It’s been a while since the last proper vacation and it was clear that when there was the chance to travel again, that I would return to Scotland. Not only to visit my friends, but also to explore that beautiful country some more. As I had a few days for myself in the beginning of the holidays, I had decided already a while ago to pay the Isle of Skye a visit. Having heard and read so much about it, I wanted to know what the fuss was all about. :) The plan was to check out two different regions on the island, while camping wild for four days in a row. That of course was quite ambitious, as you never really know how the weather is going to be. Having a last look on the forecast before heading out into the wild, it actually looked fairly decent and therefore nothing kept me from a first inspection of the famous Isle of Skye. :) Well, the four and a half days that followed were pretty fantastic and here is all about it.
Day 1: Marsco & Sgùrr na Stri
The most famous mountains on Skye are called Cuilins and naturally it was the first destination on my list. As the Cuilins itself are rather craggy and not an easy hiking spot, I thought it wiser to start with some neighboring peaks. Coming with the bus from Inverness, I got off at the Sligachan Hotel, made my final preparations and then started to walk. The Sligachan Hotel is a pretty popular sightseeing spot, as it offers a good view to the mountains, has a very old bridge nearby and features an impressive statue of Norman Collie and John Mackenzie, two friends who did the first proper exploration of the Cuilins.
As you can imagine, there were quite some people around, but passing by the statue and heading out into the valley of Sligachan, the tide of humans slowly ebbed away. :) That of course was perfectly fine and walking along a lovely hiking trail, I enjoyed the blue sky above and the beautiful views ahead of me.
The going in the beginning was gentle enough, basically until I had reached the turnoff towards Marsco. Turning left, the trail momentarily vanished, before I was able to pick up a proper hiking path, that one being a bit rockier than the first one and of course also steeper. :) The ascent led me along a beautiful glen, always with Marsco in sight to my right. Ascending steadily, the trail vanished again once I had left the glen behind and had reached a huge plateau. From there I could see that Marsco actually was much bigger than expected, having seen him only from the front so far. Looking up ahead, the way to go seemed pretty clear and after continuing for a while I even found the trail again. It mostly followed an old rusty fence, was rather steep and with the burning sun above me, the whole thing turned into quite a sweaty affair. :)
As usual though, the effort was definitely worth it. Coming onto a saddle after the steepest part was behind me, the view that opened up was just mind blowing: the Cuilins and the ocean to one side, the Red Hills and more ocean to the other side. As the best view is always from the top, I scaled the final slope as well and sat down on the peak to enjoy the fantastic panorama. Three other people shared the summit with me, but as there was enough space, we didn’t bother each other and only spoke a few words when they left. From the top I also could see my second goal of today, the popular mountain of Sgùrr na Stri. Hailed as one of the best viewpoints in the whole UK, I was curious what it had to offer.
45 minutes later, the time had come to say goodbye to Marsco and to retrace my steps back to the turnoff. What followed then was a long walk along the valley, but with Marsco to my left and the Cuilins to my right, the view was most of the time pretty good. Also the weather didn’t change and I started to regret that I hadn’t taken some sunscreen with me. :) Heading deeper into the valley, a turnoff led me to the right and shortly afterwards onto a first ascending slope. Luckily, it wasn’t as steep as the one at Marsco, but nevertheless it took a while to conquer it, just to realize that after that another one was waiting. :) Well, also that slope ended eventually and reaching a junction, I finally had my goal in sight. Turning left towards Sgùrr na Stri, I walked and walked, but the mountain somehow never came closer. Also the path wasn't that easy to find, as it vanished in between and only thanks to some cairns I knew where I had to go.
Eventually coming upon the last ascending slope, a couple wrongly placed cairns led me upwards across country and it took a while until I was back on the official trail. That one vanished as well shortly afterwards and as I had no clue which one of the mountains around me Sgùrr na Stri was, I had to use the GPS to find the right summit. :) As there hadn't been much of a view during the walk to the peak, I couldn’t imagine what was so great about that mountain, but finally standing on the top, all my doubts were instantly blown away. What a view that was! Loch Coruisk and the ocean to my feet, while the Cuilins served as the perfect backdrop. It definitely was a vista to remember!
