UK camping roadtrip – days 11 & 12: UCI MTB & Skye

On Day 11 of our trip, Josh and I went to the UCI Mountain Biking World Cup at Fort William. Josh works as a bike mechanic and it just so happened that he knew one of the guys riding in the Junior Men's category (under-19's). So we found him and chatted to him and his family for a bit.

Due to all the rain over the past few days, the course was super muddy. There were also thousands of midges out - for anyone who hasn't experienced the Scottish midges, they are tiny, brutal, bitey creatures that swarm at you. They are apparently attracted to carbon dioxide, so they swarm around your face (gross), and they have a vicious bite for something so small. Lucky, I brought my Avon bug repellent, which worked much better than I expected! So there we were, walking up and down the course in the mud and rain and cold. It was an experience that's for sure. We also took the cable car to the top of Ben Nevis, where the top of the race was - I can tell you now that those guys riding were tough, the course was insane – muddy, slippery, boggy, cold, rainy...

I didn't take my camera to the event, partly because it wasn't my thing and partly because it was rainy and muddy, so no photos. But here's one I borrowed from Josh to show you what it was like...

We left Fort William at about 4:30pm and headed to a campsite in the Kyle of Lochalsh area near the Isle of Skye. While we were driving there, we came across this loch, but the whole area was really pretty.

It was a simple campsite but cheap enough and the weather had improved slightly - it was certainly better than yesterday!

The next morning we left early. It was Skye day! I've wanted to go to Skye for ages, so it was pretty exciting.

We passed the Eilean Donan Castle shortly after leaving the campsite. This is quite a famous castle, and features in many photos, tv shows and movies. It was built in the 13th century on a little island in the middle of where three lochs meet! We stopped and got out to take some photos but I think you'll agree that it was pretty miserable weather - if you look closely, you can see the rain in my photos.

From there, we crossed the Skye Bridge to the Isle, stopped off at a petrol station/supermarket to buy some lunch and fuel and headed to Portree, the capital of Skye. There we parked and had a wander around. It was really busy despite the miserable weather.

From Portree, we headed north, and pulled off the road by a lot of other cars. I wanted to see the Old Man of Storr. This is a rock formation that sticks out among all the other rocks nearby.

We donned coats and rain jackets and got out. It was just the worst weather, rainy and windy. We started up the path but Josh decided it was too grim and went back to the car. Undeterred, I kept going. I made it fairly close to the Storr rock, but the higher I climbed, the windier it became. At one point it was so windy that I had to crouch down as I risked being blown over. After a little while, I decided enough was enough and to go back to the warmth of the car.

We had a quick lunch then set off north.

The odd thing about Skye compared to all the other places that we'd been to so far was the amount of really obvious tourists. We'd be driving down the road and a caf in front would be crawling along, or stopped in a passing place (a big no-no), or not even know how to use a passing place! It was an entire island full of people that probably shouldn't have hired a car... I mean, there were exceptions, but not many.

Our next stop was Kilt Rock and Mealt Falls, where, thankfully, the sun was making an appearance and the rain had stopped! We stopped and parked in the car park there, alongside many badly-parked cars....

The next destination was The Quiraing. We were getting through the locations we wanted to go to on Skye fairly quickly, as I hadn't expected to hike both Storr and The Quiraing in one day! I think neither of us really wanted to hang around the really touristy areas like those that were easily accessible by car. We got back on the road, which was a lot quieter, and drove the long way to The Quiraing.

For those that don't know, The Quiraing is part of the Trotternish ridge escarpment and was formed in a landslip, creating dramatic cliffs and other rocky pinnacles. There were a few walks you could do, but as with The Old Man of Storr, I was thwarted by high winds, and the steepness of the walk made it difficult as well. I did not want to be blown off! Only the really keen people ended up going all the way up, most people did the same as me and turned back once they'd gone far enough for comfort.

When I started out, the weather was still looking a bit grim, but by the time I was walking back, the sun was out and the view was just divine! As such, I have lots of photos of my hike...

We stayed in a campsite on Skye that night. It was a nice site, and we sat in the sun to eat dinner. Of course, when I'd finished my shower and was about to leave the amenities block, a thunderstorm came over with lots of soaking rain and I had to run for the cover of the car. We weren't doing so well with the weather this trip...