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.