At first however, I had to search the peak for a suitable camping spot. That took some time, but finding one with a view, I settled down, pitched my tent and had my dinner. If there is one thing negative to say about Scotland, it’s certainly the existence of midges. Those tiny bastards are definitely the most annoying insect I ever met. Unfortunately, they also were on the top of Sgùrr na Stri and as there was no breeze at all, they turned my dinner into quite a nightmare. Luckily, the wind picked up before long and so I was able to enjoy a magnificent sunset without any disturbance. Being tired from the whole day, I fell into my sleeping bag at around 10 o’clock and more or less directly fell asleep. :)
Day 2: Loch Coruisk & Glamaig
Waking up in the morning after a good night’s sleep, I wasn’t keen on leaving right away. Even though the sky was overcast, the panorama remained gorgeous enough to enjoy the surroundings a little longer, until it was eventually time to pack my things together. Leaving Sgùrr na Stri, I passed a few deer that were having their breakfast in the mountains today, before retracing my steps to the junction. At the turnoff, I checked the map and the clock and decided that there was enough time for a visit to Loch Coruisk. So, instead of heading back to the valley of Sligachan, I took the trail that headed down to the Loch. Not surprisingly, the path vanished at some point during the descent and just walking across country, I soon wasn’t sure anymore if I was on the right way. Checking the GPS, it turned out that I stood exactly on the trail even though I felt like standing in the middle of nowhere. :) Well, knowing now which direction I had to take, the rest of the descent went perfectly fine and before long I had reached the shore of Loch Coruisk. The view towards the Cuilins was splendid from there as well, but naturally not quite as good as from the top of Sgùrr na Stri. Nevertheless, it was time for a break and to enjoy the beautiful landscape.
Interestingly, there were quite a few people out and about, it seemed as some of them belonged to a tour group that had gotten there by boat. They scattered soon enough however, so when my time at the Loch was over and I started to ascend again, only a few of them crossed my way. Heading upwards on a slightly different route, I used a nearby glen to fill up on water before I ascended back to the junction. Now the time had come to walk back to the Sligachan Hotel and knowing what was ahead of me, I prepared myself for some arduous long hours, but in the end it wasn’t that bad at all. The landscape kept me entertained, as well as a wee chat with a couple locals that were heading to Sgùrr na Stri. In theory, I could have taken a right turn somewhere in the valley of Sligachan to go up to the Red Hills across country, but it seemed easier to just follow the official trails and so I went all the way back to the hotel and its attractions.
Taking a break below the statue, I had a look at the three peaks of the Red Hills that I intended to climb. They all looked doable from afar, basically the only question was where exactly I would pitch my tent. But that was something to worry about later on and shouldering my backpack once more, I started to head for the first peak called Beinn Dearg Mheadhonach. A confusing set of turnoffs soon led me astray however and walking across country again, it took a while until I was back on the correct trail. Lucky me, it had been a short cut for once and not a detour. :)
The first steep slope was reached shortly afterwards and ascending steadily, I had gained some height in no time. As always, the views got better with every step I took, extending from Marsco to the Cuilins and all the way to Portree, the capital of Skye.
While the ascent levelled off in between and the walking for a moment was pretty gentle, it got steeper again before the summit. Right then, most probably with the worst possible timing, the sun finally broke through the clouds and the climb once more turned into quite a sweaty affair. :) I didn’t mind the sunbeams though, as after a day full of clouds the warmth felt good on the skin and the surroundings immediately took on a different hue. Reaching a huge cairn at the end of the slope, I decided to take the short detour to the official summit of Beinn Dearg Mheadhonach and sat down there to enjoy the magnificent panorama.
