Through West Harris to Berneray

Thursday 24th August 2017

I woke at the start of this day to perfect conditions beside Luskentyre beach on the Isle of Harris with bright sunshine and blue skies that promised an excellent day’s walk, but the reality proved to be a lot tougher than anticipated. Two years ago I walked through West Harris following the road almost all the way from Leverburgh, but now I was following the newly opened Hebridean Way in the opposite direction along a course that keeps off the road for most of the day. I didn’t know what this stage of the trail was going to be like, and it didn’t start very well as I couldn’t find it. There was no signpost marking the point where the Hebridean Way heads off into the hills so I had to use the GPS waypoint from the visitouterhebrides.co.uk website that took me through an unmarked gate and uphill towards a wooden post bearing the Hebridean Way logo but no footpath linking them, and this was to be the pattern for the whole of the day. I love to walk on a good, well-made footpath, but I didn’t get that on this walk, and instead I had to make my own way between the wooden posts that stretched across the bleak, rough moorland.

Initially I was climbing very steeply with stunning views behind me across Tràigh Losgaintir, that is the Luskentyre sands, a tidal saltmarsh that includes beaches considered to be some of the best in the country. They were looking fabulous in the sunny weather but I was more concerned with struggling to get up the hillside keeping to the rock outcrops that are interspersed amongst the heather for easier walking until eventually the gradient eased and I followed wooden posts across a rough terrain that was very tough to walk upon even though the gradient was never again as severe as it was at the beginning. Heather and tussocky grass dominated as I dropped down into Gleann Sheileboist, up over the headland, down into Gleann Horgaboist, uphill again and across a broad, complex, undulating landscape slowly making my way south-west. I spent the whole time constantly looking for these wooden posts as there was no sign of a path on the ground, and I didn’t always find them. Sometimes I just had to blindly set off in what I thought was the right direction until eventually I spotted the next post hopefully in the direction that I was going.

This form of walking was very tiring and took many hours to do even though the distance was not great. The good weather slowly deteriorated during the day to cloud over at lunchtime so that the good views that I had enjoyed in the morning were soon a distant memory, and by the time I finally came back onto the road it was raining. At first it had been an interesting challenge to pick the best route between the posts, having a moment of elation on reaching a post before searching for the next one and selecting the best route through the complex terrain that would take me to the post. But, I eventually lost interest in that game after a couple of hours as the strenuous walking dragged on into the afternoon. Later in the walk the Hebridean Way follows a line of old dykes (heather covered earth walls), that must have been created many years ago to channel water away from the farmland.

At this time of the year these dykes are covered in purple-flowering heather that stand out against the predominately grassy landscape, but also makes it impossible to walk on top of the dykes and I had to try and walk below, which was usually boggy and not easy. Eventually the route turned downhill through farmland to reach the road near Scaristavore where I encountered two people walking the Hebridean Way in the opposite direction. They were full of horrors about the trail to Leverburgh and I was not complementary about the path that I had just been on. Signposts direct walkers onto the beach, but the visitouterhebrides.co.uk website advocates keeping to the road. Following the signposts I headed out onto the dunes in worsening weather at double-quick time as I was in no mood to linger. Two years ago the weather had been great and I had been able to spend some time on this fabulous golden beach enjoying the views, but now I was thankful when I reached a sign that took me back onto the road.

After a short spell of road-walking I took a clear path that heads uphill towards the pass between Maodal and Bolabhal Sgarasta, but after a wickedly short distance this good path disappears and I was left to fend for myself with occasional posts once again attempting to guide my way. Occasionally a turf path would appear to provide slightly dryer, but precarious, walking over the pass and it wasn’t long before it started raining heavily so when the turf path disappeared I felt I'd been abandoned to terrible weather with no sign of a post to guide me or any other indication of the route. Through the pouring rain I made my way across the saturated ground into Gleann Uachdrach trying to head in the right direction despite the poor visibility until eventually through the murky weather I glimpsed a bridge over the Abhainn Horsa-cleit and beyond the turf path reappeared to take me through the boggy ground as the rain gradually eased while I passed Loch na Moracha and eventually reached the road. This traverse over the pass was a nightmare in heavy rain on turf paths that are never going to be dry when the weather is this bad. By the time I dragged myself into Leverburgh it was late, and I was weary after many hours of strenuous walking through rough moorland on non-existent paths.

