I wake at midnight and poke my head out the tent door in hopes of seeing the northern lights, nothing...but it is wonderfully peaceful. The crescent moon hangs over the nearby hills and the occasional car zips by on the other side of the reservoir. Stars are dotted here and there and I return to my slumber.
At 4am I can hear Skylarks and don't move, happily cacooned in my sleeping bag knowing I don't have to get up for a few more hours. :)
Up for 7am, we pack down and head out. A few north-bounders pass by, waving frantically from the hillside as we've taken a wrong turn and had started down the path down to the beach. We had been beguiled by the first Hydro power station and missed the turning. Thankfully we hadn't gone too far as it would have resulted in a steep climb back up.
Even though we're finished with the big hills of the trail, there we're still ascents coming our way. Today involves a 500m climb over 5 hills as we approach Portree - the capital of Skye. The sea returns and appears on your left. Up and down we go, hiking through bogs and marshland. I opt for walking bare foot in attempts to avoid getting my trail shoes wet. Up and down, the wind picks up and a little sun peeks out from the clouds. The threat of rain lingers above. Portree seems near and yet so far away. We catch glimpses of it around bends and then it vanishes only to reappear an hour later, far away in the distance. The promise of fish and chips and donuts keeps us marching on.
Finally we're on the descent and the rain comes with us so we pause and zip into our waterproofs. Locals and dog walkers start appearing signalling that we must be getting close. We reach the shoreline and follow a pleasant walk into town. We pop into a hectic Co-op full of tourists and a shop assistant who looks dead inside.
Onwards to the chippy we sit on plastic chairs over looking a small harbour. Seagulls perch optimistically nearby and groups of motor bikers pass through. We hike out along the main road and down towards the sea. Luckily the tide is out so we are also to follow the path and not left to scramble along the shore line.
We join the B883, a road leading to a sheltered part of the island and share the road with a few local and tourist cars. Not many other blogs and vlog had mentions the road - I know it's not noteworthy in comparison to the rest of the trail but it is still a part of it. Despite having to hike on the tarmac with cars driving by, we're able to clock up miles easily. The sun thankfully returned allowing us to shed our waterproofs and dry off before nightfall.
I scan my maps for somewhere to sleep and see two wooded area beside stream. Both are no-goes, being too steep or too densely packed with trees. Hiking on, we spot a beach in the distance a little way from the trail and head there hoping it is a goer. We pass by newly built homes and old stone ones, Scandinavian-esk ones covered in wood and derelict structures. A footpath signals the way down to the beach and we descend a little way to arrive at a lovely flat spot with a pitch similar to a golf green. A few trees stand inland while the sea flows in and towards a sandy beach. Large stones had a little more protection from rough seas. I quickly strip off to just my underwear and clamber over the large rocks to the sea. It is extremely refreshing and I feel the benefits. Looking down, the water is immensely clear allowing me to the sea stones I'm standing on with perfect clarity.
I return to help deploy the tent and the midge tent when a roll of thunder sounds. We hurl all our belongings into the lavvu tent followed by ourselves as heavy drops of rain begins to fall. Confined to the tent, we weren't complaining after hiking all day. We lay there content, listening to the storm outside and enjoying food and drink before subcoming to sleep.
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