As the other two peaks were higher and most likely featured some better views, it didn't take too long until I was back on the trail heading towards the next summit called Beinn Dearg Mhòr. To reach it, I first had to descend into a saddle, before a steep ascending slope was looming right in front of me. Like the ascent to the first peak, there was a lot of gravel and stones and even though I wasn’t sure if I was on the official trail, at least I always walked on some sort of path, which made the whole thing quite a bit easier. :) Eventually coming to the top, the view from there was as stunning as from Beinn Dearg Mheadhonach and another rest was needed for sure. :)
Unfortunately, the end of the day was drawing nearer and I still had to scale the most majestic mountain of the three, the well known Glamaig. Looking at the ascent from afar, it seemed impossible to get up there, as there was no trail to be seen and the slope looked dauntingly steep. Well, things mostly look different from up close and leaving the peak of Beinn Dearg Mhòr, I descended a lovely wide slope until I came upon a cairn. What was waiting after that cairn, I absolutely didn’t anticipate. It was a super steep descent in either slippery gravel or rolling scree and for the first time on Skye, I really struggled to get down a mountain. Fortunately, the slope eased off before long and once I reached a few patches of grass, the biggest trouble was over. Arriving on the saddle between Beinn Dearg Mhòr and Glamaig, I was happy to see that I could pitch my tent there if necessary, but I also was unhappy to see, that the slope up to Glamaig looked as daunting from the bottom as it had looked from afar. :) Well, you know that I like a good challenge and after a few minutes of studying the ascent gave it a go. :)
Once into the slope, it turned out that it wasn’t that challenging after all. Yes, it was one of the steepest ascents I probably have ever done and yes, there was rather a lot of gravel, in which I had to be careful where I was stepping. But, there also were quite some patches of grass and obviously that was much easier to handle. So, basically I went from grass patch to grass patch, occasionally checking if I was on the right way and like that steadily gained height. Only the sun was a bit of a nuisance, as it shone right into my eyes, making it hard to figure out where exactly the next patch of grass was. :) Naturally, the whole thing took quite a while, but in the end the slope levelled off and the last part was gentle enough, eventually turning into a vast grass plateau with a huge cairn on it, marking the official summit. A matchless viewpoint, that was how Glamaig had been described and I could only agree. Once again Scotland’s beauty blew my mind. :) Everything was in sight, the ocean, Portree, Sligachan Hotel, the Cuilins, even the Trotternish Ridge could be seen from there.
While eating my dinner, I debated with myself if the weather would stay good enough to pitch my tent on the rather exposed peak. As the landscape was way too stunning, I decided to take the risk and set up my tent with a view towards the mountains and the ocean.
Well, the wind picked up quite a bit after some time and once more the clouds started to block out the sun. In these conditions, it was fairly cold outside and so I was in my sleeping bag before the sun had set, prepared for whatever the night would throw at me. :)
Day 3: Quiraing & Trotternish Ridge
Yep, it turned out to be a pretty rough night, as the wind was rattling at my tent basically all night long. Twice I took a sneak peek outside, once during the night, where I couldn’t see a single star, assuming that clouds were covering the sky and a second time when my tent suddenly turned red and I could see the sun rising at the horizon on four o’clock in the morning. :) Not knowing what exactly I had to expect when I got out of my tent a couple hours later, the weather showed a bit of everything: clouds, fog, a blue patch of sky here and there and the wind that was still going fairly strong. There was no reason to linger and so I soon left the top of Glamaig to retrace my steps to the saddle. To be honest with you, I definitely had quite some respect of the descent, but in the end it actually turned out easier than the ascent. :) Again I stayed on the grass as much as possible, but also took the chance of the gravel and ran down the mountain as you sometimes can do on that sort of ground. :) Reaching the saddle safe and sound, I took a right turn and started to make my way back to the Sligachan Hotel. At first there was no path, before I eventually was able to pick up a hiking trail further down below. Mostly following a glen, the track vanished every now and then, but as the direction was pretty obvious, I didn’t have to use the GPS all the time.
Eventually the hotel came in sight again and heading with the next possible bus to Portree, I took some time to stock up on food and to repack my bag. The sky had remained cloudy so far and while I was waiting for the next bus, a slight drizzle set in. It wasn’t too bad though and when the bus arrived that was taking me to the Flodigarry Hotel, it already had stopped again.