This whole day had been a nightmare, so by the time I had crossed the Sound of Harris on the ferry to Berneray I was beyond exhausted. As I picked the ticks out of my legs from the day spent walking through tall heather I decided that I had to have a rest the next day. The weather was good the following day and I had a relaxing walk around the beautiful island of Berneray, up Beinn Shlèibhe and down the gorgeous west beach whose white sands must rank as the best in the country. My walk through West Harris had been like walking through hell with the lack of a path making it very strenuous and time-consuming, however in ten years’ time I’m sure the route of the Hebridean Way through West Harris will be a lot easier as a path will have been trampled into the ground making the route much clearer, but right now this is a very difficult stage of the trail. I was completely worn out by this stage and appreciated the chance to recover on the delightful island of Berneray, so that after my day’s rest I was thoroughly refreshed and able to resume my trek along the Hebridean Way.

The Harris Walkway

Wednesday 23rd August 2017

It had started raining before I went to sleep and it was still raining when I got up for this walk. Overnight a tremendous storm had passed overhead bringing flooding to many parts of the Western Isles, and it was still raining when I packed up my tent while midges continued their onslaught. I walked the short distance to the small ferry terminal of Tarbert on the Isle of Harris and wondered whether it was worth resuming my progress along the Hebridean Way. I considered backtracking to the youth hostel at Rhenigidale and waiting out the rain, but then I got a glimpse of the weather forecast in the tourist information centre and I was told it was going to be sunny. This seemed highly unlikely, but on that basis and while it was still raining I set off out of Tarbert along the road soon turning off onto the waymarked path for the Hebridean Way, which coincides at this point with the route for the well-established Harris Walkway, a trail that was opened in 2001 whereas the Hebridean Way was opened just this year.

I was keen to follow this new trail even though I’d already walked sections of it before, two years ago, including the Harris Walkway, which helped with navigation as I could retrace my steps even where the signage was not so helpful. It wasn’t long before the rain stopped and gradually during the morning the weather slowly improved as I made my way along a great path that runs beside Loch Ceann Dibig until I reached the road at Meavag. Just before reached the small harbour I crossed a river that was heavily swollen by the overnight rain and was resulting in heavy torrents crashing down the hillside and under the bridge that was standing on. After an extended section of road walking during which the sun came out I reached the delightfully named Loch Phlocrapoil where an excellent path heads west across the fabulous rock and heather Harris landscape.

These paths gave me a fabulously enjoyable walk in the improving weather with fantastic views over the glorious West Harris scenery. Despite the heavy overnight rain this well-made path was relatively dry and is a resounding testament to the people who many years ago built this ancient path. Following a section between Loch na Cro and Grosebay along a quiet road I headed back out along this awesome walkway along paths that snake past the beautiful Loch Mhic Neacail and climbs steeply to afford me with some stunning views across this fabulous landscape. After the poor weather that I had suffered during the previous couple of days I felt I was really fortunate to have good weather for my walk through this fabulous landscape. Two years ago I also enjoyed walking along the Harris Walkway in improving weather, but since I had done that walk in the opposite direction I was now seeing different parts at its best as the afternoon progressed. When the path slowly started descending towards the township of Kyles Stockinish I turned left and headed north along another great section through a gap in the rocks beside a derelict building and on until eventually I reached a road.

Turning left towards Ardvey I turned right off the road at a T-junction and onto a path over Cnoc Biorach where I encountered my first person also walking the Hebridean Way. Since I was going in the ‘wrong’ direction I had assumed that I would come across loads of people heading north with their backs to the prevailing wind, but until this point I had seen no one. After a long chat about our experiences on the trail I set off once again and turning right at Ceann a’ Bhàigh I started to climb over the coffin route. This was the path that coffins used to take from the rough, unyielding lands of the south coast over the hills and down to the cemeteries on the grassier lands of the north coast. After an initial boggy section the path becomes very well-maintained as it climbs past the swollen Loch Creabhat and over the top of the pass to reveal the fabulous view of the luskentyre sands in the far distance. Two years ago I camped at the northern end of the coffin route overlooking the sands, but now the grassy patch where I had previously camped was covered with a beautiful display of many differently coloured wild flowers where it would be a travesty to camp.

