Skye Trail: Around Loch Slapin

Monday 30th May 2022

Even though there is nothing better than being at the top of a Scottish mountain, you do need good weather for it and I have been let down by the Scottish weather on many occasions in the last ten years to such an extent that I have become disillusioned with Scotland. This made planning my holiday difficult until I came across the Skye Trail, which is a long distance trail that was devised not too long ago and traverses the Isle of Skye. Suddenly I was excited by this holiday and the prospect going back to Scotland and walking across an island that I have visited many times, but not since 2016 and that was a brief overnight. However, as the start date approached I became quite nervous about it because it is described as challenging and aimed at experienced hillwalkers since it is unofficial with no waymarks on the route and many sections do not even have a path. The planning had been difficult as the usual direction to do the Skye Trail is to start in the north and head south, but the availability of the hostel in Portree and the buses on the island forced me to do the trail in the opposite direction, starting from Broadford.

Looking at the trail closely, I decided that starting in Broadford makes more sense, because the most challenging section of the trail is the Trotternish Ridge so leaving that till later in the walk would be better and I have noticed that many other people also do the trail in that direction. The day before I started the Skye Trail I had a rest day and after lunch caught a bus from Fort William to Broadford on the Isle of Skye, but when I got up in the morning it was raining, typical Skye weather. I donned all my waterproofs and left the Broadford Youth Hostel wondering where the official start/end of the Skye Trail would be, if it was an official trail. It could be from James Ross Park beside the bay, or from the end of the pier, but I started beside the mouth of the Broadford River. The Harvey Map of the trail, which I was using, starts on the road beside the bay and turns left onto the B8083 road, which is signposted for Elgol. Soon after leaving Broadford I came off the road onto the Marble Line footpath, which follows the route of an old mineral railway that I had previously walked in 2014.

In fact, while planning for a north to south journey I had considered missing out this section because I’d done it before, but I’m glad I didn’t as it makes for a good start to the trail along an easy track and soon the rain stopped. Eventually the track moves away from the road and narrows to climb over a low pass, wet at times into the stunning surroundings of the abandoned village of Boreraig. I had enjoyed being in Boreraig in 2014, so I was glad to return because it is a fabulous, tranquil location beside the sea with the ruins of abandoned buildings in many places and a few scattered sheep who had been the original cause of the village’s demise. Before leaving Broadford I had bought something for my lunch, but since there was no room in my rucksack I had carried it all the way to Boreraig where I decided I would now eat it while sitting on the wall of one of the ruined houses while the sun started to peak through the clouds.

Setting off from the village I followed a great path that keeps above the shoreline and below crumbly cliffs, although it was depressing to see large amounts of plastic. The views out to sea were stunning, especially towards the Isle of Rùm, until eventually I was dragged away from the shore and up the hill towards the abandoned village of Suishnish, although there is hardly any trace of it left and it lacks the tranquil atmosphere of Boreraig. A signpost directed me away from some farm buildings and soon brought me onto the access road. With a strong headwind and stunning views of the mountains around Loch Slapin, including Bla Bheinn still shrouded in cloud, I made my way along the track beside the coast, but I was troubled by a pain in the big toe of my right foot that was leaving me almost hobbling along. When I reached the road end at Camas Malag I stopped to have my lunch and to attend to my feet. Changing my socks seemed to help, so I was happier when after eating I set off along the road inland through a lovely wood and into the village of Torrin, which was decorated with many flowers. I remember driving through Torrin in 2016 and seeing many crocosmia flowers that encouraged me to grow them in my own garden.

The mountains around Loch Slapin had now shaken off their cloud caps and with the sun shining the views were stunning with rugged Bla Bheinn attracting the most attention, but the smooth-sided Red Cuillin on the other side of the loch also looked good in the sunshine. Slowly, I made my way along the road to the head of Loch Slapin from where there were great views down the loch until eventually I reached the Blaven car park where I had started my walk up Bla Bheinn in 2016. There I finally left the road and took a path that climbs through woodland on a very good path until I came out of the wood where it became abominably wet underfoot. Eventually the path improved with many wildflowers at my feet before descending to the road where my big toe complained again all the way down into Kirkibost where I turned left onto a road that took me back to the coast. If I had stayed on the main road, I would have soon reached a track that heads over the hills to Camasunary, which would have given me a big shortcut on the trail and was the route I’d used in 2011 when I’d walked to Kirkibost from Sligachan.

Instead I stayed on the trail walking beside the rhododendron-decorated Abhainn Cille Mhaire stream to the sea where I had stunning views across Loch Slapin to Suishnish. I had originally planned to camp at this point but signs forbid camping though it was also too early to stop, so I kept going along the road with the views up the loch towards the Red Cuillin attracting my attention. A footpath continued after the end of the road, but my big toe was hurting again, which seemed to be mainly on descents, so I changed my socks, though ultimately the problem was my innersole and there was nothing I could do about that. On reaching another road I passed through the small community of Glasnakille and over the hill into picturesque Elgol where the dramatic Black Cuillin dominated the views from the harbour. After the rain had cleared on this walk, the weather was stunning and left me with fabulous views of the mountains around Loch Slapin. I was surprisingly not bothered that I hadn’t been at the top of any of those mountains and enjoyed the views nonetheless on an epic walk through the glorious landscape of Skye.