First day's hikes on Skye

Internet access is proving to not be a big deal at the hostel, so I figure I'll seize upon the opportunity and send updates while I have the chance (sometimes it's tough to find a computer where you can sit down and really type something substantial out).

Anyway, just got finished a few hours ago with the first day's hikes on Skye, and I am completely hooked on this island already. Just unbelievable stuff all around. It was raining the whole day, but that didn't even deter me from enjoying myself as I made my way along the trails. After basically a lifetime's worth of admonishing and warnings about the dangers of cotton clothing in inclement weather from my dad--the consumate outdoorsman--I went out into the elements today dressed in jeans and cotton socks, which promptly got completely soaked through. All things considered, though, it really wasn't THAT bad. Could have been wetter and colder for sure, and it only dampened my mood a little bit towards the end where it started getting bad.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Fortunately/unfortunately, scheduling placed my first day of hikes on a Sunday, which meant no bus service on the island. I wasn't sure how I was gonna get around, and really didn't want to spend the whole day cooped up in the hostel after having traveled so far to get here, so I asked up at the front desk about my options. A few of the staff told me to hitchhike. The locals, it seems, are pretty sympathetic to the fact that you basically can't get around without a car on a Sunday up here, and they all said it wouldn't be a problem, even to the smaller towns. I was skeptical to say the least. My old roommate, Ryan, spent the whole summer after graduation hitchhiking across America East to West, and posts like these really made me question whether things were as easy as the hostel staff made them out to be.

(Before I continue, Mom, I didn't catch any rides with Jeffrey Dahmer. There's a lovely small-town atmosphere up here: just a bunch of other tourists and rural Scottish folk who are looking to help out. Don't worry!)

Anyway, I picked out some hikes close to Kyleakin (didn't want to push my luck too far and get stuck way up north with no way to get back), headed down the road to the junction with A87 around 9 AM, found a good spot, made a sign for Broadford, and practiced my best "I'm cold and wet and need a ride!" face. To my great surprise and relief, I only had to wait about 20 minutes. A father and son, who were on the way to Broadford to pick up some gifts for family members, pulled over and gave me a ride down the road. Worked like a charm.

The first hike took me to the old marble quarries on Skye. The trail ran along the old railway line that connected the mines to the town, so I set off down it. Really cool stuff all along the trail: abandoned stone houses with just the walls remaining, little streams and waterfalls, fields full of sheep and cows that would stare at me as I walked past, and, of course, the ferns and heather that are all over the place up here. That lasted until the middle of the day, and ended at an old abandoned and ruined church. I ate my lunch up the hill a little bit and got a view of the church and valley below, and hoofed it cross-country for a bit to meet up with the road to Elgol, which ran parallel alongside the trail.

Elgol was my next stop--a small town on the coast of one of the penninsulas on the southwest corner of the island. I was more nervous about this one. Broadford, on a major road in Skye and just 10 minutes away from Kyleakin, was one thing, but something as small as Elgol was something else. I got out my notebook, made my "ELGOL? :)" sign, put it up, and literally within about 60 seconds scored my second ride of the day. Unbelievable. This time it was a Scottish couple from Kyle of Lochalsh who were going to see their nieces and nephews in Elgol. Not too talkative, but they were nice enough. They took me down the road and dropped me off, and I set out on the hike. The second one took me to Prince Charlie's Cave, a coastal cave about an hour's hike from the town. I timed it well with the tides, so I was able to wander along the shore a bit and actually get inside the cave and take some photos--very cool stuff.

Again, at the end of the hike I wasn't sure I was going to get out of Elgol and back to Broadford, but yet again I was proven wrong. A bunch of English people who lived in Broadford were on a Sunday drive out to Elgol and picked me up on their way back. They had lived in London for a long time, and eventually got tired of the city life, so decided to move up to Skye, buy a house, and start up a fish and chips shop. Really funny group of people, very chatty, very friendly, it was a great drive back to Broadford. My final ride back to Kyleakin was from a Japanese couple on a roadtrip tour of Britain. They dropped me off right where I had scored my first ride, and I was back around 6:30. Fantastic day to say the least.

Anyway, I think I'll be buying a day ticket on the busses tomorrow since they're running. I'll be traveling farther north on the island to the Old Man of Storr, and the other hike I really wanna do (if it's possible without a car) is the Fairy Pools, farther south. We'll see if that works out. But there's no shortage of trails up here, whatever I do aside for Storr will be wonderful I'm sure.

Until next time!

Andy