It was a lovely ride to the Flodigarry Hotel, as I didn’t take the most direct route and like that saw a bit more of the island. Dropping me off at the main road, I followed it for a while, before the turnoff to the Trotternish Ridge and the Quiraing eventually appeared. Both are pretty famous destinations on Skye, but while most of the tourists only do a circular walk, I opted to do the entire ridge, which was a hike of about 36 kilometer. :) Having checked the weather in Portree for the next two days, it seemed okay to do the whole thing, while sleeping on the ridge twice. At first however, I had to get onto the ridge, so I took a well maintained trail that started at the Loch Langaig. The Loch was soon left behind, but the next one was basically just waiting around the corner. :) Loch Hasci was a beauty and stayed to my left for some time, while I steadily ascended.
At the end of that first steeper slope, the ridge and the Quiraing already spread out in front of me. The Quiraing are some old stone formations and are well visited due to their rather unique shapes. As my main goal was the ridge and because I knew that I could look at them from above, I decided not to visit the Quiraing and therefore took a right turn at the foot of the ridge. Walking along a beautiful valley, a short ascent soon led me onto the ridge itself and to some first lovely views. Actually, I wasn’t at the real start of the ridge, to get there a detour was needed and as I had taken a detour every day so far, I basically had no other choice. :) So, turning right instead of left, I headed along the ridge to its very start and already that part gave me a good idea what I could expect for the next two days. There would be a lot of ascending and descending, but there also would be some really spectacular views, either along the rolling hills of the highlands or towards the ocean and its shore.
Reaching the start of the ridge about 20 minutes later, I got a nice surprise as I could even see the Outer Hebrides making an appearance at the horizon. Not lingering there too long, I retraced my steps to the turnoff, walked past it and headed upwards to the viewpoint overlooking the Quiraing. Being a popular trail, the path to get up there was well trodden, but because it was late in the afternoon already, there weren’t too many people anymore. Actually, I was even able to sit down on the top all alone and therefore could enjoy the Quiraing and its surroundings to the fullest.
Moving on after the break, I descended on the other side, marveling all the time at the spectacular views. From far away, I also could see the parking lot that serves as the starting point for those tourists that only do the circular hike. My goal was to pass it, scale the next mountain called Bioda Buidhe and pitch my tent on top of it.
That seemed to be a decent plan, as when I left the parking lot behind, no one else was following. :) Ascending on a lovely trail, it took a while until I had reached the summit, but that was also because I took quite some pictures along the way. :) Being a flat and vast peak, there obviously was enough space to pitch my tent, so at first I sat down for dinner. While I was eating, two guys came along and took away the best camping spot, pitching their tents exactly where I had planned to do it. :) Well, too bad and so I backtracked a little bit, first to get out of their way and second, because there had been another nice spot. The only concern I had there was, that it was a bit close to the ridge and that would have meant another night with the wind rattling on my door. But I didn’t really care, tonight was all about the view. :)
Once I had set up camp for the night, the dense clouds suddenly loosened up and not only did I get a couple sunbeams, but I was able to witness one of the most stunning sunsets I’ve ever seen. Long before the sun actually set, it shone through the clouds, a hundred sunbeams enlightening the ocean as well as the mountains of the Outer Hebrides at the horizon. Mesmerized I stood there and watched the sun go down slowly. Surprisingly, also the night turned into one of the best I ever had in a tent, as when I woke up in the middle of it, there was not a single noise to be heard: no wind, no animals, just nothing, it almost was a bit creepy. :)
Day 4: Trotternish Ridge & the Old Man of Storr
Well, three great days had passed, three days without any rain at all, so the first question that popped into my head in the morning was: would I really make it through without having to use my rain jacket? Or was the perfect night I just had, the calm before the storm? Getting out of the tent, the sky was overcast again, but no rain was in sight, basically it was the same weather as yesterday. As a long day was up ahead, the time to leave came soon, saying goodbye to Bioda Buidhe while the other guys still were asleep. So, naturally, if you do a long ridge like the Trotternish ridge, there's just no way, you can get around the ascents and descents, it’s just a part of it. Therefore, whenever I had ascended a hill, sure enough a descent was following on the other side. Fortunately, the slope down Bioda Buidhe was a rather gentle one and served as a nice warm up to start off the day. :)
Having been on the trail for about two hours, it was during the ascent to Ben Edra, when I turned around to have a look back, just to see a huge rain cloud moving in from the left. It looked like it might pass me, so I walked on without worrying too much, but the closer I got to the top, the less I saw. It started to rain lightly while the wind picked up as well and when I eventually arrived on the peak, all I saw was some lonely sheep and the monument on the summit. :) Taking a break, I hoped that the rain would stop, but 10 minutes later it actually had intensified and it was about time to put on the rain gear.
