Over the sea to Skye

My title comes from 'The Skye Boat Song,' a late 19th-century song recalling the journey of Bonnie Prince Charlie from Benbecula to Skye as he evaded capture by government troops after his defeat at Culloden in 1746.  Robert Louis Stevenson adapted the lyrics over a century later, and it's the title which finds use today as a slogan for the tourist industry.

The end of my journey was very much over the sea as I walked over the impressive bridge, built a quarter of a century ago to replace the ferry service from Kyle of Lochalsh to Kyleakin, where I'm staying in a hostel overnight before walking a few miles to another hostel before heading down the island to catch a ferry to Mallaig, thence a train back to Bristol for a break.  Having established a good rhythm to my pilgrimage thus far, it will be interesting ti notice how a break affects my growing sense of stillness.  More on that to come, I'm sure.

(view southwards from the bridge, Kyle of Lochalsh on the left, Kyleakin on the right)

Since the end of last week, I've struggled to remember what day of the week it is, for me that's a sign of a good break.  Since I last wrote (Sunday!) I've walked most of the perimeter of Lochcarron - that's one significant change from the route of 1972 when it was possible to take a ferry across.  The former destination on the south side is Stromeferry (where there's a railway station which would have connected), leading to the somewhat unusual signs now:

After a quiet evening (only one other guest in the small independent hostel) on Sunday, I had an early start on Monday, stopping in Lochcarron to shop for food, then continued east to reach the head of the loch around lunchtime.  Plenty of sheep around, on the much flatter and greener landscape.  The afternoon was uneventful, and I reached Stromeferry (no ferry) mid- afternoon before spending a while looking for somewhere to camp, finally finding a spot on the edge of a small woodland (sorry, no pictures on the phone) where I wild-camped.  Wasn't completely sure that it was a viable spot, but things worked well, midges excepted!

Tuesday started out much the same, and with the sun in view I decided to start early again, getting away just after 0730.  The route to Kyle of Lochalsh was largely along tree-lined lanes and I enjoyed good views across Lochcarron over to Plockton, a pretty loch-side village.

After almost three days in near solitude, Kyle of Lochalsh seemed very busy (several coaches around, and lots of other tourist-related activity).  I just missed the launch of the inshore lifeboat on a service (as opposed to training) call, but saw the launch crew preparing for the boat's subsequent return and recovery, with perhaps the RNLI's youngest volunteer being familiarised with the equipment (look carefully on the left)

I've got a shorter walk inland tomorrow,; I'd briefly wondered if I should see if I could change my travel arrangements to return home earlier.  Whilst there are some benefits to that, I feel it will be good not to rush now.  It seems longer than a month since Easter Sunday.