Returning to Skye - Day One

John and I visited Skye in 2018 when we did a motorcycle tour of the Outer Hebrides, finishing off with two nights on Skye. We thought we had seen most of it but took another look when we were trying to plan a minibreak together last year, and it brought up a whole raft of other things that we had missed or not had time for. We didn't go to Skye again together so I wanted to do it in his honour. I hoped it would give me some time to reflect, relax and reconnect with nature.

Easter was an opportunity to take my first proper holiday since last July, and the first since John died. It was daunting booking accommodation and food and planning the trip - deciding what I was going to see and do - on my own. John used to do the bookings and then, when he drove, I was the back up navigator and it worked well and we had each other in case anything untoward happened. The additional confidence that you get from having someone to back you up if you get lost, get hurt, or just get tired, and having someone there to share the experiences with are just immeasurable and you have no idea how important that is until you're alone. Originally Kathryn was going to come to Skye with me, but I was panicking so much at booking it that I didn’t really feel like I was going to be great company this time round with it being the first. The great thing is that now I know all the best swimming spots for when we do go together, and the ones to avoid - like the one below!

I set out from home 9 o’clock Wednesday morning and it was raining, of course. But as I neared Skye, the clouds cleared a little and the rain dried up. I enjoyed the baffling ‘feral goats’ sign and then spotting said goats grazing outside a little cafe by the side of the road. The first thing I did when I reached Skye was to grab the soup of the day with a side of onion rings at Siaway café. I was going to go to the Red Skye restaurant, but it appeared to still be closed for refurbishment. Siaway had been my option for dinner, but having had lunch there I realized it was fine as a cafe with lovely staff and the soup was delicious, but I wanted somewhere fancier for dinner that evening. I took my coffee to go.

Then on to my only activity of the day which was walking down to Boreraig clearance village and Allt na Peighinn Waterfall. It was a 10 km hike, which was bad enough, but what I hadn’t bet on was the 350m ascent ... twice! For reference that's taller than the Shard. I began opposite the small ruined church of Kilchrist, which I had a quick explore of whilst drinking my coffee to warm up before the walk. Then I grabbed my waterproof rucksack, waterproof coat and trousers just in case, water bottle, camera and, of course, swimming gear. But I forgot my boots... Not long after setting off I passed six people and baby coming to the end of their walk.

The walk was a lot more interesting than I had anticipated at the beginning. I passed the old railway station for a marble quarry, and the first part of the path followed the nice, straight, not-too-steep path of the original quarry railway line. The railway was built in 1907 and the marble was hauled by a steam loco called Skylark. The path went past some areas that have been excavated for marble, which have been designated a site to special interest, and then the turntable that was used to turn the trains around at the end of the track, and a lot of piles of marble chips. That was the steepest part of the ascent on the way there, but the next section of the walk was a bit of a slog. The path was stony and uneven and a bit muddy and by half way there I'd got soaking wet feet. Once I’d reached the final section, and the summit of the path, I could see down to the sea where I was heading. I descended through the ruins of Boreraig village, amongst the sheep, and headed down the steep slope to the waterfall that fell onto the beach, creating a lovely pool beneath, which was just the right size and depth for a dip.

As I had seen no other person since the beginning of the walk, I decided it would be safe to skinny dip as it was also quite hidden from the slopes above. I knew the water would be cold and I knew I had to be in and out quite quickly to avoid hypothermia during the long walk back. The water wasn’t as cold as I expected, and I was able to dunk quite quickly. The beach was empty and quiet save for the bird song and the sound of the waterfall. There is nothing quite as liberating as skinny dipping in fresh, cold water. I dressed quickly, as there was a cool breeze, and then it was time for the second ascent, which was much steeper, but at least it got the climb over with quite quickly. I had to rest a few times on the way up and I felt like I’d really reached my limit, but knew that I had another hour and a half to walk back to the car - I realised just how isolated I was, having seen no-one for the last 3 hours and being over an hour from civilization.

I passed two young boys, carrying their bikes over the worst section of rocky path and said hello. Then I had to fish my raincoat out because I was getting wet. The walk back was difficult and as I neared the car I could feel my feet were hurting, my knees were hurting, my back was hurting, and everything was starting to stiffen up. It was time for pizza at Gasta! I headed back to Broadford and held my breath as a table of four was turned away, but luckily they had room for a little one and I tucked into a salami pizza with hot honey, and a garlic mayo dip, and grabbed a takeaway brownie for later.

Then I headed over to my accommodation in Elgol - Bayview, and a very friendly host who made me a cup of tea and sat and chatted to me for half an hour, during which I learned that his great-great-grandmother had lived at Boreraig at the time of its clearance. Her name was the Widow MacKinnon. The view down to the bay was quite spectacular with sheep just outside the window and a brooding dark sky and mountainous white clouds scudding quickly across the peaks in the distance. The room was lovely and I had a cozy double bed and a good night's sleep!