THE WIND IS EFFING INTENSE!!
“The best view comes after the hardest climb”
—Unknown
Stats—We hiked a tough 14.75 miles with winds up to 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph). 4282’ up and 4030’ down. In many places there was no trail. Did I say it was a tough day…?
From Storr to Quiraing Car Park
We knew it would be hard. I just didn’t know it would be this hard. At 9:20 we are dropped off at the trailhead. We are already wearing mid weight merino long sleeve shirts over our merino short sleeve shirts. The wind is blowing hard in the parking lot, shortly we will don our rain jackets as windbreakers. They will remain on all day. The first climb is a continuous 1200 vertical feet.
The first section is full of tourists hiking up a few hundred feet vertical feet to see two icons of the Isle of Skye, the Old Man of Storr and the Needle Rock. Both are amazing rock formations soaring above the steep grassy slopes. Stopping at the overlook near the base of the Old Man rock, we snap a few quick photos. At this exposed point, the gusts of wind make it hard to stand up…and it will get worse.
Let me interject a bit of information on the high cliffs we are walking today. Above the Old Man of Storr is the Storr peak which is the highest point on the Trotternish Ridge, the longest geological landslip in Britain. This uplift expose the innards of an ancient landscape sculpted by volcanic activity. We will be walking up and down along the top of this ridge for over 12 miles. The path, when it does exist, follows within a few feet of a thousand plus foot vertical drop, always close by on our right hand side.
Continuing to climb we follow a muddy but well defined track. Suddenly we realize that we are off our intended track. We need to leave the defined path and head straight uphill. Using our Gaia app for navigation we eventually reach a high point where our intended path turns and drops to the north. Down we go! Once at the bottom of the long descent, we stop for a very short break to eat some calories. The wind is intensifying as we begin to climb straight up to the next high point.
I say next because once the day is completed we will have climbed up to ten high points, each followed by a long drop. Up high we are surprised to find more and more of the bogs, each like a sponge over-soaked with water. The going is slow and the wind is now a constant 35-45 miles per hour with frequent gusts around 50 or so. On and on we go, sometimes following a faint track, other times we search for the correct route.
Around one pm we find a few boulders to hide behind and take our lunch break. We have been moving for four hours and have only hiked six miles. We have almost nine more miles to go. The math is not good. We have a scheduled taxi pickup at 6 pm. This 15 minute rest will be our last rest of the day other than quick photos and fast stops at the green room (peeing on the grasses and heather). We quicken our path and focus on moving along. At times we struggle a bit to find a trail.
The winds intensify even more. At times we are sure the gusts exceed 60 miles per hour as they suddenly throw us off balance. Fortunately the bulk of the wind comes from behind us with short bursts of crosswinds, but never into our faces as we move along. On and on, up and down, clicking off the miles and hearing nothing but the wind and the flapping of our rain gear. Eventually we have a couple of breaks in the wind, each is a sudden calm and all goes quiet. Each lasts only 3-4 minutes and then the wind blasts resume.
Making good time, at 4:30 we call the taxi service to see if we can get an early pickup at 5:30. With the wind howling in my phone and my ability to understand only about 50% of the Scottish version of English, I am uncertain of the answer, but guess that it was a maybe yes, maybe no. We press on and slowly the winds begin to subside. We reach the car park at 5 pm and sit on rocks next to the asphalt to enjoy a snack to rest our weary legs. In five minutes a rain shower starts and on go the rain pants. That is our first rain of the dat! There is no shelter near so we huddle behind a closed food shack. At 5:35 our taxi arrives and we happily climb in. The ride is wild and fast.
The scenery we experienced today is some of the best of the entire trip. In fact the views from the ridge are considered my many to be the best in the UK. Our ears will buzz for a few hours from the wind noise and our legs are weary. Overall it was a very difficult challenge, but one we will never forget.
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