Having Our Pie in the Skye: Finishing the Skye Trail

Day 5: Portree to the Trotternish Ridge

We woke up in thick fog, which seemed to be an omen for bad things to come. We had amazing weather up to this point, but at some point we knew that Skye couldn’t keep being sunny and temperate for an entire week. Though more than halfway through, the toughest section of the trail was to start today: the Trotternish Ridge. All these factors accumulating made us reluctant to start the day and get out of our sleeping bags.

Achilles was really having a rough time as she had to wrap many of her blisters as Shepard and I heated up water for breakfast and broke down our camp. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to make it even after pushing through the last evening. After we helped her break down her tent, all putting on rain gear to brave the three miles to the Storr carpark, Achilles had decided she was going to get off trail and join back when she felt better. We still walked all the way down to the lot all together which took a little longer than usual due to a combination of injuries and low morale.

When we arrived at the gift shop, we swapped a ton of gear and found the next bus down to the camp outside of Portree. We walked with Achilles to the bus stop and waved her off after making sure she had everything she needed. Shepard and I proceeded to use the only restroom for the next twenty miles and get ourselves ready for the second half of the day.

It was really rough at first as the Storr was the largest single ascent we had to do on the entire trail and we were obviously still not happy about the weather nor did we want to not have Achilles with us. But we had to persevere. Achilles had then let us know that she had made it to the camp in Portree which we were very happy to hear. We were hoping she could rest up and meet us at the final bothy at the end of the trail for one last celebration of our efforts.

The needle rock and other formations at the Storr had an authentic feel to them as they were shrouded in fog when we reached them. But as we kept pushing the fog slightly lifted to reveal a nice silhouette of all the formations from the top of the touristy area. This is when the day completely turned around for me and Shepard. Knowing Achilles was in camp was already a morale boost cause we knew she was resting and that meant she would hopefully feel healthy enough to join us back on trail, but when we crossed that ridge, the Storr blocked all the clouds and you could see all the peaks and valleys down the ridge. It was exceptionally beautiful – One of, if not, the best views on the trail – and we even got a rainbow to come out in the foreground of it.

We stopped for a quick lunch right in the gap of the Storr and the next peak, which was going to be the highest elevation point we would reach on trail. We had bagels with sweet chili hummus and cheddar cheese and I think we both genuinely thought that was one of the best meals we had eaten on trail yet. I was certain that if I could have this as lunch back home with friends I would. Maybe they would think it was weird that that was all I was eating, but they would just have to try it to be converted. Also the dairy in Scotland is incredible, which I think just made the lunch even better.

With full bellies, we refilled at the stream in the gap, which we were told was the last good reliable source until you reached the car park for the Quiraing, a good 13 miles down trail. So, and this was certainly overkill in retrospect, we filled three liters each and kept on. Each peak exposed more of the ridge and it was just awe inspiring to look at. The ridge genuinely looked like a sort of canyon with steep cliffs falling into a valley on one side and a gradual descent on the other into rolling hills.

The nicer weather also led us to pausing and taking photos and enjoying the scenery while getting to a gap we had selected for camp on the trail map. Unfortunately, right before our last up and down to the gap, a giant rain clouds blew in and drenched us. So we decided to stop a gap early to set up as we had made plenty of miles for the day and just wanted to get out of the wind and rain. Luckily enough there was a nice sheltered pocket in the gap with a flat-ish area for a tent that we decided to set up camp.

Deciding to eat in the tent to get out of the rain was really nice. I would generally advise heavily against this both for the fact that you don’t want animals near your gear (unfortunately we had to deal with smells near the tent the entire trip because I had no bear can and there are zero trees to set up a bear/rodent hang in), but when we are trying to get out if the rain and wind, a hot meal without getting out of your sleeping bag in your tent is pretty nice. We also played cribbage for our tally and during the game, Shepard spilled his Fettuccine Alfredo all in the tent. Thankfully he had eaten most of it, but it was still really funny to have to clean that out of the tent after a long day.

Cribbage report: Shepard 3 – Izzy 2 – Achilles 0* (Can I possibly make the 3-0 comeback against Shepard??)

*: could not play

Day 6: Trotternish Ridge to Flodigarry

This day was much less dramatic. This would be our only full day without Achilles and we were wishing her the best in terms of healing. There wasn’t much to do besides keep pressing on along the Ridgeline and set up camp down near Flodigarry.

When we woke up, it was Shepard’s first time having to put on wet, cold clothes in the morning. Though it sucked for both of us, I still thought it was really funny because having done it several times before, I knew it was gonna suck and I wanted to see his reaction. He was not pleased to say the least, but he persevered and we began our day.

We started with a straight 300 ft uphill, which isn’t anything crazy, but usually it’s nice to maybe start the day with a little bit of flat mileage, but we survived. Bobbing up and down the ridge, we had a 2 mile descent to the last large gain of the trip. We took a quick snack and bathroom break before tackling it. Using up all our toilet paper also gave us greater motivation to get down off the ridge and stop near somewhere that had a legit bathroom.

Finally we crested it and stopped for the same lunch we had the previous day, which almost tasted even better the second time around. Something about the calorie density of cheese just makes the body of a thru hiker so happy. We were very tempted to order food at the food truck at the Quiraing car park as well, but we resisted.