That certainly was the right decision, as when I left the summit, the wind was lashing the rain at me with full force, turning everything wet within a moment. :) That didn’t really bother me though, as my focus now was to stay on the right way, which luckily wasn’t too difficult. Firstly, the ridge was very broad and I still could see into the distance to some extent, so the chance of falling off was pretty low. Secondly, there mostly was a path that I could follow and if there wasn't, I just kept to the left and to the edge of the ridge. Last but not least, map and GPS helped me out when I wasn’t exactly sure where to turn to. Like that I did another couple peaks, before the rain eventually subsided. Only the rain however, as the wind kept up its pace and still blew constant and strong.
Descending to another saddle, I came upon some huge rocks serving as a good shelter for my lunchbreak and while I was eating, trying my best to stay out of the wind, the clouds suddenly started to loosen up. It came even better, as when I shouldered my backpack again, the sun actually broke through the clouds. Wow, that came unexpected and to make the best of the good weather, I basically ran up to the next peak, an impressive mountain that listened to the name of Sgùrr a'Mhadaidh Ruaidh. :) Reaching the top, I had no other choice than to sit down and admire the view. Not long before, I hadn’t seen anything at all, but now I could see the ocean and the best part of the Trotternish ridge. Finally, I also could see where I had been walking through the last two hours and it seemed that I had missed out on quite a lovely section. But never mind, as it had been good fun so far. :)
Moving on, the next couple peaks weren’t that far away and as the sun kept on shining, I enjoyed that part to the fullest. Only the wind was a minor nuisance, as its pace had turned from strong to fierce.
Soon enough, the highest point of the ridge came into view as well, the mountain of Storr. Right there was another popular sightseeing spot, a rock formation called the Old Man of Storr. So, while ascending to the Storr and while the clouds started to gather again, it was about time to take the decision if I should pay the Old Man a visit or if I just keep on walking along the ridge. Well, you know how I had my way with the detours on this trip and having seen some pictures beforehand, I simply couldn’t resist seeing him in real life. :) Leaving the ridge at the designated turnoff, I walked down along the mountainside towards the Old Man. Sheltered from the wind, it was a gentle descent, at least up to that point where I came around a bend and literally was blown away, not only by the magnificence of the Old Man, but also by the wind that was as fierce as never before. Bending down was the only option to keep my balance and also gave me a chance to clear my eyes, as the wind had blown the dirt from the trail right into them. :) Naturally, it took a moment to adjust, but I wasn’t the only one struggling, as everyone else faced the same dilemma. Nevertheless, I took my time at the Old Man, exploring the area as long as possible, after all it was quite a sight to behold. :)
Only when the clouds got thicker and thicker, I decided it was time to get back to the ridge and continue my walk along it. Already on the way to the turnoff however, a slight drizzle set in. It intensified when I was on the slope towards the peak of the Storr and it was the strongest when I was on the top. Windy, rainy, cloudy, not seeing anything at all, I just put my rain gear on and was out of there again. :) Locating the trail with help of the GPS, I was soon descending once more, hoping that before long I would be out of the clouds. Further down, I came upon a fork and while checking which way I had to go, I suddenly heard some voices. Three guys came along and as they basically were the only other madmen I had seen on the whole day, I stopped for a chat with them. :) They wanted to do the whole ridge tomorrow, while I was glad that I only had the last part to Portree ahead of me. Wishing them all the best, I kept following the trail until I had reached the saddle just before the final peak of the whole ridge. It seemed to be the best option for the last night, leaving me with all the choices for tomorrow.
