The far north

Sunday 30 May: Rubha Hunish, Skye’s northernmost point – a great place to be, especially if I get there before the others… I’m walking by 9.30, and there’s hardly anyone else about. I pass three, then two more people – they’ve been staying overnight in the bothy, the former coastguard lookout on Meall Tuath, which overlooks the little Hunish peninsula. Am I alone now? No – as I descend the precipitous path down the cliff face, I hear voices. Four people appear to have just reached the foot of the cliff path – I can only just see them, but one particularly strident voices carries clearly. (Why do people so carelessly destroy what they, and others, have come for?).

The noisy people look as though they’ll walk clockwise around Hunish, though for now they’re lingering on the shore. I’ll walk anticlockwise – that way, they won’t be in earshot just ahead or behind me, apart from when we pass. Much later, I realise I never saw – or heard – them again! Did they just go back up and miss out on all the interest down here?.

There are cliffs on the eastern side, and three fine stacks – then the northern tip, where I sit a while and watch the world go by. There’s a dolphin, or similar, out there, and a seal pops up for a moment. Then HMS Lancaster sails by…

All too soon I’m back at the top of the cliff path, looking back. One other person has just descended – now they have Hunish to themselves. Crossing the moor on the way back, a few others pass, heading for the clifftop. I’ve timed it right today!