We spent the first week of our recent holiday in Scotland on Harris and our accommodation was on the south coast about a mile south-east of Leverburgh. We were reasonably familiar with Harris having spent a week on Lewis two years before, so we knew we were coming to what we think is the most scenic, spectacular, rugged and peaceful part of the UK. We weren't disappointed!
Okay, it rained a lot, but there really is nowhere quite like Harris. As usual, we walked every day and (for me anyway) the highlight was to be An Cliseam - the highest mountain in the Outer Hebrides - but with the summit being in the clouds all week we decided to leave it until next time!
I've chosen two walks to give some idea of what a wet and wonderful August on Harris was like:
The beaches in the Outer Hebrides have to be the best in the world and they're usually deserted. One day, we took a chance on the weather by walking a moderate ridge overlooking Losgaintir Sands where the views are said to be unbelievable. The plan was to take in the views and return along the sands, making a 9 mile loop.
Heading up to the start of the ridge... so far, so good:
And then we walked along the ridge to the highest point, Beinn Dhubh, by way of Beinn Losgaintir, and saw nothing but cloud and the ground around us the entire way. Three miles of wind, rain and cloud - oh well, never mind! We sheltered for a short while before descending to get some actual views lower down:
It's always quite amazing when it happens... one minute you can't see anything and then there it is. Sadly, the photo doesn't do the scene justice :
We found our way around the headland (visible in the previous photo) to the beach and walked along the vast white sands for a couple of miles before returning along a road to the car - fantastic!
My second offering is a few photos taken on the 12 mile Urgha, Rhenigidale and Maraig circular. This was very much a walk of three thirds with the first section being breathtakingly dramatic and remote, followed by an easy middle section towards Maraig, and a final section that included walking alongside a long loch.
On the way to Rhenigidale there's an extremely steep descent down a zig-zag path. I'd read beforehand that some find it okay while others find it very scary, and my wife really struggled with it. It didn't help that it was raining and the surface underfoot was quite slippery. Here we're just starting down:
And here we're on the other side of Gleann Trolamaraig looking back, with a small bit of the zig-zag path to the top-left. Coming down is always harder than going up!:
Just before Rhenigidale we passed through the ruins of a former settlement:
Midges were far more in evidence this year than previously!
Time for an admission: I booked the accommodation on Harris and in Coigach a year in advance, but I left booking ferries until just a few weeks before we went. This was a bad idea - there was no availability on the day we were to cross to Lewis so we went a day early and only just managed to find somewhere to stay overnight near Stornoway before going on to Harris the day after. And we had to take a ferry to Ullapool that sailed at about 6am - which meant setting off from the Harris accommodation in the middle of the night for the 58 mile drive to Stornoway. Lesson: book ferries early!
