I selected this trail like I select most. I saw a few photos online that stirred some voice in me that said, “I have to see that with my own eyes.” First I saw the photos of Storr but it was such a short walk from the road to see the craggy peaks. I also saw some of the Quiraing. A bit of digging around online and a few youtube videos later, I selected the Skye Trail that would allow me to explore a lot of the island on foot and see both attractions. The Skye Trail is reported to be 128.6 km (80 miles) long and have 4,653 meters (15,265.75 feet) of elevation gain. I didn’t put enough time into researching this trek as I should have in order to be confident but I was prepared enough (or lucky) because I did make it back. I was feeling a bit hesitant because this would be my first multi day trek in a foreign country that was unguided. My plan was originally to do this solo. As I read reviews, I found one that someone posted that they were interested in doing the Skye Trail in July but would prefer to hike with someone so I reached out. Inge (Netherlands) was the first member of my trail family. After Inge’s post she had made plans with another friend of hers, Marc (Spain) who she had met on the West Highland Trail.
I flew from London Gatwick to Inverness (Scotland) and stayed one night in Inverness and picked up last minute supplies from the outdoor store like freeze dried meals and fuel for my camp stove that I couldn’t fly with. I then took the bus to Broadford where I met with both Inge and Marc. We hung out on the beach getting to know each other and then spent the night in the park in Broadford and started our trek the next morning. We hiked the first day to Torrin. I honestly wasn’t in the best headspace and the rain and lack of views wasn’t helping. I felt like I was being ungrateful for the opportunities that I have in life right now as I miserably trudged through the rain and mud in Scotland. I am literally living a dream but feeling like I lacked any form of grounding, not loving the weather, and feeling disconnected from any form of community that I typically seek out. I did lighten up a little when we started to see Loch Eishort and then Loch Slapin but the views were short lived with the fog and rain returning. A bit of the trail followed along the narrow roads where the pedestrians do not have the right of way. The locals drive fast and don’t yield and there was more than one occasion that I had to stand on the non existent shoulder or I would be hit by a vehicle. We did stop at a tea shop (the only shop) and ordered some hot chocolates and stepped out of the rain for a few minutes. I was needing something to lift my mood but this didn’t help much. We continued our walk along the roads to the Blaven Car Park and proceeded to cook dinner under the structure then pitch our tents in the parking lot when the rain lightened up a bit. There were five guys from Croatia that had been hiking the trail from North to South that shared the car park with us that night.
The next morning, I was questioning whether I even liked trekking and how I got here. I recognize that I had made many decisions to have the privilege to be hiking through Scotland but somehow felt pretty underwhelmed at this point with life and with Scotland. It was a bit of a downward spiral and I realized I needed to turn it around if I was going to make the most of my time traveling. We started hiking in the rain again but today had less road travel and more trail. We came across a sign posted warning about Ticks and Lyme Disease. All the reviews online that I read ahead of time warned of the midges but I don’t recall a single one about ticks! As we walked through the heavily forested area, I started to get the itchies as I became pretty paranoid about ticks. The sun finally emerged for a bit as we walked along Loch Scavaig and I welcomed it as it warmed up my mood a bit! The views started to improve with the weather! I remember thinking, “this is what I need, some sun and some views.” I became aware just how shallow I might actually be as I acknowledged that I hike for the views. I honestly can’t justify hiking without the visual stimulation and am still working to process how much my mood and enjoyment of hiking is tied to the vistas and not necessarily the whole experience. As we passed through Elgol we stopped at the little shop and bought some cookies and hung out at the picnic tables where we met Misha and Medvedej (Slovakia but living in the Czech Republic). They were hiking the Skye Trail the same direction as us but were going to do a side summit on day three. We left Ingol and made our way to the bothy in Camasunary. A bothy is a small hut, usually left unlocked and available for anyone to use. We set up our sleeping area along with two gals from Holland who were hiking from Portree to Engol. Jure (Slovenia) who was also hiking Skye Trail from South to North was next to arrive. The last to show up to the bothy that night was a family of six from Norway. The bothy was cozy and had supported more people before but this felt like the most it could support comfortably before people started moving to floor space.
