Skye: Wednesday 5 April: I’m wearing my chauffeur’s cap today. “Can you run us into Portree this afternoon, then amuse yourself for an hour or two?”

Not for the first time, I’m wandering with the camera. On a similar outing, last October, I was blessed with a beautiful still morning of blue sky and sunshine. This afternoon, it’s showery – can I dodge the rain? Yes, for a while. Down Bayfield Road, up onto the path around ‘the Lump’, down to the quay, then up to Bosville Terrace. I could perhaps get as far as the Black Rock? No chance – a view from the terrace reveals another shower bowling down from the Cuillins… Back to the car!

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Skye: Tuesday 4 April: Brothers’ Point: it’s not a long walk – not much more than two miles to the tip – neither is it a quick walk. The shore is full of interest – a good place to lose an hour or two on a fine day (even if the minibus tours have discovered it). The sign at the top of the path says “We do not recommend that you walk to the point”. Quite – to pass the gendarme and get over the rock tower beyond requires the use of hands as well as feet, but beyond it’s an easy walk to the end, where comfortable rocks provide a good seat from which to enjoy the seascapes. (I should add that it’s also a good place, being low down on Skye’s east coast, to escape from a strong south-westerly wind. The showers are less easy to dodge, but we’ve been lucky this afternoon)

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The Ordnance Survey calls it Rubha nam Brathairean. We’ll stick with the name on the display board – it’s shorter…

Skye: Sunday 2 April: after a day of rain, today is grey and still. I’m exploring Uig, beginning with a walk up to the headland on the north side of the bay. It’s a fine viewpoint for the north-west shore of Trotternish, with a great view of the departing ferry, setting out on a crossing to Tarbert, Harris. Later, I walk through the woods lining the shore between the Rha and Conon rivers. This is temperate rain forest (albeit a very small one!), where the trees are lined with moss and a remarkable assortment of lichen. The tree lungwort resembles miniature cabbage leaves – amazing stuff!

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Friday 21 October: A short but interesting walk beside, and above, the sea. There’s a path, though it’s not always very distinct, from the road corner near Kilmaluag old churchyard to the ruins of the WW2 radar station. It’s not on the tourist trail, so it’s quiet – I didn’t meet anyone else. The views are extensive – from the eastern shores of Lewis to the north-west Highlands. The path continues some way towards Flodigarry, but I’ll save that for another day, and head back along the road.

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Thursday 20 October: We’re still on Skye, and the weather on Skye is still… Barely a breath of wind. We’ve taken the car down to Uig, and we’re walking through the woodlands beside the shore, then up what was once a quiet road to what is now one of the most-visited places on the island – the Fairy Glen. We won’t battle it out on Castle Ewen with the selfie-snappers – but we’ll enjoy the reflections in the pool. The little patch of woodland nearby is wonderful – dank, green and mossy-bouldery with some amazing lichen growing on the trunks and low branches. Not sure about the fairies, but there could be elves amongst these trees…

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… to Sròn Vourlinn I will go (to the tune of “Tangle o’ the Isles” perhaps?)

Wednesday 19 October: It’s a fine, bright afternoon, perfect for the hills. Sròn Vourlinn is not a particularly high hill, but its shape is impressive, the view from the top is extensive, it’s in an astonishing area of impossible pinnacles and ridges – and being about a third of a mile beyond the range of most visitors, it’s quiet. Really quiet!
The path up past the two lochs meets the popular tourist path from the Uig-Staffin road in a rocky hollow, and suddenly there are numerous other people. Some of them are noisy – don’t they understand? Why are they here? Ah – I see. It’s so they can take selfies. From the convergence of the paths, the way climbs to Fir Breugach, where there’s a slightly awkward rocky step onto the main ridge. Here, most of the others seem to turn back along, and up, the ridge. Some will continue the way I’m going, but they only seem to go as far as the first (and possibly slightly higher) summit of the Sròn Vourlinn ridge. Then they take a selfie, turn around and head back again. Beyond this point, I’ve got that final third of a mile to myself, and at its northern tip, I’ll stop, sit down and take it all in (along with a square of chocolate…). This place is far too good to hurry!

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Tuesday 18 October: Duties done, I’m allowed out. Taking the car as far as the village hall, I’m walking along quiet roads to the grassy clifftop, where there are no paths, but the way is obvious… In the clear air, the hills of Harris, around 25 miles distant, seem closer than usual. Like my Flodigarry walk, I’ve got this little part of Skye to myself (and the sheep)

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