The Hartfield Hotel hostel gets a 9/10 from us. The welcome we got at the reception was warm and we were given a guided tour of the place. There are good facilities here. Washing machines, a drying room for wet gear, a good kitchen and a lovely room to ourselves. It was warm and comfortable.
The day dawned bright enough. Blue skies with scattered clouds boded well. Until we stepped outside. Then the chill was very noticeable. Andy pointed to an ominous cloud behind us. It started to drop little ice crystals on us as we packed the bikes up.
We had around 170 miles to do today. We had to climb to 2000 feet above sea level to get over the Bealach Na Ba summit so we set off pronto to try and beat the weather.
As we commenced the climb it started to snow. As we gained altitude the temperature dropped markedly and the snowfall increased such that by the time we got to the summit the snow was falling steadily and was being blown horizontally by the strong wind. We did not stay long at the summit lookout point as we still had the hairpins to negotiate and we wanted to get those done before the road became too slippery.
Once on the downward leg the conditions improved markedly. The snow disappeared. It was confined to the northern slope only. On the south side descent the road was dry, the sun shone but the wind persisted.
We stopped at the bottom to get the obligatory photo of the sign before continuing on, taking the turn off to Plockton harbour for a hot drink to try and warm up numb fingers. This is a lovely little place at the end of a winding often single track road.
From Plockton we continued onto the main road to the Kyle of Lochalsh and crossed the bridge onto Skye.
Next stop was Trumpan church. I had heard and read a lot about the massacre at the church and wanted to go there. Click here for the story. To reach it you need to negotiate a lot of single track roads. Some in a poor state of repair and the further north on Skye we ventured the stronger the wind got. By the time we reached the church the wind was howling and it was biting cold. We did not stay long and ventured on.
Next stop was the Anchor cafe at the port of Uig on the NW tip of Skye. It was a busy ferry port and there was a Caledonian MacBrayne ferry in waiting to load for the Outer Hebrides. Revived by a toasted sandwich and a hot drink we ventured up the final peninsular to the northern tip of Skye rounded the top and met the full force of the wind as we ventured down the east side to Portree. We stopped to see the Old Man of Storr, a well known rock formation. My hands were so cold I could not take a photo. But here is one to give you an idea.
We finally arrived at our accommodation for the night in Portree, unpacked the bikes and went for a hot shower to warm up.
It has been another great day of outstanding scenery. Wind battered coasts, soaring peaks, twisty roads, all sorts of weather from driving snow to strong winds and sunshine. This tour continues to exhilarate and the bikes just keep soaking up the miles. Tomorrow we take a ferry and continue south.
Woodend Wanderer 