Europe – A wee walk

Skye Trail

May 9, 2025August 20, 2025 by aweewalk, posted in Backpacking, scotland, Skye

Introduction The Isle of Skye has a fantastic backpack (if you get reasonable weather, see planning below) of about 82 miles (132km) and 4-7 days duration called the Skye Trail.

The Isle of Skye sits off the north west coast of Scotland and has wonderfuly diverse geology and scenery. The trail traverses both mountains and coastline with some tremendous everchanging landscapes and, maybe I am biased, but the scenery is world class.

In the south are the Cuillin mountains which are the most rugged in the British Isles. In the north is the Trotternish Ridge, where the trail traverses the long undulating ridge with splendid views and other worldly rock formations at either end. The coastal sections are equally good, particularly around Elgol in the south and Flodigarry to Rubha Hunnish in the north. That’s a lot of excitement to pack into around 80 miles!

2025 southbound hike blog below
2022 northbound hike blog
Skye Trail Planning notes below
Skye Trail Alternative routes
Walkhighlands has an excellent web guide with descriptions and maps of the Skye Trail plus an off-line app

My hike May 2025 Southbound

Day 1 5th May 2025 Rubha Hunish to Flodigarry and the Quiraing

Skye’s bus service is helpful for accessing the Skye Trail at various points along the way, and I was able to leave my car at Sligachan and take buses north to Portree, then to the start at Shulista.

It had been very sunny here for the last few weeks which meant that the ground was pretty dry as I walked north at 1pm on an improved trail. The lookout and bothy at Rubha Hunish stands at a panoramic headland, with particularly good views north west to the Outer Hebrides over the small, wild looking island group of Fladda-chuain.

Next I headed east along the top of the cliffs on a surprisingly good line of faint dry trails with lovely views down to sea stacks and the hills of the mainland on the horizon.

Back down to sea level I passed the picturesque bay of Gobhlaig / Balmaqueen with its old church and then more gentle scenic cliff top walking along to the posh looking Flodigarry nestled in a rare woodland for these parts.

About 10 minutes walking along the main road gave access to the wide trail climbing up to the Quiraing, a wonderful series of peaks and pinnacles, and amazing to think its caused by landslips which are still active. This is a justifiably popular walking area but by the time I stopped for dinner about 5pm it was deserted. I took water and headed steeply up away from the trail to find a campsite in an incredible spot in amongst the towers. A really scenic first day.

Day 2 Quiraing, Trotternish, Old Man of Storr

Ravens were vocal in the early morning with their croaking echoing between the rock walls. I carried on southwards to cross a road and car park to start the hike along the long undulating Trotternish ridge. This provides superb walking with panoramic and subtely changing views all round to cliffs, islands and hills. I was glad I had saved this for a good weather day to appreciate this 14 mile high level stretch to the next road at The Storr.

Following the route was straightforward (in the clear weather I had anyway, it would be much trickier in mist), with a use trail along the cliff edge of the steep east facing slopes. It was also mostly dry underfoot, but my trail running shoes still got soaked on intermittent boggy seeps. Carrying a couple of spare pairs of socks and switching over to try and dry off the feet helped a bit though.

I saw a few hikers out today, maybe about 15 others mostly heading northwards but it still felt like a fairly wild experience. This changed as I neared The Old Man of Storr- another crazy, stunning set of pinnacles and popular tourist spot. I descended down past The Storr on a good maintained trail to the road and carpark packed with people. Well, it is justified, as it’s another incredible place that has been used in a few movies….

I left the hubub and crossed the road to follow another lower, more mellow ridgeline south over the hill ‘Sithean Bhealaich Chumhaing’ -a Scottish Gaelic name that is a bit of a mouthful but I think it means ‘fairy hill of the narrow pass’. This is a relatively unfrequented area of Skye but is incredibly scenic as well as providing a good chance to spot eagles.

With little wind, I was able to set up a splendid camp right on the ridge with grand views all round, especially south to the Red and Black Cuillen mountains where I was heading.

Day 3 Portree and Glen Sligachan

I had a couple of hours walking in the morning into the largest town in Skye, Portree. Descending down from the camp the views of Portree bay opened up with a small cruise ship arriving. There is a lovely walk along the north shore of the bay into Portree itself and I got some food, along with a visit to the Inside Out outdoors shop for some glue to repair (hopefully succesfully!) my inflatable sleeping pad.

I walked out of town along the road and then cut down back to the edge of the bay for about a mile giving enjoyable hiking with plenty of waders and geese around. From there, it was time to hike the road for a couple of hours- albeit a minor single track road with few cars and more views, which I didn’t mind at all.

