Day 35: Edinbane to Uig, Isle of Skye

Virtual Walk: Scotland 2021

8th February 2021: 107.35km walked today taking the total to 3547.54/8854km. 12.5% of 120 entries submitting 858.76km.

Today we complete our walk on Skye, visiting the Jurassic coast then walking The Quiraing and visiting the Fairy Glen before boarding our ferry to the Western Isles - first stop Isle of Harris!

Route 10: Isle of Skye

Passing through Edinbane we pass the oldest coaching inn on Skye, the Edinbane Inn, dating from 1543. In its past, it was also used as a land court so if people were sentenced to death they were hung in the garden! We continue to follow our route alongside bodies of water which flow into Loch Snizort, Loch Greshornish and Loch Snizort Beag as we return to Portree to head north.

Following the A855 we are now heading up the Trotternish Peninsula, Skye’s most northerly peninsula, tagged the ‘Theatre of Geology’ for its unique landscape; famous for Trotternish Ridge, a backbone of volcanic rock formation that runs almost 30 kilometres up to Flodigarry. We’ll see magnificent scenery as we walk the main road, veering off at points for visits and walks. Passing Loch Fada and Loch Leathan, we are now at the southern end of Trotternish Ridge and have impressive views of the Old Man of Storr at The Storr, which is our next destination. Having dominated our skyline, we arrive at the ‘Storr’ Walk, one of the most famous and iconic landscapes on the island. The Storr, Norse word for ‘great man’, is actually part of the Trotternish Ridge, and the 50-metre-high pinnacle at the heart was created by a landslide centuries before between here right up to Flodigarry. Legend has it that a giant lived on Trotternish Ridge and when he died and was laid to rest, his thumb was left exposed! The area can often be shrouded in mist, which gives an extra mystical quality to it all!

The first part of the walk was once through a forest, but the trees were cut down a few years ago as they had been grown for logging purposes. This is now a conservation area where the government is rehabilitating the flora to native species. The trail then becomes increasingly unmarked, so we pick our path to the top! Enjoying the views across the Sound of Raasay and beyond, we wander about the pinnacle, some venturing to its highest point, 719m above the ‘Old Man’, before winding our way back down to the main road! On a side note, the film ‘Prometheus’ (2012) was filmed here.

We walk the roadside a further 14 kilometres to Lealt Waterfalls, one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the UK. They are located on a deep gorge and are a 2-tiered formation with 2 viewing platforms; it is an easy walk to enjoy the local landscape and watch the waters cascade into the depths. Continuing a short distance along the road, passing Brothers Point, we arrive at Kilt Rock Viewpoint at Elishader. There are 2 things to see here: the waterfall and the rock formation. Furthest away from the viewpoint the basalt rock formation gives the 90-metre cliff face a pleated kilt-like look, hence its name, while the water flowing from nearby Mealt Loch plummets over the nearer 55-metre cliffs into the sea below, a rare occurrence worldwide.

Moving along the coastal road we arrive in the Staffin area which includes Staffin and several settlements spread out along the curve of Staffin Bay overlooked by Trotternish Ridge. There are lovely views over the Bay to Staffin Island, Gairloch and beyond. The great fossil hunting beaches are found here at An Corran Beach in Staffin. In 2002, fossilized Jurassic dinosaur footprints were discovered just by the ramp that runs down to the beach. The best time to see them is after a storm, as they are often covered by high tides and sand. This gives Skye yet another name ‘Dinosaur Isle’! As we wander the beach today, we are more likely to have only cows for company!

Heading inland from Staffin we arrive at the start of The Quiraing, an otherworldly landscape of rock formations with names: the Needle, the Prison and The Table. The landscape was formed from a series of massive landslides along the Trotternish Ridge starting some 175 million years ago, and the land is still shifting; the roads require regular maintenance in these areas as they crack and buckle with the subsurface shifting. We walk around the base of the ridge today as it's a steep climb to the formations with a lot of scree underfoot; first the ‘Prison’, then the ‘Needle’ followed by the ‘Table’. The name comes from Old Norse for ‘Round Fold’ as the table is an elevated plateau where the islanders hid their cattle from Viking raiders. We leave the road to explore the ‘Table’ before following a trail heading northeast out of the Quiraing, onto moorland past Loch Hasci and Loch Langaig, to re-join the A855 at Flodigarry where the Trotternish Ridge finishes. It was here that Jacobite Flora MacDonald, who assisted Bonnie Prince Charlie in his escape, settled with her new husband in 1750. They emigrated to North Carolina in 1773, before returning to Skye in 1780. Flora died in 1790 and is buried on the island; we will visit her resting place before we leave Skye.

