Skye Trail: Through Portree

Wednesday 1st June 2022

Once again on the Isle of Skye I awoke to gorgeous sunshine, stunning views, no wind and loads of midges. Eventually I set off from where I had camped for the night, above the remote settlement of Peinachorrain at the end of the Braes road that overlooks the Narrows of Raasay. My day started with a long walk along this road while enjoying the great views to be seen across the channel to the Isle of Raasay and north to the craggy hill of Beinn Tianavaig, pausing beside the memorial to the Battle of the Braes, which was fought by crofters standing up to the callous and inhuman practices of their landlord. However, by this point I was having problems with my big toe, which had given me pain two days previously on my first day of the Skye Trail, but it had not given me any problems on the second day, mainly because that was largely off-road and on level terrain. My toe hurt most on steep descents and on hard tarmac, so the undulating road was a great trial for me which prompted me to stop frequently to try and resolve the issue. I tried not to let this ruin what was a lovely walk in fabulous weather through gorgeous countryside and eventually the pain eased, and after six and a half miles of road walking and views north towards Portree and the Trotternish Ridge I finally came off the road at the bridge over the Varagill River.

After so many miles of road walking it was glorious to be walking on a footpath again as I made my way beside the Varagill River to Loch Portree while sea pinks decorated the shoreline. Despite increasingly rough ground, not helped by the tide being in, I eventually climbed away from the shore and onto the road that leads into Portree, the largest town on the Isle of Skye. With overcast skies overhead I made my way through the tourist-filled madness of Portree to the start of the short Scorrybreac Trail, which hugs the coastline east of Portree and afforded me with excellent views across Loch Portree. This wonderful path rounds the headland and heads north, but soon climbs away from the shore and I had to leave it as the Skye Trail crosses some farmer’s fields on sketchy paths that brought me to a steep climb up Sròn a’ Bhainne on what I considered to be my first proper hill climb of the Skye Trail. I was rewarded for my effort with stunning views south towards Beinn Tianavaig with the cloud-covered Cuillin far in the distance and east across the Sound of Raasay all the way to the distant mountains of Torridon on mainland Scotland.

Turning my attention north I beheld the cliff-edge of Creag Mhór where a very faint path, little more than an indentation in the grass, followed the clifftop all the way up to the trig point that sits near the top of Sithean Bhealaich Chumhaing, which is the highest point on this line of hills. Darkened clouds now hung over the Trotternish Ridge while the sun continued to shine on Raasay and I headed down the pathless slopes. It is usual to do the Skye Trail in the opposite direction to how I was doing it, which would be to head south, however I felt that would make this section of the trail very frustrating as height is gained very slowly on featureless grassy hills, whereas I was descending slowly, which is more preferable, and now I had views ahead of me of the Trotternish Ridge. The ground was often boggy, though the sight of the occasional spotted-orchid kept me going for the many miles that seemed to take forever as I slowly make my own way north until finally I reached the end of the ridge at Bearreraig Bay where water pipes plunge steeply down the hillside to the Storr Lochs Hydro-Electric Power Station.

An easy walk along the access road brought me to the main road below the Storr where I waited for a bus that would take me back to Portree. This walk had two very different halves with a frustrating road walk in the morning, though under blue skies, before a ridge walk in the afternoon that started well but deteriorated with the darkening skies into a trek across wet, grassy ground.