Eventually the road ran out and I joined a cool trail on the north shore of Loch Sligachan to arrive at Sligachan campsite for about 5pm. I had intended camping here but first I had a veggie burger at the nearby hotel. The sun had just come out and this is a lovely spot to sit outside. But…. I decided to head out along Glen Sligachan in the nice evening light to find a wild camp.

All the tourist buses stop here quite rightly for the views into the Cuillin mountains, and I do like the newish statue of early mountaineers Mackenzie and Collie looking up to the hills. Anyway I soon was hiking a quiet trail along Glen Sligachan between the jaggy Black Cuillen on the right and more rounded Red Cuillen on left.

I have previously done some alternatives to this glen walk in the past, described in Skye Trail Alternatives. These are fab, but to be honest this walk down the glen looking up to the hills is also pretty good, as well as being dry underfoot and easy to navigate. Camping spots were few and far between but I found a good spot down by two lochs, Lochan Dubha (the Black Lochs).

Day 4 To Elgol, Torrin and Boreraig

A sunny morning and I hiked easily out of the glen to the shore at Camasunary, stopping to have a look at the luxury MBA Bothy here. A great spot, but I wouldn’t have exchanged it for my wild camp last night!

The next stretch is a favourite of mine, a couple hours to Elgol on a sometimes rather exposed trail above the sea- it’s worth stopping a lot to look back at the grand views to the Cuillins and Loch Coruisk… After a lunch break at the recommended Cafe Elgol (the grocery shop seemed closed) I now headed back east then north around the peninsula, first on quiet road then trail. This is a mellow stretch that affords lots of distant views to islands and sea.

After rounding Loch Slappin, I made it back down south to camp on the coast between the Highland Clearance villages of Suisnish and Boreraig. Another great day and with easier dry, walking.

Day 5 To Broadford

All that was left was an easy six or so miles back north over to Broadford- it was still pretty scenic though. What a trail, and I would do it again!

Planning

Walkhighlands has an excellent web guide and app.

Cicerone also a has a detailed guidebook available in paper or eBook.

Harvey Maps Skye Trail paper map is also very useful.

No permits are required, you can wild camp easily outside the towns and access to drinking water mostly isn’t a problem.

There are good bus services down the length of the island connecting the start and finish, as well as Portree and Sligachan. Check the guides or use an app such as Google Maps.

*Approaching Loch Coruisk* *on an alternative*

Best time to hike But when is best? Here are some factors to consider…. April to July is the driest time in Skye. For me from November to February is too dark, wet and boggy at least for wild camping. The biting insect called the midge makes itself felt from some time in May to September. Tourists flock to Skye in summer and they won’t impact your hiking but they do make it more difficult and expensive to get accommodation if you need it.

So I would say April, May, early June along with late September and early October are the best times to plan in advance – with May perhaps being optimal. That said Skye has very variable weather and can be good or bad any month of the year.

Best direction I don’t think it matters too much. However if you are flexible then checking the forecast wind for the week (see links below) and hiking with the wind at your back might prove a good idea.

If you are not wild camping then you have a long, exposed day along the Trotternish ridge between The Storr carpark and Flodigarry in the north. It might be best to do this near the end of the trip and thus hike northwards so you have time to ‘warm up’ before tackling this stage. If you are wild camping, you have more flexibility if the weather is reasonable as you could pitch your tent along the ridge.

Hiking terrain There is a huge mix. From trails, cross country along ridges and coast – and some stretches of tarmac. Expect lots of soft wet ground and some bog, especially in wetter periods between Portree and Flodigarry.

I reckon there is about 28km of the 130km total length on tarmac, with the longest stretch being 6.5 miles (10.5km) between Sligachan and Portree in the middle. On the plus side the roads are quiet and the views are mostly extensive, but its a bit more than I would like on a trail.

Weather I will be honest, Skye has a pretty wet climate with the prevailing south westerly winds bringing damp air from the Atlantic. I had a quick look at the web, and for example the town of Portree on the Skye Trail has about double the precipitation (1815mm average annual) compared to Tuolumne Meadows in the USA on the Pacific Crest Trail. I suspect Portree is one of the driest parts of the Skye Trail as well! But there are dry spells – and mixed cloudy, showery weather can provide clear air and beautiful, atmospheric views.

Ideally to me it would be best to plan your hike in advance but have some flexibility to look at forecasts before you set off such as:

Dolomites Alta Via 9 backpack

September 12, 2024August 8, 2025 by aweewalk, posted in Alta Via 9, Backpacking, Dolomites, Italy, mountain huts, Via ferrata

Introduction This was Brian’s third high level trail in the superb Italian Dolomites. There is a series of ‘Alta Via’ routes that criss cross the Dolomites range providing great passages with at times incredibly steep rocky trails through these mountains with options for scrambling and via ferrata (ladders, cables and steps to assist in steep terrain). Having done the more famous Alta Via 1 (photos) way back in 1994 and Alta Via 2 (blog) last year 2023, I chose the lesser known Alta Via 9 (AV9) this year.