The next morning took us up a valley along Loch Creitheach to Sligachan. The original plan was to continue to hike from Sligachan to Portree but it was more road walking along one of the busier roads and I didn’t feel like dying so we took a bus for that 10 mile portion. It had also started to rain heavily again. Once we arrived in Portree, my will to wild camp the whole Skye Trail broke and I branched off from Inge and Marc and paid way more than I had budgeted for a hotel room. My tent was damp, my clothes were damp, I was scratching my skin, completely paranoid about ticks. Before we separated, we sat down at a picnic table to make a plan for the next few days and realized the weather was supposed to continue to be wet for the next day and a half so we decided on an extra rest day in Portree. We went to the outdoor store where I picked up a few more freeze dried meals. I asked a few questions about the rest of the trail and received really nonchalant and unhelpful responses.
At some point, I asked Inge some questions about Skye. I mentioned that this didn’t feel like the most warm and welcoming environment. I have visited a few places and am used to having my warmth reflected back to me but it didn’t really seem to matter how much I extended kind exchanges that I received fairly cold responses. Was I doing something wrong? I had mentioned earlier that I wasn’t in my best headspace but this was due in part to me not feeling like I could connect with people here. What I interpreted from my exchange with Inge was that Skye did not actually want this many tourists. A third party privately funded the bridge to Skye that has increased the amount of tourists dramatically and the locals are resisting the massive influx. I felt a similar atmosphere where I am from, not necessarily from tourists but people moving into the area that are not locals and wanting to change the value system. I could relate on some level to the desire to keep things the way they are but I feel like it has never affected how I would treat an individual person that I encountered.
Once we split ways, I arrived at the hotel and asked if I could extend my stay for a total of two nights. The gal who worked the front desk was the first person that I can honestly say deserved a gold star for hospitality on Skye. She moved things around so I could keep my same room despite being fairly booked over the next day. I was so grateful for her. I took an honest rest day the next day and just went out to grab some food. I washed my clothes and did a thorough tick check and dried out my tent and aired out my sleeping bag in my hotel room.
The next morning, I met back up with Inge and Marc outside of Portree where they had found a beautiful place to camp and they had reconnected with Misha and Medvedej. I have to give credit to these guys because I felt like I really needed those couple of days with some creature comforts. They had found a place to shower at the local swimming pool and recharged their electronics at the library but toughed it out camping in cold raining weather. I was able to get my head back under control after my rest day and was excited to explore the rest of Skye with my growing trail family!
We started as a group of five from Portree and made our way along the coast to Storr. The weather was quite dramatic with wind and rain, then just overcast with dark clouds as we walked along the cliff edges looking out across the water. We set up camp just below Storr and found it difficult to find a place that wasn’t saturated with water and was level and was out of the wind. We finally found a place to settle that was only a little damp, on a little bit of an angle with some wind.
There were a lot of people visiting Storr and they have quite the restoration project ahead of them. There was a steady flow of foot traffic from the parking lot to the viewpoints and although it was posted to stay on the trail and not damage the natural terrain, there were many people venturing off path. I started to ponder when is the pivotal moment to start to protect an attraction realizing there is funding and planning that goes into it that will take time and resources. If a local attraction starts to become busy and you don’t quite have the resources and funding to get ahead of developing and establishing a trail system that protects and preserves the attraction, the attraction starts to degrade and deteriorate as people scale around the attraction and leave waste and other evidence of their presence. There are many bare spots that are now susceptible to erosion with netting staked to the mud and replanting efforts and ropes to guide people to stay on trails. Storr appeared to have been a little slow to react to the traffic. As I traveled onto the next portion of the Skye Trail along the ridge to the Quiraing, I would anticipate that it will be in similar shape in the years to come without preventative action as the trail becomes more popular.
