Author Topic: Walking the Outer Hebrides end-to-end - virtually!  (Read 13123 times)

WhitstableDave

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3254
Re: Walking the Outer Hebrides end-to-end - virtually!
« Reply #45 on: 18:55:29, 01/07/20 »
Enjoyed catching up on your latest reminiscing adventures.  After seeing so much wild and wilderness though, man-made structures seem almost like an intrusion!
That's an interesting comment Mel (as I've come to expect  ;) ). The rest of the Outer Hebrides feels so remote and wild and (especially in the southern islands) so 'foreign' that Stornoway is like being back on the mainland. It's a nice town, but in a sense, very normal.
Walk, Jog, Run : our YouTube video channel.

pdstsp

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3826
Re: Walking the Outer Hebrides end-to-end - virtually!
« Reply #46 on: 10:08:47, 02/07/20 »
I agree about Stornoway - it is quite a shock after a few days elsewhere on Harris and Lewis, though we arrived in Stornoway on a Sunday, which is very far from "normal" in comparison with other UK towns  :) 

WhitstableDave

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3254
Re: Walking the Outer Hebrides end-to-end - virtually!
« Reply #47 on: 14:42:58, 11/07/20 »
Well that's it... after twenty-something days I've finally arrived at the Butt of Lewis - the northernmost tip of the Outer Hebrides. The total distance of my virtual toe to tip travels was a very real 233.3 miles!

The final few days of my treadmill trek were completely unworthy of mention, being along mainly straight, level roads with scenery that rarely changed; just moorland stretching as far as the eye could see. For the sake of completeness, I've done a collage of the last four route maps that took me from Stornoway to the far north of Lewis.



It wasn't until the very last leg this morning that I reached an area where we did a walk that I can reminisce about. It was the summer of 2017...

We parked by some sand dunes at Eoropie Beach on the west side of the Butt and walked along the west coast to the Butt of Lewis lighthouse. Then we walked down the east coast as far as Port of Ness and returned along roads back to the car.

The coastline is rugged and spectacular and the weather was okay for a while.



The Butt of Lewis lighthouse:



Great care was needed walking along the clifftop because there were deep chasms with drops to the sea below...



...as well as holes with drops to the sea below!



The weather got steadily worse and I'm pretty sure it was here that I made the decision to buy a decent waterproof jacket and overtrousers when we got home!

Our aim after seeing the lighthouse was to visit Dun Eistean, the site of an ancient stronghold atop a sea-stack. A bridge to the sea-stack is just visible in the photo:



Me on the bridge in the pouring rain:



And that's it for the Outer Hebrides. I like the idea of using my exercise sessions on the treadmill to re-visit some of our holiday walks, so there'll probably be more of the same before too long.  :)
Walk, Jog, Run : our YouTube video channel.

richardh1905

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 12714
Re: Walking the Outer Hebrides end-to-end - virtually!
« Reply #48 on: 15:09:49, 11/07/20 »
Agree - the north west of Lewis is pretty dull; some would even say gloomy.


I've walked some of the route up the east coast of Lewis - rather more interesting, and it feels very remote soon after leaving the roadhead, and on a clear day the views across to Assynt and the far north west of the Highlands are stunning. Even so, not a patch on the spectacular scenery further south.
WildAboutWalking - Join me on my walks through the wilder parts of Britain

WhitstableDave

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3254
Re: Walking the Outer Hebrides end-to-end - virtually!
« Reply #49 on: 14:32:13, 12/07/20 »
Agree - the north west of Lewis is pretty dull; some would even say gloomy.

I've walked some of the route up the east coast of Lewis - rather more interesting, and it feels very remote soon after leaving the roadhead, and on a clear day the views across to Assynt and the far north west of the Highlands are stunning. Even so, not a patch on the spectacular scenery further south.

Our week on Harris last summer was followed by a week in Assynt and, as you say, the area is stunning. I think I'll catch a virtual ferry from Stornoway to Ullapool next and continue my treadmill trekking from there...  :)
Walk, Jog, Run : our YouTube video channel.

fit old bird

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1849
Re: Walking the Outer Hebrides end-to-end - virtually!
« Reply #50 on: 23:24:20, 08/09/21 »
Thanks Dave. This has been really useful as I am hoping to get there this year.
ilona


I came back to this thread hoping to look at the pictures again, but they are not there. I wanted to go last year but didn't make it. I am going next week. Uig to Tarbet. B & B for two nights at Stornaway, camping the rest of the time, look around Lewis and Harris, then down to the Uists.


ilona

Dyffryn Ardudwy

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2578
Re: Walking the Outer Hebrides end-to-end - virtually!
« Reply #51 on: 12:39:32, 18/10/21 »
I stayed at the Barra Beach hotel for three nights, a few years ago, an idyllic location, and i circumnavigated the entire island, a distance of just over fourteen miles.

With such a tiny population, all the locals knew instantly, who was a stranger to their shores, and every driver waved to me, as they drove past on their journey.

The biggest highlight, was being offered a lift by the far from busy police.

I told them where i was staying, and because i had several miles to go, they thought they would save me the effort in walking back to Castle Bay.

They even asked me, what i thought of their beautiful island, and was i enjoying my stay,  so friendly, it was a bit unnerving, you don't get that comradery or welcome from the police elsewhere.

If i return to the Outer Hebrides, it will be on a bicycle, as it was a cycling paradise, not much traffic, and until you reach Harris, the majority of the terrain in pretty flat.

Benbecula was a real highlight, not a single tree in sight ?  I wonder why,  i just cannot imagine what a winter must be like there.

The Outer Hebrides -  Heaven on Earth

 

Terms of Use     Privacy Policy