Flodigarry being only a few miles from there, we decided to set up camp a mile or so out to be able to grab lunch the next day in Flodigarry. Making it to camp at 3, we had plenty of time to relax our feet and bodies after pushing through the traverse. I ended up walking the entire shoreline of the lake we stopped at to try and find the best spot and the one Shepard had recommended from viewing it from above was behind a stone was against the side of a hill. It worked hugely in our favor as we knew that wind was coming from the forecast and that small, sheltered area was covered on almost all sides.

We texted Achilles that we had made it to camp and to ask her how she was doing. She said she was doing great and had seen the Fairy Glen on Skye with her day off and was wondering if she could join us for the last few miles of trail from Flodigarry to the end the next day. Of course we said yes and were very excited she would finish out the trail with us. We also planned for Shepard to go as far ahead as he wanted the next day to get to the bothy to scope it out in case we needed to make a backup plan for camp the next night.

Making dinner on the only part of the shore that didn’t have midges was very nice. We got to relax for a while and we talked about how we were both saving our dehydrated Mac and cheeses for the last night because that was the meal we were both most excited about trying. I finally finished the god forsaken book I had also brought with me and we read some hilarious good reads reviews of it. It got us talking about what we liked reading and Shepard was mentioning how he wants to read the Lord of the Rings series and I told him that was a great idea. He also mentioned how he had been trying to get into poetry with some poets I had recommended and I told him it was ok if he didn’t like it. Very few people I have tried to put onto poetry have stayed hooked on it. He then asked me about some of the better stuff I had read recently and I thought of a Mary Oliver quote I had written down from her poem Coming Home:

“and what we see is our life / moving like that, / along the dark edges / of everything – the headlights / like lanterns / sweeping the blackness –”

Of course I was thinking of that quote too. Does any other quote encapsulate thru hiking more? We are just these little lights passing through a great big unknown slowly following the light others have left and leaving behind our own for others to follow? Anyways, I told him he should definitely let me know what he thinks of the Lord of the Rings, cause I’d like to read it at some point myself too.

Cribbage report: Shepard 4 – Izzy 2 – Achilles 0* (I did not make the comeback)

Day 7: Flodigarry to Rubha Hunish

We woke up and had nothing to do because we realized that the Flodigarry hotel did not offer breakfast to non residents and that lunch was not offered until noon. So we took our sweet time getting out of camp and breaking it down. We stumbled on a few hikers going southbound that were from Colorado and we gave them some info about water stops and the like and then realized those were the first hikers we had spoken to that had also been from the states.

Finishing off the miles to Flodigarry incredibly quickly, we made it to the hotel around 10. Achilles then texted us that she had been at the Storr (the weather was amazing this morning so she definitely got a great view, plus she went early so no tourists!), but the bus would be at Flodigarry hotel very soon! When she arrived we were all happy to be together again and have one last meal together before the final six miles of trail.

We all had a hearty meal, especially me because I had a haggis scotch egg. That’s when Shepard got up and out and I waited for Achilles to wrap her blisters and hot spots up for us to get going. The last few miles were on the coast and the wind, already being forecasted to be strong that day, was very present, almost blowing us over at certain points.

At around 4 miles remaining, if you look closely, you can see the bothy on the cliff above Rubha Hunish. Though Achilles was feeling some pain, she must have been just as motivated by seeing that as I was cause we were making the best pace we had made all trip getting there. Going along the coast to get there was so beautiful and we somewhat nerded out about the basalt coastline/sea cliffs that we saw along the way. Later I would learn that this basalt layer was formed when volcanic activity was occuring during the Acadian orogeny near Skye. I haven’t doubled checked that, so don’t take my word for it. I’m just a geology enthusiast, but having Achilles there, who is a geology major, makes it nice to have someone to talk about these things.

When we arrived, Shepard was waiting for us and we all celebrated by whooping and hollering in the empty bothy. I started playing Blinded By the Light by Manfred Manns Earth Band because I would randomly sing it at different intervals on trail and really wanted to listen to it. Shepard hearing me play the song, gave me my tail name at the end of our journey: The Light. I instantly loved it. Isn’t it funny how the night before we had talked of the Mary Oliver poem as well? Either way, The Light is a name I will not be forgetting anytime soon and I definitely cannot wait to keep using it on future trails.

Though Achilles and Shepard shared how strange it is to finish a thru hike: no fanfare and on this particular hike, because it is unofficial, no official termini, it makes it hard to feel accomplished. I agreed, but I also said let’s make dinner and crack the wine – which I had carried through the entirety of the trail – to celebrate. A solo hiker named Lukas even joined us as he had met Achilles when she had stopped in Portree on her time off trail. I don’t drink much, so that one metal camp cup of wine felt great along with the dehydrated mac and cheese I had filled to the brim with Ritz crackers. It became a night of food and festivities as we were sharing all our experiences with Lukas and sharing the differences in our culture and it just made me so happy we were all there in that moment.

Cribbage report: Shepard 4 – The Light 3 – Achilles 0 (Unsurprising turnout, since Shepard has been winner of a cribbage tournament we do with friends every once in a while and won both he’s participated in)

The End

And so we went to bed that night and got ready to go home the next day. The Skye trail was beautiful and I highly recommend it to anyone, both inexperienced and highly experienced thru hikers alike. Though this was the last thru hike of the year for me, I am hoping to share a few more blogs with a bit of information on each trail for prospective hikers. For now though, I hope you all enjoyed and that I can write again about more trail stories in the near future.

Sincerely,

The Light