Loch Sligachan to Portree
I was up and off early this morning, and immediately missed the path to the road end at Peinchorran. Instead, I ended up scaling a few fences on the way over moorland to pick up the coast road before taking the "low" road beside the sea.
It was a grey morning and my thoughts turned to home as I made my way past Balmeanach Bay. I had pre-booked train tickets for the journey home on Tuesday, today was Friday.
This meant the last couple of days from Portree to Rubba Hunnish would need to be rushed and hard going, totally out of context with the walk so far.
I wanted to finish the walk to the northern point on Skye in the same way I had enjoyed the walk so far.
It was at this point that I decided that this walk would end at Portree and that I would return at a later date to continue to the far north or the island in the same leisurely manner that I had enjoyed over the past week.
The landscape of Skye is far too good to rush.
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| Glamaig from moorland above Loch Sligachan |
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| The Narrows of Raasay |
As far as road walks go, this was a little beauty, great views over to Raasay and up the coastline to Ben Tianavaig.
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| Ben Tianavaig from the Braes |
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| The Braes from memorial cairn |
The cairn commemorates a brave battle for land tenure by the former crofters from these parts during the clearance programme in 1882. A bit of research has revealed that this was a very important battle in Scottish clearances history which led to new legislation being written protecting the rights of crofters.
The route from here involved more road walking, breakfast was taken at the Aros centre before I plodded through town to the harbour.
The route from here involved more road walking, breakfast was taken at the Aros centre before I plodded through town to the harbour.
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| Portree Harbour, Journeys end......for now. |
During the planning for this walk I had discovered that a favourite Scottish band of mine, Frightened Rabbit, were playing at the Community Centre in town tonight. I had purchased a ticket for the show and this would bring the curtain down nicely on what had been a great week on Skye.
I dropped on Frightened Rabbit recording songs on the beach at Portree in the afternoon before catching the show later on.
Needless to say, I woke up the following morning with a hangover, I groggily packed up my gear for the last time on this trip and caught the bus to Inverness to begin the long journey home.
I dropped on Frightened Rabbit recording songs on the beach at Portree in the afternoon before catching the show later on.
Needless to say, I woke up the following morning with a hangover, I groggily packed up my gear for the last time on this trip and caught the bus to Inverness to begin the long journey home.
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| Frightened Rabbit on Portree beach |
The Isle of Skye is a remarkable place. Granted, I had been blessed with exceptional weather for almost all of the trip but I have a feeling I would have loved this place in any weather.
Until the next time.....
Well, I think you have cracked it, Dave. Walking is about the enjoyment. Slogging, to my mind, is not enjoyment!
ReplyDeleteSo, off on TGO I go, for a slog. ;-)
Thanks for the write up, and the EXCELLENT pictures.
Dave. Really enjoyed going through your posts having stumbled across your blog. I'm new to walking and would love to pick your brains on a post from July 2011 when you spent a night on Greenup Edge.
ReplyDeleteMy friends and I will be heading up that way in late summer and are looking for a likely wild camping spot with a water source. We've heard Blea Tarn is too boggy for wild camping and the unnammed tarn on Greenup Edge is too small. Any advice would be greatfully recieved.
Ted.
ReplyDeleteI camped beside the tarn on Greenup Edge which was a fine spot. I had walked in from Keswick and carried a spare litre of water to use as I wasn't sure whether I would find any on the route. I suppose it depends on the route you take really,there's Wyth Burn and Far Easdale Gill to the east and other options from the west side too. You could boil water from the tarn in an emergency. Hope this helps, have a good trip.
Dave
Thanks Dave for getting the blog posts up and running before I left on my walk. It certainly helped for the first couple of days.
ReplyDeleteYou're 100% right about not rushing the Totternish to the end. It's a real pleasure to be enjoyed not endured. Good luck with the weather for when you complete the journey, and if you need any info for north of Portree let me know.
Cheers
Pete
Just found your blog. There is simply no place like Skye whether it's on a long walk through it, up on the Main Ridge or the wild headlands of the NW of the island. Great trip you had.
ReplyDelete