem - we have a fit and strong camera team. And by the way, many thanks for publicising the Ramblers story - appreciate that.
June 15th, 2009 at 10:54 am
Sounds good - hope you do decide to include it.
The Ramblers decision seems crazy especially given the existence of the Scottish and Welsh parliaments - how will they be able to lobby from London? The press release that was on the Scottish Ramblers website has been pulled this morning.
June 15th, 2009 at 11:26 am
I believe the press release will be replaced later today.