There is an excellent view at that point across the sands with the island of Taransay in the background and I was keen to get a closer look, so I made my way down to the road and up the minor road towards Luskentyre until I reached a spot right next to the sands where I could pitch my tent with a great view across the estuary as the tide slowly came in and enveloped the sands. This day saw me walking along some fabulous paths in some tremendous weather. When the day started I had been feeling really down about the terrible weather that seems to have plagued me for the last year, but the turnaround throughout the course of the day was amazing. I was able to enjoy walking along fabulous ancient paths that people in the Outer Hebrides have walked along for hundreds of years and is now part of not only the Harris Walkway, but also the Hebridean Way. The landscape on the Isle of Harris is some of the best to be found anywhere and I was overjoyed that I was able to experience it once again in great weather. From a saturated, midge-infested camp spot I was now camped in a great location, in the dry and finally clear of midges.

Aline Wood and into Harris

Tuesday 22nd August 2017

After my first full day on the Hebridean Way I had been met by the harsh realities of the Lewis Moor as I was attacked my midges while the rain poured on me. The weather had deteriorated during the course of that first day so that when I got up for my second full day on the trail it was raining, as it had done for most of the night, and it continued to rain throughout the day with only a temporary easing during the afternoon. While being eaten alive by midges I packed up my sodden tent and set off along the Hebridean Way, a new long distance trail that has recently been opened and runs the length of the Western Isles from Vatersay in the south to Stornoway in the north. Since I’d already walked the length of the Outer Hebrides in that direction, two years before, I was doing the walk in the opposite direction starting from Stornoway and after my second night had reached a point just east of the township of Balallan on the Isle of Lewis. Setting off along the Hebridean Way I soon came across a turf path, which is a simple method of constructing a path through boggy moorland by digging two parallel ditches and piling the turf in between.

I had encountered turf paths the day before and once again, on this long stretch around Loch Stranndabhat, I was walking on this uneven sometimes boggy path through bleak, featureless moorland in the pouring rain. Occasionally a blessed gravel path appeared where the ground was rocky and the trenches could not be dug and on those occasions I was able to walk a lot quicker than on the precarious and uneven turf. Through the rain I slowly made my way around Loch Stranndabhat until I eventually reached the main road, near Arivruaich, at the point where two years previously I had ventured onto the moor trying to follow the Hebridean Way, but after a short distance I find an abandoned digger and no sign of the path beyond, which was clearly yet to be constructed. It was good to now be able to see and walk along the constructed Hebridean Way following it all the way when previously I had been unable. After a short distance along the road I turned off onto an old section of road that moves quite a distance away from the modern road and provided me with a quiet and relaxing walk through the drizzly landscape.

A wooden boardwalk appeared as I approached the Aline Community Woodland that provided me with a wonderful walk through the wood beside the Abhainn Ruadh river. This well-made path took me onto a wide stony track that I remembered coming down two years ago, so I turned right and climbed beside the thundering waters of the river that was swollen by the rains. After crossing the river the path narrows onto a recently constructed section that hadn’t been there previously and was a pleasure to walk upon through the light, almost negligible rain up the valley and past the conifer plantations that lie in small groups either side of the river. This was an enjoyable walk despite the grey, murky weather as I slowly made my way uphill on the excellent stony path eventually leaving the woodland and climbing to the top of Griamacleit. Two years ago I had followed surveyor’s posts down this hill, but now I had an excellent path to follow that snakes all the way up to the top of the hill where good weather provides excellent views north across the Isle of Lewis and south to the hills of Harris. Two years ago I had been able to enjoy the views from this point, but unfortunately I didn’t have much in the way of views on this occasion.

