The Harris Walkway

Saturday 13th June 2015

I woke up at the start of this day overlooking Luskentyre Sands, which has been voted the best beach in the UK, so I couldn’t resist a quick trip back down to the edge of the vast sandy bay before setting off. Beside the road, on the southern edge of the sands, near the township of Seilebost, is a sign marking the start of the Harris Walkway, which was to be my objective for this walk. However that was the only time that I found any sign that specifically mentions the walkway even though there are plenty of signposts along the route. Once I had packed up my tent I set off along a track that soon became a well-constructed footpath and passes through the Bealach Eòrabhat along a track known as the coffin route. This was the route taken by those who carried coffins from the unyielding lands of the east coast to the cemeteries of the west coast of Harris. The weather was undecided during my traverse of the coffin route with attempts at rain interspersed with flashes of sunshine. By the time I got to the other side of the pass the sunshine had won out and so it remained, but a strong, cold, northerly wind continued throughout the rest of this glorious day.

On the other side of the pass, near Bayhead, I turned left over a hill and followed blue ringed posts that I presumed marked the route of the Harris Walkway. These signposts were a little odd, not because the places were in Gaelic (e.g. Ceann a’ Bhaigh instead of Bayhead), but that the distances were in kilometres, which is hardly ever seen in Britain where miles are the standard unit of measure on signposts. These signs took me onto the Golden Road, which follows the craggy south-eastern coast of Harris, near the head of Loch Stocanais. A short walk up the road towards a cattle grid brought me to a footpath that was an utter delight. With the sun beginning to peak through the clouds and the stunning Harris hills for a backdrop I had a fabulous walk along a clear, beautifully made path through the rock-filled Harris landscape. Harris is easily the most spectacular island in the whole chain of the Outer Hebrides, even if you don’t include the beaches of West Harris that I had walked past the day before.

The rugged, rock-covered hills are, to me, more appealing than the softer beauty of the beaches. There is a lot more to see with the hills and they invite exploration enticing me to climb these rock-bound monsters. I was in awe of the amazing surroundings and longed to stay in this area for the rest of my holiday so I could explore them to my hearts-content, but instead I continued along the path past delightful wildflowers including spotted-orchids. I really enjoyed walking along this wonderful path as it took a cleverly-made route through the craggy hills with views over the Stockinish Bay while the sun shone brightly overhead. Near Stockinish I turned left at a junction of paths and headed over the hill on a footpath that was just as much of a delight to walk upon passing Loch Mhic Neacil and through more great scenery. Unfortunately this great path ended in a mud-churned field where a solitary, sorry-for-itself horse was stood at the far end.

I am not keen on animals, but I did feel sorry for this horse as whereas I could open the gate at the far end to get out, the horse couldn’t escape. After expressing my regrets to the horse I passed through the township of Grosebay and walked along a road through more of this undulating, rocky Harris landscape that is dotted with sheep, heather and lochs. Eventually another path led me to the delightfully named township of Plocrapool beside the large lake of Loch Phlocrapoil. After a quick lunch I headed north along the road with stunning views across the East Tarbet Loch and with weather that continued to be so good I couldn’t believe the views that I was seeing out to sea. After passing through Drinishader I reached Meavag where I finally turned off the road onto another good path that follows the coastline of Loch Ceann Dibig until eventually I climbed up a tarmacked drive onto the main road through Harris.

After a short walk along the road I managed to find a route on an old track that kept me off the road all the way into the ferry port of Tarbet. This is where I came into the Outer Hebrides on my previous visit, in 2011, and after stocking up on food I headed along the same route that I had taken four years ago along the road to Lochannan Lacasdail. At that point I left the road and, as before, climbed the steep hillside following a path that is known as the Postman’s Road, the route that was used to get the post to the tiny settlement of Rhenigidale before the modern road was opened in 1991. It is a tiring route, especially when you are carrying all the food that you are going to be eating while staying at the hostel in Rhenigidale. A long climb eventually brought me to the top of the pass between Trolamul and Beinn Tharsuinn, and was the highest point on this holiday that I had climbed while carrying my rucksack. On the far side of the hill is the “zig-zags”, a seemingly never-ending series of hairpin bends, and I counted eleven turns as I descended one hundred and fifty metres straight down to sea level at the head of Loch Trolamaraig.

A smaller climb negotiated the rocky terrain on the other side of the sea loch before descending to a beautiful track that closely follows the coastline past the abandoned village of Garry-loteger before finally reaching Rhenigidale two and half hours after leaving Tarbet. This route to Rhenigidale was reminiscent of the paths that I had been on earlier in the day through craggy South Harris that were constructed many years ago and are a memorial to the genius that constructed them. If the new Hebridean Way can come close to matching these age-old tracks, and I would hope that it uses most of the route of the already established Harris Walkway, then it will be a long-distance path to rank with the best in Britain. The joys of the Harris Walkway is in using these old paths and while the weather has added to this walk it was the fabulous scenery and the excellent footpaths that made this the best day of my holiday.