The beginning of May 2018 saw Rose and I start the tough but rewarding Skye Trail starting in the south at Broadford and heading to the most northerly point at Rubha Hunish.
The reason we chose the start there was mainly due to transport limitations, as the bus from Glasgow gets into Broadford at 9pm after a long days travel (6hr bus journey) and to get the to northernly start, would have taken another 24 hours.
So in an effort to get started without further delay we chose Broadford. The trail is described as being a walk of two halves. The first half for us should be easy going trail walking and the second half from Portree north, a much tougher mountain walk along sections which have limited escape.
So this also helped our decision, as we felt the first few days would get us back to being hill fit before tackling the notorious Trotternish Ridge. This video covers our 7 days experience, the route we took, some useful tips to be aware of and safety advice.
Using the Luxe Hex Peak F6 as our shelter we wild camped most of the way, carrying everything in our Gregory Optic 48 and Octal 45 rucksacks.
So sit back, pour yourself a dram and experience Skye on some good, but mainly tough wet, windy hiking days.
6 thoughts on “The Skye Trail Video – 2018”
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We were on Skye in early July based in Torrin. Sunny for our 4 days, shorts, and all the tops in view! The mozzies must have been on holiday as we saw not a one.
Hi Bob, just started watching this vid after listening to the podcasts of your walk.
Quick question. What is the small pack you had clipped to your front on the first day?
Was it the OMM pouch?
The pouch was one I made myself from waterproof material to carry my camera and recording equipment. Based on the OMM older pouch for sizing. It was probably a bit larger than I would like, but it did help to have hands free and talk on many occasions.
Enjoying both this and the accompanying audio podcasts – thanks for sharing your experiences. Sad, though, given how lovely Skye can be, that your weather was so grim! Can I gently ask, given that this must have been apparent from the forecast before you set out, why you didn’t do a walk somewhere else that week?
There’s often a big variation in weather around the UK, as there clearly was in the week you were on the trail, and I find it very frustrating to be walking in cloud and wind on one side of the country knowing that I could have been enjoying views and sunshine on the other side. I find one of the joys of the self-sufficient backpacking approach is that there is no need to pre-book, or otherwise commit to a route until I’ve studied the forecasts a few days before I leave and decided where I’m most likely to get some decent weather. Obviously that has to be balanced against where I actually want to walk, but I’ve got quite a long list of walks I want to do…
However, we all walk for different reasons, and perhaps you just enjoy the challenge?!
Cheers
Patrick
It all sounds good in theory Patrick, however tickets were booked in advance, I had a definite date and place to start the TGOC from at the end of the trail and the forecast looked fantastic running up to it. Just one of those things where the rest of the UK was basking in a heatwave and we had low cloud and high winds just over the western isle. It could have gone either way, which is why we plan for the worst and hope for the best, so it wasn’t a big surprise. As we had set out our plan to complete this trail and been looking forward to it for months, why go anywhere else no matter the weather? Shame about the views though 🙂
Fair enough, Bob. Living near Inverness I guess its easy to take for granted the ease with which we can pick east coast or west coast for the weekend based on the last minute forecast. I did just feel sorry for you, though, walking past views which I know to be lovely and you being unable to see anything but cloud! Do go back sometime.
Incidentally, I do agree with your comments about the precarious nature of the cliff path near Elgol. We were on it a few weeks ago for the first time in years and the unguarded drops on the stretch between Camusunary and Cladach a Ghlinne in particular were far scarier than I had remembered, particularly since we had assorted children with us. Worse, in some ways, than the famous “bad step” round the corner, where at least you’re expecting to have to hold on!
Thanks again for the podcast.
Cheers
Patrick