On the other side of the hill the gravel path slowly descends back down the hill to a section of old road not far from the main road beside Loch Ghille Chiopain. Beyond that point, except for occasional bits of old road, I now had to walk beside the main road as I headed into the Isle of Harris, the hillier part of the long island that comprises the isles of Lewis and Harris, and through Bowglass and Ardvourlie with views left along the extensive fiord of Loch Seaforth. When I eventually reached the start of the Harris Walkway I was hopeful that this pre-existing trail had received a makeover following its adoption into the Hebridean Way as previously I had found it to be very boggy in places, particularly on this initial section. Sadly after an early promise I found that the path was just as boggy as before which is really annoying as the Harris Walkway could be an excellent trail if only it was properly maintained. The path climbs into the beautiful Harris Hills just as the weather began to improve with the rain finally stopping, though the views were still poor and marred any chance I may have had of seeing Clisham, the highest hill in the Western Isles. The boggy path climbs up through a pass between Cleit Àrd and Tomnabhal to eventually reach another section of old road.

Crossing the modern road I took a turning to the left onto the road that heads to Màraig and Rhenigidale where there is a great youth hostel and it was very tempting to divert onto the road that would take me all the way to this hostel. However this is not on the Hebridean Way and would involve bypassing the path over Bràigh an Ruisg and beside Lochannan Lacasdail, a path that I was keen to do. I was also running short of food and needed to visit the shops in Tarbert, so with huge regret at missing the hostel I turned off the road and took the path up to the top of the pass. The condition of this path underfoot was much better than on the earlier section of the Harris Walkway and the temporarily dry weather enabled me to really enjoy this path as it climbs to the top of the pass and suddenly reveals the stunning view down Gleann Lacasdail with the loch stretching out towards the sea at the southern end. Blue skies would have made this view better, but it was still a pleasure to walk along this gorgeous path all the way down the valley until I eventually reached the road at the southern end of the loch.

By now it was late afternoon, the heavy rucksack was troubling me and I was beginning to get really tired, so when I found a place to stop I pitched my tent, but as soon as I  stopped walking the midges descended on me in droves. I was not going to be sorry to see the end of the midges on this walk as they had been plaguing me ever since I started to walk through Lewis and Harris. The usually strong Hebridean winds were absent which was encouraging the wee beasties to come out and have a feast on poor, weary walkers such as myself. After pitching my tent I walked the short distance into Tarbert where I got some food and headed back to the midges. Despite the poor weather and the midges this was a better day than the day before as once I had got over the tricky turf path at the start of the day I had the pleasure of walking along some excellent paths. The paths in the Aline Community Woodland are particularly good and make me wish that the whole of the Hebridean Way was up to that standard. The highlight of the day was being back amongst the wonderful Harris landscape after the dreary, flat Lewis moorland; it was just great being amongst the fabulous hills of Harris again.

Achmore and Balallan

Sunday 20th and Monday 21st August 2017

After visiting the Outer Hebrides in 2015 I immediately started planning a return visit as I had been entranced by this delightful chain of islands off the west coast of Scotland and the tranquil way of life that exists there far from the maddening crowd. In 2015 I walked from the southern-most tip of the southern-most inhabited island of the Western Isles, Vatersay, all the way up to the northern-most tip of the northern-most inhabited island, at the Butt of Lewis. On the way I came across signs of the Hebridean Way being constructed and was even able to walk along sections of it. Retracing my steps along some of the Hebridean Way had always been a target for my return visit, but as I made my plans I realised that I really wanted to do the whole Hebridean Way from start to finish even though it would mean covering a lot of ground that I’d already done two years previously. I impatiently waited for two years until this year, finally, the Hebridean Way was officially opened and I set off to do the trail in the opposite direction to that in 2015 and later in the year so I would have a different perspective.

The Hebridean Way ends (usually, but starts in my case) at Lews Castle in Stornoway (the last section to the Butt of Lewis is awaiting further funding), so once I reached Stornoway, mid-afternoon during the quiet Lewis Sabbath, I walked through the empty streets of Stornoway into the Castle grounds and up to Lews Castle. I had expected some sort of memorial or marker to signify the Hebridean Way, but finding none I turned around and headed through the delightful Castle grounds disappointed that there seemed to be no sign of the Hebridean Way. After passing the edge of Stornoway Golf Course, the path improved immensely as it passed through lovely wild-looking woodland scenery beside a pleasant stream. It is a pity that the rest of the Hebrides does not have the abundance of trees that are to be found in the Castle Grounds. After passing the Stornoway Water Mill I climbed out of the Castle Grounds fully expecting to find a signpost for the Hebridean Way directing walkers towards the Castle, but I was once again disappointed in the absence of any signage.

