A wet week on the Isle of Skye

The Skye Trail - a challenging unofficial route through the island aimed at experienced hillwalkers - takes in some of the very best of the island - and that means the UK's finest landscapes.

The route follows much of the amazing Trotternish Ridge and later passes beneath the very shadow of the Cuillin. Other sections follow remarkable but little visited coastal cliffs, take in steep trails above high drops, or pass through haunting deserted villages destroyed in the cruel Clearances.

Date walked: 02/07/2016
Time taken: 7 days
Distance: 128 km

I walked the Skye Trail for the second time, mainly for my friend, Jay's benefit as he didn't manage to attend in 2014.

Once again it was a backpacking hike following the official route described here on Walkhighlands except in reverse walking South to North (Broadford to Rubha Hunish).  My plan was to break it up slightly once reaching Portree with a side trip to UIG.  We would stay a night at Uig then take a bus north to the Museum of Island Life and walk to Duntulm then continue Skye Trail North to South, heading back to Portree.  The reason for this was because I wanted to tackle the Trotternish Ridge from the North end because when I attempted it from the South end back in 2014 I couldn't work out the exact route to take.

The night before travelling to Skye we stayed overnight at Bught Park campsite in Inverness.  The following day we travelled to Kyle of Lochalsh by train, jumping off at Plockton for about an hour en-route.

Once at Kyle we popped into the Co-op for supplies before walking over Skye Bridge to Kyleakin, where we caught a bus to the campsite located 3 miles from Broadford.  We got pitched up at the campsite as the rain came down heavy, took shelter in an old Hen hut and enjoyed a few drinks and tunes before starting the big walk the following day.

It rained all week, we only got one dry night and that was at Uig, it was a pretty miserable trip this time due to the weather, the weather really does make all the difference.  The heavy rain got too much for us and we gave up in the end after completing the first section of the Trotternnish ridge.  We caught a bus from Staffin back to Portree and retreated to Torvaig campsite.

I did not make video footage of the trail but instead made some individual videos as below:

Walking over Skye bridge

Visiting Camasunary bothy

Visit to the Lookout bothy high above Rubha Hunish

Skye Trail - Kyle of Lochalsh to Rubha Hunish

The Skye Trail is a challenging, unofficial long distance route through the stunning landscapes of the Isle of Skye.

The trail covers 128 km of tough terrain including spectacular mountain and coastal scenery. It follows much of the celebrated Trotternish Ridge and also passes under the very shadow of the jagged Cuillin, the finest mountains in Britain. There are remarkable but almost unvisited coastal cliffs, steep trails above high drops, and the haunting ruins of deserted villages destroyed in the Highland Clearances.

Skye Trail is the 11th long distance route I've completed in Scotland and it was my last long distance walk of the 2014 season. Plans to walk it had been discussed about a year earlier while walking the East Highland Way. Skye would be visited late summer 2014 with one or two others and would be an epic adventure, backpacking with all the camping gear, all prepared for a week in the wild.

Unfortunately for my Youtube followers, I did not make a video of the trail.  However you can view the photos here: Sky Trail 2014

Date walked: 30/08/2014
Time taken: 8 days
Distance: 157 km