Skye

MacLeod Tables from Oronsay

Over the last 30 years, I have made 16 or so trips to Skye to climb in the Cuillins whilst camping in Glen Brittle or Sligachan. We have had a few day trips when staying at Strathcarron to Loch Coruisk, Torrin, and Raasay, but not visited the north of the island since the 1990s during a family long weekend on Skye before the bridge was built. 

We had booked a cottage at Edinbane, near Dunvegan with the intention of beating the crowds that have been the bane of climbing visits to Glen Brittle in recent years. We expected mixed weather with the Met Office predicting rain for most days. On day one we visited the coral beach near Dunvegan during a perpetual downpour, got thoroughly soaked and returned to the cottage to dry out but after that, surprisingly, it was dry but cool with sunny periods and excellent visibility. The island was only just opening up for visitors, cottages were being let, the camping pods were being prepared, the campsites were still empty but the first wave of motor homes was arriving in the annual migration.

The roads sweep through the island with a flourish, a lasting tribute to Highland Council and the massive contribution by the European Regional Development Fund. The bright green landscape is dotted with new houses, painted white and dispersed randomly where the hills do not dominate. Skye is probably the main benefactor of Scottish tourism in the past decade. The bridge has made it easily accessible and the numerous programmes and articles in the media have done much to make Skye into the Ibiza of the north but with wildness, rain and midges instead of debauchery, sun and drugs; although these are available but not on tap. 

The island also has some top restaurants scattered about its communities. We were advised by a couple from Norfolk who were building a house near Dunvegan that Edinbane Lodge and Loch Bay in Stein were better than the more famous Three Chimneys in Colbost. We were less than 20 minutes away from all of them but the restaurants had not yet fully opened. We had a first evening meal out since January 2020 at the Edinbane Inn and whilst the food was good, the ambience of restaurants has been erased by the Covid closures. We were far more impressed by a couple of lunchtime halts at local cafes that served homemade soups and cakes and where friendly locals welcomed us with a cheery courtesy.

Every day was a chance to explore those parts of the island that were not part of the Skye ridge. Neish Point lighthouse has surprisingly not been turned into holiday cottages by the Northern Lighthouses Board. The Fairy Glen near Uig has a brand new car park to generate income for the Council. Staffin Bay gave us chance to search for dinosaur footprints, the walk across the strand to Oronsay is a magical walk with its wonderful sea vistas. The coastal path beyond Waterneish gave us an appetite for lunch at the Skye Skynes Yurt. I also had a couple of short climbs up the Marilyn hills close to Edinbane whilst Gregor was out on longer runs. We all enjoyed the bigger walks or, in Gregor's case, runs to the Quiraing, An Storr and Hartaval, Ben Tianavaig, and Glen Sligachan. 

Most of all this trip to Skye provided the sheer joy of going somewhere different after 7 months of being confined to barracks and cooped up mainly indoors in a cold wet Scottish winter.

Neish Point lighthouse

Edinbane Play Park

Coral Beaches

Cruachan Glen Vic Askill

The Castle, Fairy Glen

Fairy Glen, Uig

The Torridons from Staffin Bay

An Storr from Staffin Bay

Tidal causeway to Oronsay

Headlands from Oronsay