There either was a way down to the main road or there was Ben Dearg and the long descent back to Portree. While it eventually had stopped raining again and I was on such a low altitude that I was out of the clouds, the wind just remained relentless. I tried to find some shelter behind a dirt wall, but that didn’t really help. My tent was shaken ceaselessly, but I felt confident that we would make it through the night without any harm. :) Going to sleep as early as possible, I was wondering what the final day would have in store for me.
Day 5: Out
Sure enough, the night was rough and looking out of my tent in the morning, the weather seemed to have changed not a single bit. Windy, cloudy and rainy it still was, but as I could see Ben Dearg and the ascent ahead of me, I decided to give that route a go.
Packing up my stuff when there was a pause from the rain, I headed towards Ben Dearg and before long was walking along the mountainside. The rain luckily soon stopped at all and also the wind wasn’t too strong, so the first part of the ascent was actually quite fine. It was only after scaling a steep slope, which led me to the other side of the mountain where I was hit by the wind once more. It had never abated and was as fierce as ever, turning the last part of the ascent into quite an effort. Coming upon the peak, the first thing I did was seeking shelter, as otherwise it simply was impossible to enjoy the view from up there. Hiding behind a small dirt wall, it was enough to take a good look at the panorama and to my surprise there suddenly was some sunshine as well, as the sun broke unexpectedly through the clouds. What a perfect timing! :)
Naturally, the view from Ben Dearg wasn’t as mind blowing as the views I had had the day before and so I started to walk again rather sooner than later. Leaning into the wind, I kept away from the edge of the ridge and headed downwards into the direction of Portree. Following a fence for a while, I was surprised when it suddenly crossed the path and led somewhere down the mountain where I didn’t want to go. Hmm, what now? Checking all my possibilities, there was only one solution and I climbed over the fence. Maybe, I wasn’t allowed to do that, but there simply was no other option. The path instantly vanished on the other side and I mainly walked across country on uneven ground, trying to avoid the boggy places as best as I could. Even though, I wasn’t really on the ridge anymore, there still were a couple hills that had to be scaled. That turned into quite a challenge, as the wind repeatedly set me off balance with some strong gusts. Portree also didn’t seem to come closer and to top it off, my right leg vanished up to the knee into a bog hole while I was checking the map and didn't really pay attention where I was walking through. :) As you can imagine, the fun factor at that point was rather low, but at least I eventually was able to climb the fence once more, so, as far as I knew, I was out of private property again.
Shortly afterwards, the last bump on the ridge had been scaled and the end finally came closer. After a last break, the last descent ensued, before I was walking on flat grounds towards the main road. Unfortunately however, another fence barred the way and again I had to climb over it. I wasn’t very happy with the situation though and at the first possibility got out of there again. The trail on the map however, led right through that property and so I decided to just follow the fence on the outside. That was a major hassle though, as that side of the fence was full of bushes and undergrowth. Having had enough after a while, I changed back to the inside of the fence and walked along it as far as possible. Before I came too close to the homestead however, I climbed over the fence for one last time and pounded for the final meters through some thorny bushes and the thickest undergrowth ever. Finally emerging on the main road, I was glad that I had made it and following the street for the last couple kilometers into Portree, I definitely was looking forward to a shower, some proper food and a well deserved beer. :)
Taking the bus back to Inverness, I had to acknowledge that my adventure on Skye had been pretty perfect overall. Surely I can understand why it’s such a popular island and certainly I'd like to come back one day to do some more hikes in the Cuilins. But let’s see if this ever will happen, for the time being I’m totally pleased with that first visit to the famous Isle of Skye. :)
Highlights of the Isle of Skye: too many to name I guess. :) Certainly the views from Sgùrr na Stri and Glamaig, the whole Trotternish Ridge was super fun and my first three camping spots were definitely some to remember!
This hike is for you if:
- you have plenty of time and stamina
- you want to escape the tourist trail but still see some of the most popular spots
- it’s not the first time you’re camping wild in Scotland
- you don’t mind the Scottish weather :)
This hike is not for you if:
- you don’t know how to navigate in poor conditions
- you mind to walk up and down all the time
- you never walked with a heavy backpack for a couple days in a row
- you don’t have the proper gear
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