There’s so much to see on Skye
BORIS Johnson must have thought he’d found the perfect place to pitch his tent on the Highland peninsula of Applecross. Accessible only by boat until early last century, it is the definition of off-the-beaten-track and still requires strong nerves to negotiate its single-track roads.
Having booked lunch at the seaside Applecross Inn, I found myself edging up Britain’s highest road ascent: the fabled Bealach na Bà (Gaelic for Pass of the Cattle), a steep, narrow, winding route.
Throw in a few cyclists (it’s a bucketlist climb, apparently), sheep (even less predictable than the cyclists) and the odd motorhome (what were they thinking?) and I was ready for the fish and chips and local ale at the inn.
As the clouds closed in and the rain beat down outside, I handed the car keys to my wife Frances and she wisely chose the less narrow coast road via Shieldaig for our return journey.
Our Applecross adventure came during a break at an Airbnb apartment on the Isle of Skye.
From the jagged peaks of the Cuillin mountains to the views over Raasay island and remote southern beaches, it’s untamed beauty all the way.
Navigating the route to its famous Fairy Pools turned out to be our standout day. As we took the path at the foot of the Cuillins, we looked up to see a string of waterfalls tumbling into a succession of pools.
A very close second was an almost deserted, white sand beach fringing a bay of sparkling blue water.
There are reasons it’s almost deserted. First, the drive from Armadale is another winding, ever-narrowing single track until you reach a “car park” big enough for half a dozen vehicles.
Then there is an hour-long hike towards Point of Sleat, hopefully noticing the sign to the beach.
I had brought my swimming gear and found myself sunbathing on a beach worthy of Barbados. Carried away by the unexpectedness of it all, I trotted in for a swim and was quickly reminded I was not in the Caribbean.
Surrounded by stunning views, the hike to the Quiraing Pass, on Skye’s northern extremity, takes you to the next level – literally.
It’s a two-hour loop, not difficult, though it does have rock-scrambling moments. At Portree harbour, we joined a boat trip and cruised close to Raasay island to see seals basking on the rocks. And as we motored along, a pod of dolphins started “surfing” on the bow wave of the other boat.
We reached our most northerly point with a drive up to Stoer, north of Lochinver. After a quick stop at Achiltibuie to admire the view over the Summer Isles we ended up at the car park by Stoer Lighthouse.
The Old Man of Stoer is an impressive rock but, gazing down, we noticed a man and woman at the foot of the stack, about to attempt the 200ft climb. And they appeared to be naked, or very nearly.
Nude climbing? Is that a thing? While I pondered, the woman plunged into the narrow channel separating the stack from the mainland, dragging a rope. It then dawned on me that they’d stripped off to swim to the stack, then rigged up ropes to haul their climbing gear across without it getting soaked.
Well, I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt anyway.
The drive back featured a cow ambling down the single track road oblivious to the tailback it was causing. You don’t see that on the M6.