Virtual Walk: Scotland

Virtual Walk: Scotland 2021 11th February 2021:  105.02km walked today taking the total to 3894.19/8854km.  11% of 120 entries submitting 954.69km. Today we walk over the remaining part of the Isle of Harris, take the ferry to Berneray which we walk round, before crossing the causeway to North Uist. Route 11: Isles of Lewis & Harris Route 12: Berneray to Eriskay From the Eagle Observatory Car Park, we follow the road around the coastal lochs of Loch Mhiabhaig and Loch a Sair, back to Tarbert to join the road taking us south. The A859 winds its way from Tarbert west across South Harris, rugged and less mountainous but still beautiful. We pass several inland lochs then our vista opens out to white sandy bays and the North Atlantic. We take a single track to the south of the lochs before rejoining the main road briefly, turning right to head along the north coast of Loch Fincastle and, beyond it, Luskentyre Bay and Beach. There is an almost 5 kilometre stretch of breathtaking...

Virtual Walk: Scotland 2021 10th February 2021:  110.45km walked today taking the total to 3789.17/8854km.  11% of 139 entries submitting 1004.06km. We continue our tour of Lewis including Arnol, Carloway and the Callanish Stones before crossing into Harris for some wild walking to do eagle spotting. Route 11: Isles of Lewis & Harris After walking the coast south through Lower Barvas on Loch Mor Bharabhais, we turn off the A858 to arrive at the settlement of Arnol, sitting on a coastal grassland plain called ‘machair’. This is a scarce type of habitat of low-lying fertile grassland found only on the western shores of north-western Scotland, Orkney, Shetland, and Ireland, erupt with wildflowers every summer, and used by crofters for grazing livestock. The settlement was originally much nearer the shore 2,000 years ago but moved back further inland in the 1700s. There are several ruined blackhouses, ‘taigh-dubh’, dotted about the landscape which were built here in the 1850s...

Virtual Walk: Scotland 2021 9th  February 2021: 131.18km walked today taking the total to 3678.72/8854km.  12.5% of 138 entries submitting 1049.43km. Today we walk round some of the Isles of Harris and the Isle of Lewis. Route 11: Isles of Lewis & Harris As we near the Isle of Harris we pass Eilean Glas Lighthouse on Scalpay, once an island but now connected by a bridge to Harris. Let me explain the geography of these islands: Harris is one of a group of islands called the Western Isles, also called the Outer Hebrides. The main islands which we will be visiting are Harris and Lewis (one island with separate names), Berneray, North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, Eriskay and last, but not least, Barra! Some are linked by bridges but there will also be a few more ferry journeys involved. Sundays are still looked upon as a ‘day of rest’ so shops, for the most part, are closed and public bus services do not run throughout the Western Isles (just as well we are walking!). As ...

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 a...

Virtual Walk: Scotland 2021 7th  February 2021:  137.70km walked today taking the total to 3440.19/8854km.  12% of 159 entries submitting 1147.46km. Today we visit the main town of Portree before heading to the far west of Skye and then on to visit Dunvegan Castle. Route 10: Isle of Skye Carbost sits on the shore of Loch Harport on the Minginish Peninsula, an area known for its scarecrow, or tattybogle, festival each year. The Talisker Distillery has made whisky here intermittently since 1832, and is known for its peaty, spicy single malt. We head east on the B8009 over the River Drynoch, turning right to join the A863 before taking a trail over the north of Sligachan. We continue east along the shore of the Loch, in the shadow of Ben Lee (444m) to the north, where we rejoin single track road on the coast at Peinchorran on the Narrows of Raasay. This stretch of water between Skye and Raasay is no wider than a half-mile. We pass through various small settlements, past Ben ...

Virtual Walk: Scotland 2021 6th February 2021:  97.05km walked today taking the total to 3302.49/8854km.  13% of 108 entries submitting 746.56km. Today we start our adventure on Skye! Walking an old, deserted village trail to the west coast, then following the rugged coastline through Elgol before returning to the east coast through Strath Mhor Glen. We then head up the coast to Sligachan before heading west yet again to take a dip in the Fairy Pools in the shadow of the Black Cuillins. Route 10: Isle of Skye After a further 9.8 kilometres we reach Broadford is Skye’s second-largest village sitting in the shadow of the Red Cuillins on the banks of the Broadford River which flows into Broadford Bay. Its name is of Old Norse origin, Breiðafjorðr, meaning ‘wide bay’. Broadford became the place in the late 1700s to bring cattle to market and throughout the 19th century marble was quarried at the foot of a nearby hill, then transported to Loch Cill Chriosd where it was dressed and ...

Virtual Walk: Scotland 2021 5th  February 2021:  100.14km walked today taking the total to 3205.44/8854km.  10% of 136 entries submitting 1001.37km. Today we visit the south end of the Isle of Skye before going across the Skye bridge to visit Kyle of Lochalsh, Eilean Donan Castle and Plockton on the mainland. We then return to the Isle of Skye to see the rest of this beautiful island. Route 10: Isle of Skye We disembark our ferry at Armadale on the Sleat Peninsula, Skye. You are forgiven if you think this is a small island, it isn’t. At 50 miles long it is the longest island of the Inner Hebrides, the second-largest island in Scotland, and has a lot to offer. It's packed with scenery, history, and wildlife, and with a bridge from the mainland at Kyle of Lochalsh, makes it an easy place to retreat to! Its name comes from Norse for ‘cloud island’ and is often referred to today as the ‘misty isle’; there is even a gin made here bearing that name. Crofting still happens here ...

Virtual Walk: Scotland 2021 4th  February 2021:  101.61km walked today taking the total to 3105.30/8854km.  8% of 170 entries submitting 1270.07km. From Fort William, we make our way to the head of Loch Shiel to see the Glenfinnan Monument and Viaduct before moving on and exploring remote areas of outstanding beauty alongside the Road of the Isles to Mallaig, from where we are heading to the Island of Skye tomorrow! Route 9: Fort William to Mallaig Just past the Ben Nevis Visitor Centre, we cross Glen Nevis Road and take the path into the woods on the opposite side, past a woodland pond, before reaching the Braveheart Car Park. This car park was built for film vehicles when the 1995 film, ‘Braveheart’, was partially filmed in the glen. Near here is Samuel’s Stone (also called the Stone of Council or Wishing Stone), a natural erratic deposited by a glacier during the Ice Age but is also said to mark the spot where Samuel, the Chief of the Camerons of Glen Nevis, was victor...

Virtual Walk: Scotland 2021 3rd  February 2021:  91.49km walked today taking the total to 3003.69/8854km.  10% of 138 entries submitting 914.86km Today we finish the West Highland Way, the first officially designated long distance footpath in Scotland, opened in 1980, before we climb Ben Nevis and then walk to the Steall Waterfall. Route 8: Milngavie to Fort William Route 9: Fort William to Mallaig We continue along the old Parliamentary Road over Rannoch Moor until we reach Kinghouse. Rannoch Moor is 130 square kilometres of peat bogs and lochans and can be treacherous in bad weather as it is very exposed. Halfway across the moor we reach Ba Bridge where the River Ba flows through a rocky ravine. The path climbs from here before descending past the Glencoe ski area and then to the Kingshouse Hotel. On the way down there are superb views of the Munro, Buachaille Etive Mor, which means ‘the Great Herdsman of Etive’, called this because it guards the southern entrance into ...