Heading northwards once more along the coast, we leave the road just before Duntulm to head for Rubha Hunish, the most northerly point of Skye. A moorland path takes us to the headland where we scramble down rocks to get to its tip for the best views across The Minch to the Western Isles, and of Duntulm Castle on Tulm Bay just along the coast. We take a cliffside route toward the castle, taking care as it is rough underfoot. We pass Erisco, another ruined crofting township deserted by 1875, pass Loch Cleat then return to the road briefly before joining a well-made path to Duntulm Castle. The castle was built on the site of an Iron Age broch and was held by Norsemen, then Clan MacLeod for a time. By the 1600s it was in Clan MacDonald of Sleat hands; what we see today is from that time. It’s a very unsafe ruin, so we walk around the cliff path, enjoying its commanding views before returning to the A855.

A 3-kilometre walk brings us to Kilmuir, where Flora MacDonald is buried in the old local Cemetery. Due to her popularity as a Jacobite heroine, a memorial was erected at her grave in 1871. The one here today dates to 1880, a large Celtic cross replacement for the original destroyed by gales. In the nearby present-day cemetery is a memorial to Lee ‘Alexander McQueen’, once a fashion designer for Givenchy, who sadly died in 2010; buried here as Skye is his father’s birthplace. A little quirky fact for you; it is near here that Bonnie Prince Charlie landed ashore with Flora MacDonald, disguised as an Irish maid, Betty Burke, and this inspired the famous folk song, ‘Over the Sea to Skye’:

‘Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing,

Onward! the sailors cry;

Carry the lad that’s born to be king,

Over the sea to Skye’.

The lyrics were written by Englishman Sir Harold Boulton in the 1880s. He knew Anne MacLeod and put the words to the tune she wrote down on her visit to Loch Coruisk in the 1870s. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote alternative lyrics to the tune in 1885, and it is most of these lyrics that you hear in the adapted version for the ‘Outlander’ TV series theme tune often played today.

At the road junction to the cemeteries is the Skye Museum of Island Life, 6 thatched crofters cottages dedicated to exhibiting what it was like to live the crofting life of the past on the island, a step back in time of 100 years at this award-winning attraction.

We push on a further 10 kilometres through more settlements to arrive on the outskirts of Uig, whose name comes from Norse and quite literally means ‘Bay’. We are now on the east coast of Skye which has a more rugged coastline but there are still some beautiful beaches in this area; Mealista Beach, as well as Berie and Ardroil Sands, are good examples. The village sits on Uig Bay which opens out into The Minch. It is here that ferries sail to Tarbert on the Isle of Harris in the Western Isles, our next destination, but first, we will visit Rha waterfall and Fairy Glen.

We make the steep climb through a wooded glen, with care, to stairs which lead down to a viewing area on the riverside. The Falls of Rha is a double waterfall fed by the River Rha flowing down from The Quiraing. The noise is thunderous so we can’t hear each other and it's just as well we have our waterproofs - there is quite a spray...and this is a dry day (virtual walk = virtual GOOD weather)! If we were to continue the walk to the top of the hill and turn right, along the top are a good number of pools which are great for wild swimming. Sadly, no time today as we have a ferry to catch and we have another hidden gem to visit nearby called Fairy Glen, 3.5 kilometres walk from Uig.

Looking like a miniature version of The Quiraing, Fairy Glen has no attachment to the other fairy stories of Skye; the quaint look of this small location has earned it this nickname. We walk through a wood of gnarly, mossy trees along a sloped path which adds to the magic. The craggy hill at its core has been given the name Castle Ewen, as it looks like a ruin; if you climb to the top there are some lovely views of the area. There are circles noticeable in the grass areas, these aren't natural. They are formed by tourists carrying out a fake ritual of leaving rocks in circle formations and a coin at the centre for good luck, thought to have been contrived by a tour group. Locals constantly need to remove them to maintain the glen’s natural state.

We return to Uig, board the ferry and wave goodbye to the Isle of Skye as we take the hour and three quarters sail across The Minch to the Western Isles.