Shortly after departing the vicinity of Storr, Jure that we had met on the second night when we were in the bothy officially joined our group. The weather turned again like it had everyday previously and the rain returned. Shortly up the trail after Jure joined us, Hannah (Germany) joined us as well as we started the most difficult portion. The clouds moved in reducing visibility, the rain poured, and the wind was fierce for a good portion of the next few hours as we moved along the ridge line. The clouds would lighten every once in a while and we would get a glimpse of what we accomplished and what was still ahead and finally in mid afternoon, the sun came out again. This bit of sun made this long and challenging section of trail well worth it for me. The rough cliff edges and green rolling holes extending to the ocean was quite a sight and our spirits were high. Our group of seven found a place to camp just above the Quiraing. It was a nice evening as everyone worked to dry out their wet tents, socks, coats, ect. in the wind.
The Quiraing like Storr had a steady flow of people but appeared to be better marked than Storr and requiring less restoration efforts. We followed the path and departed out of that area over a saddle and eventually passed along Loch Langaig before walking on the road (once again) into Flodigarry. In Flodigarry we stopped by the hostel and picked up more snacks. The hostel typically only stocked supplies for the people that stay there but we asked nicely and the owner kindly opened his small store to us. Second gold star for hospitality! After a break at the picnic tables outside the hostel where we ate lunch, we continued the trek to the northern most point of the trail to the Lookout Bothy along the coast. This bothy only has bunks for three so a few of us opted to sleep outside in our tents instead of inside on the floor. The weather was consistently nice for a few hours so I just wanted to take it all in!
We stayed up late chatting, telling jokes, laughing in the bothy as it was our last night as a group. When we woke up and got moving, we made our way to the bus stop that was a short walk from the bothy with perfect timing. We rode the bus back to Portree and started working on our separate departure plans. We created a WhatsApp group to exchange photos and said our goodbyes. I returned to London to my friend Helen’s house with one day’s rest before I head out on my next adventure! 🙂
My quick tips if you are thinking about doing the Skye Trail are:
Hike it South to North, the views like a story build up better this way. The people also get warmer as you move north 🙂 Below is was my itinerary:
Day 1: Broadford to Torrin
Day 2: Torrin to Camasunary (Bothy)
Day 3: Camasunary to Sligachan – Bus from Sligachan to Portree
Day 4: Rest day in Portree
Day 5: Portree to Storr
Day 6: Storr to Quiraing
Day 7: Quiraing to Lookout (Bothy)
Day 8: Short walk to phone booth/bus stop
The only real place to restock on food is Portree so plan to back enough to get to Portree, then enough from Portree to finish.
I would take at least 3 liters of water between Storr and the Quiraing. I got away with only packing 1 on the other days because there were streams to filter water from.
Plan on a decent amount of road walking.
GPS was an absolute must on the ridge once the clouds and weather moved in. When they say the trail isn’t well marked, it isn’t really marked at all and all the sheep paths add quite a bit of confusion. I took a map as well but we hardly ever consulted the map.
If you do check-ins, I didn’t really have service the first three days but did most of the time the last three days.
Midges are not a problem if it is raining and windy.
Ticks are a problem.
Even with good rain gear, plan on being wet.
Wear good hiking boots. The trail is muddy!
Recognize that Skye might not be ready for the amount of tourists that are currently traveling there. This also might be a great opportunity for some business minded individuals that love hospitality. 🙂
Make friends along the way!
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Such pretty pictures, Jac. That does sound tough, though… all that rain and wind and the personalities from the locals to match. Can’t blame ’em too much, I guess. Like you said, we feel that way here, too, sometimes. But hey, what’s a Jaci-Adventure without a little adversity?! LOL. Your blogs are so entertaining, relatable, and informative! Can’t wait to read of more adventures!