 The Isle of Skye is by far my favourite part of Scotland. Each part of the island has stunning features very different from the next. On this trip the possibilities are legion. There is no set itinerary as the weather and group preferences will dictate when to go high and when to do a lower level walk. The walking in the Black Cuillin feels alpine in nature, with stunning views and good possibilities of spotting Golden Eagles.
This trip runs from Saturday 15th May to Saturday 22rd May 2010. We'll head up on the Saturday aiming to do a pickup from Fort William Railway station at about 2:30. This is flexible, let us know your requirements as later pickups will be possible. We can also do a pickup from Glasgow at around midday.
Accommodation.
We have booked a cottage at Sligachan on the Isle of Skye. The cottage is 5 minutes walk from the Sligachan Hotel bar which has an extensive and award winning selection of Highland Malts. The Sligachan Hotel also has a micro brewery which produces some fine real ales.
There is no single supplement but if you are holidaying on your own you may be asked to share a twin room if necessary. If you would like to discuss this further then please don't hesitate to get in touch.
What is special about a Lupine Adventure Co-op week long walking holiday?
Your group will probably consist of 3-8 people and two experienced Mountain Leaders. At the start of the holiday we will all go out walking together while we get to know each other and find out what everyone in the group wants to get out of the holiday. This will help us to plan which routes to walk later in the week. On this days one Mountain Leader will stay behind at the cottage and perform errands (shopping, getting weather forecasts etc.) before cooking and baking ready for your return. If the group is small, evenly matched and everyone has similar aspirations then this will continue for the whole holiday. Alternatively, due to having two Mountain Leaders staffing the trip, we can split the group if necessary with both leaders going out daily. We will do this if it becomes apparent that different members of the group want to do different walks. This gives us a flexibility that is almost unheard of on commercial walking holidays and should mean that everyone get the maximum out of their holiday.
 The Food
Good food and nutrition is an integral part of Lupine Adventure walking holidays. When out walking your diet is very important. You need enough of the right kind of foods at the right time to get the best out of your body and therefore make the going easier. It is also easy to undo some of the good that the walks are doing by eating too much fat and sugar. We try and balance the nutritional requirements of your body with the desire to eat really tasty ‘hey we’re on holiday’ food.
All food that we prepare will be vegan. As far as is possible, we source the fresh food that we use from local, organic, co-operative growers to reduce food miles and support the local community.
We decided to undertake the cooking for the holidays as, being vegetarian and vegan Mountain Leaders, working in the highlands for other holiday companies meant a diet of macaroni cheese, vegetable curry or cheese and tomato pizza for a week.
Check out our 2009 Photo Gallery for pictures of some of the food we prepared.
What we'll get up to.
We plan to arrive in Skye around 6pm on Saturday 15 May. After dinner we'll start looking over the maps and discussing our options for the following day. My personal highlights of this trip include.
The Quiraing
The weird and wonderful Quiraing rock formations to the north of the island were formed as part of the massive series of land slips along the Trotternish Ridge, indeed the Quiraing is still moving.
There are a couple of routes that we can take going into this area, one a bit more challenging than the other. Not a good choice if the weather is terrible but great on a clear day like above and even better (in my opinion) if the cloud is low adding extra atmosphere as the formations go in and out of view as the cloud swirls around them.
Corrie Lagan
The Black Cullins are famous with walkers and climbers throughout the UK. It offers the undisputed finest ridge walk in the British Isles. The Black Cullins are black due to them being made up (primarily) of a rock called gabbro, this rock is a joy to walk on as it is incredibly grippy. Unfortunately we won't be doing the ridge walk as it is far to extreme an undertaking for this holiday (it is less of a walk and more of an endurance test comprising of 15 hours of relentless climbing up and down the dragons back of a ridge).
We can, however get right into the heart of the Cullins up to Corrie Lagan. From this corrie you can see (on a good day) the infamous Inaccessible pinnacle (pictured left), the only one of Scotland's Munroes that requires a graded rock climb to conquer. On the way down we'll take the somewhat boggy and less trodden path to the Eas Mor waterfall.
If there is a call for it an adventurous group may return to the Black Cullins later in the week and attempt to attain the ridge and follow it for a short period.
 Macleods Tables
Macleod's Tables stand alone (if 2 things can stand alone) in the North-West of Skye giving fine views over the rest of the island and off to the Outer Hebrides. According to legend Macleods tables got their shape when St. Columba, on his visit to a fort nearby, was very ill treated by the chief. The chief, being a hard man, denied St. Columba a place to rest his head for the night. The rocks - being more hospitable - crumbled and flattened so to host St. Columba as men were not able to do so.
 Macleod's Maidens
If you're tired of going up and down all day there is an option of a coastal walk to see Macleod's Maidens. Legend has it that Macleod's Maidens, three sea stacks lying to the south of Idrigill Point on Skye, are named after the wife and daughters of one of the Macleod chiefs. The chief had been wounded in a battle on the island of Harris and his family were returning to Dunvegan Castle when their boat was wrecked in a storm and they were drowned. The tallest of the stacks, the 'mother', is between 220-250 feet high and the smallest is around 100 feet.
Custom made trips.
If you wish to create your own custom trip similar to those offered here then please get in touch. We can arrange everything including transport, accommodation, food, itinerary and qualified Mountain Leaders, or we can simply supervise the walking. Basically, we can do as much or as little as you want. We are familiar with many area's of Scotland, the Lake District, North Wales and Yorkshire. Contact us for a quote. We think that you will be pleasantly surprised at the value we offer.
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