D8: Quiraing - simply amazing in the middle of nowhere

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Adventure day today!!!!

I took the early bus up to Staffin via Portree. That was a hoot - from Broadford to Portree it was a school bus haha, God I love it here. At least it was high school kids.

I got on my transfer and I love their local bus drivers - it's all rural so there are no actual "stops" you just tell them where you'd like to get off. And to get back on you just wave them down on the street. Good to know.

The drive to Staffin was lovely - along the coast mostly, plus had some nice views of Old Man of Storr which is where I hope to go tomorrow... weather dependant.The bus left me off on the side of the “highway” and then started my 2 mile hike into the wilderness of Skye. It was amazing - there was nothing around other that sheep and the occasional cow and even then there weren’t that many sheep just because it really was in the middle of nowhere - there weren’t fields, it was just wide open space and mountains everywhere you looked in the distance.

Best surprise moment? In the distance down the road I could see this moving black and white blur. As it approached I realized it was a Border Collie! Sprinting down the road - no idea where it came from or where it was going, but it ran on by. Aw.

I made it to the car park… or at least… what I thought was the car park and it had a path leading up to Quiraing, so I figured it was right. (Spoiler: it wasn’t, but it worked out as things tend to do.)

I started my climb up Quiraing - you know it’s going to be a good walk/hike when the bottom of the mountain already provides you with beautiful views over the countryside. Anyway, I started my trek through some fields (that were dry!) and trying my best to avoid sheep poop. I suppose this could have been my hint that I wasn’t on the main tourist path… the path was pretty faint. As in, you would walk for a bit, it would disappear, and then you’d have to kind of trust your instinct that you’ll pick up on it again. That’s pretty normal in Scotland and in Wales, so I carried on.

There are no trees (too far up?) so the only shade was provided by a giant boulder I found, so I tried to scamper up the side of it to eat my lunch. I was all ready to go when my stupid backpack plummeted back down to the ground. I make that sound more dramatic than it was but I was like OMG NOT THE POOP. Thankfully, it did not land in sheep poop. Two minutes later my phone fell out of my pocket (I forgot it was there when I sat down) and it landed right beside a piece of poop.

Small victories, I tell you.

Once back on the trek I was noticing how there was no one around which is really a beautiful (and rare) thing when hiking on a touristically well known place. I did however see a few people on the upper ridge of Quiraing. Now, online it had said the walk was a loop so I just figured I’m walking it backwards, no problem. I was happy where I was - the beautiful rock formations up above, some other mountains and a lake off to the side and below.

I walked along for about 75 minutes when the trail just kind of abruptly ended… and not like disappeared to reappear but really vanished. I was like… srsly? But, I could see people up at the top of the embankment. I convinced myself that the trail/path just hadn’t been used in awhile and I basically pretended I was a mountain goat and climbed that sucker of a mountainous field.

I made it! And it even connected back to the real actual path! Hooray! The entire time I was going up I just kept thanking the stars that I was trying to go up rather than down - safety tidbit for you all if you’re ever adventuring - it may be more difficult to climb, but it’s more dangerous to come back down. On the way up your centre of gravity is low (whether you want it to be or not) because you’re so close to the ground as you step up and pull yourself up.

Alright, so I made it back to the main path and decided to basically go against traffic flow because that’s just how I am haha. There still weren’t that many people though, so it was really nice. The views were still magnificent - you really could see far and wide. The weather certainly helped with that - it was supposed to be overcast but clear, but it ended up being perfect sunshine without a cloud in the sky all day. Now, although this makes for brilliant photos it does not make for happy sunscreen-less hikers. Ahem. I’m a bit roasted right now… thank goodness for my aloe. Actually, it’s really just my chest/neck and it’s a weird pattern because I had my camera strap on lol. Go figure.

The trek back to Staffin was even more enjoyable on the way back because I knew how long it would take and I could see the town off in the distance. I took my time though because I knew the bus wasn’t coming for a long time yet. I got some great pics of more sheep - they kept congregating on the road and then they’d be like “oh shit a human” and scurry further away so it just looked like I was chasing them down the road.

Waiting for the bus back to Portree I had a good laugh. I sat down and was wondering why I suddenly felt such a draft. My wonderful, trusty hiking pants which have been with me since my first trek to Iceland had ripped pretty much down the middle seam into my crotch. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry hahaha. At least it wasn't si big that it was indecent... I did have a coat so I tied it around my waist. But yes, RIP hiking pants you have served me well from San Diego to Iceland to Croatia and everywhere in between.

And I had another good laugh when I got back to the hostel - while sitting down to eat supper, I noticed someone had left the patio door open. Not a problem of course, except the hostel has chickens. One came bumbling up to the open door and stood there with one foot up. I stared it down, like don’t you dare - don’t you think about it. It did haha. It strutted into the dining room so I had to chase it out. Not two minutes later we repeated this charade, but the second time I chased it well out into the garden so it seemed to get the hint 😉

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