The trail now deteriorated as I followed a road out of Stornoway and at the start of the Pentland Road I finally came across a sign for the Hebridean Way directing me out onto the wild, bleak Lewis moor, but on a tarmac road. After turning left towards Achmore I camped at the bridge over the Abhainn Ghrioda waking to hazy sunshine and mist covering the moor. A horrendous, midge-infested breakfast in the still weather and a fraught pack-up of my dew-saturated tent ensured that when I finally set off on my first full day on the Hebridean Way I was cursing my wisdom in camping on the midge-infested Lewis moor. Once I’d set off the midges were left behind, so I was finally able to calm down and resume my walk along the road with some interest added to the surroundings by the sight of old shielings, abandoned summer dwellings, beside the road with some showing signs of repair. As I made my way along the road the early sunshine faded so that by the time I reached the township of Achmore the weather was overcast as it would continue to be for the rest of the day.

After passing through Achmore I turned down a lane past the local water treatment works to discover the rather novel method of construction used for the path of the Hebridean Way at this point: two parallel trenches are dug and the turf piled up in the middle. This provided a not-always dry path through the boggy moorland that was very tiring to walk upon as the path crossed the Allt nan Torcan burn before climbing over Oidreabhal, down to the Allt nan Each, up Stѐiseal, down to cross the burn between Loch na h-Airigh Uir and Dubh Loch Steishal, up Cnoc Mòr Shòbhail, across the burn between Dubh Loch Shòbhail and Loch na h-Airigh Uir, across the burn between Loch na Spereig and Loch Eastapair and finally up Beinn Ceadraiseal. By the time I came down the last hill I was exhausted and thankful to have come across a good gravel path after the tiring, and often boggy, turf path. Heather is in flower at this time of the year and what I saw of it on the moor was a welcome sight, but the ground was unfortunately too wet for an extensive blanket covering of heather as can be seen in place like the North York Moors.

On reaching the main road in Laxay I now had to follow the road south, but just before I reached Balallan I came across a sign showing the Hebridean Way coming off the moors. Flummoxed, I turned onto this track following it north until the trail turns off to climb to the top of Cnoc a’ Ghille Ruaidh Mhòir. This diversion is not mentioned on the Visit Outer Hebrides website, but is in the Cicerone guidebook and other sources. With views across the Laxay valley a good gravel path heads downhill to reach the main road at the Laxay Bridge where I had earlier failed to spot the signpost. Resolving to be more observant and not rely on the website's GPS waymarks, I retraced my steps along this path until I eventually returned to the main road just outside Balallan. After more road walking through the sprawling township of Balallan I came across a Hebridean Way signpost that seemed to be pointing in the wrong direction, coming off the moor and onto the road ahead of me. I think the signpost was wrong. Heading out onto the moor once again I found signs of peat cutting, but no sign of the path heading north.

This was where I’d camped two years ago and enjoyed a lovely evening in windy, sunny weather, whereas now I turned left at a junction just after passing Loch Craoibhe where a Hebridean Way sign directed me west onto a particularly boggy and rough section of turf path. To be fair the Visit Outer Hebrides website says this section is closed so I was not surprised to see that the path is in need of work at this point and that I had some difficulty determining the correct route around Loch Cuthaig. By the time I reached a track at the far end of this closed section I decided that it was time to stop, so just after turning right at a junction I made camp only to be immediately attacked by midges again. This was a really tough day with some difficult moorland walking on uneven, sometimes boggy ground while my rucksack throughout the day weighed heavily on my back. I had thought the Hebridean Way would be comprised of easy footpaths, but I had soon discovered that this is not an easy trail to walk and also that it is not reliably signposted. I had been really tired going into this holiday and was looking forward to an easy holiday, but instead I found plagues of killer midges and boggy turf paths. This was going to be a tough fortnight.