The 100 mile (approx) AV9 takes somewhere between 7 and 12 days and follows an east west line (whilst all the other AV’s head roughly north south). It passes through many parts of the Dolomites Martina and I have previously visited during rock climbing trips- but I was looking forward to connecting them together this time and seeing them from the different perspective as part of a backpacking trip.

I also managed to sneak in a bonus hike on the northern 4 days of the Alta Via 1 at the end before my return flight.

Alta Via9 Blue (my 2024 variations Rust), AV1 Green (my 2024 route Orange), AV2 Purple

My Alta Via 9 Itinerary

Day 1 31st August 2024 Saturday St Cipriano to near Plattkoffelhutte

I took the train from Venice to Bozen, picked up at gas cannister for my stove at Sportler outdoor shop and bused out east to the trail start at St Cipriano in the steaming heat of early afternoon. There were no shortage of trail signs here but none for the AV9! Anyway it was easy navigation on good trail up a scenic river valley with spikey peaks of the Rosengarten range to the south. A variant northward gave some mild scrambling and via ferrata to pass my first hut, Rif Alpe di Tires and it was huge, feeling more like a high hotel.

From here I hiked east into the evening along a gentle ridge line but with some thunder and showers. A bigger fright came from some very aggressive dogs protecting herds of sheep near to the trail that hurried me along.

Day 2 1st Sep Plattkoffelhutte- Sassolungo variant-Sella Pass- Rif Boe

Today I diverted northward up through the Sassolungo range in the morning and through the classic dolomite cliffs around Sella Pass. I climbed onto the barren rocky Sella plateau to reach Refuge Boe mid afternoon. More thunderstorms had me unexpectedly booking into the hut for the night under cover.

Day 3 2nd Sep Rif Boe-Piz Boe- Rif Kostner-Campolongo pass-Falzarego Pass

*Refuge Boe and the rocky Sella plateau*

The sky had cleared in the morning as I headed up to Piz Boe at 3151m (small hut here on the top) for views across to the Dolomites highest peak Marmolada with its sadly receding glacier. There are options from here to the next hut Ref Kostner across the high plateau but I took the southerly route 638 including a steep rubbly gully to lower ground before traversing to the nicely situated hut, then down good trails past ski lifts to the road and the cluster of buildings including cafes at Laguscei.

I nipped down and back on the bus to the town of Corvara to pick up lunch and supplies at the small supermarket. My way eastward from here was on unusually gentle terrain and easy paths past ski areas to Pralongia then onto steeper slopes again to near the road at Passo di Valparola. There was a perfect small stream for a dinner stop and then I camped before the pass.

*Sheep dogs were friendly here in Sella*

Day 4 3rd Sep Falzarego Pass- vf to Lagazuoi- vf to Rif Giussani-vf to Rif Pomedes-Cortina d’Ampezzo (vf = via ferrata)

This was an superb day linking via ferratas near to the AV9 – first I climbed up to Lagazuoi summit on Via Ferrata Kaiserjagersteig with a great bridge spanning a ravine. Then along to the crowded summit hut (there is cable car access and the Alta Via 1 crosses here too) with spectacular views all round. I dropped down to Col dei Bois then up a 2nd vf- the Scala del Minighel- climbing a steep rock wall using a series of spikes hammered into the rock.

After lunch at Ref Giussani I circuited round the east side of the mountain Tofane de Rozes to a 3rd vf, Sentiero Astaldi, on colourful rock traversing the south side of Tofane massif. Some drizzle added a bit of spice to the already grainy, gravelly rock. I continued on a long descent past ski slopes to the bustling and touristy Cortina d’Ampezzo, the largest town in the area.

Day 5 4th Sep Cortina-Passo Son Forcia-Passo Tre Croci-Lago Misurina-near Rif Fonda Savio

This was another great day, ascending out from the bustle of Cortina to reach a rocky pass at Forcella Zumeles onto easy trails past the looming Monte Cristallo to a roadside lunch stop at Passo Tre Croci. Then on northwards to another picturesque tourist hotspot at Lake Misurina – on the map this section had looked a bit of connector trail only, but the hiking turned out to be very pleasant.

I pushed on through forest then up into the huge rocky, barren valley of Ciadin de La Neve with some scrambling and via ferrata through the wild Forcella del Diavalo. A tiny spot to camp further down the other side was a welcome sight in an otherwise bouldery ragged landscape.

Day 6 5th Sep Rif Fonda Savio-Rif Auronzo (short bad weather day)

I was away early as heavy rain was forecast today and I had some via ferrata to traverse. Past the grandly situated Ref Fonda Savio along a well crafted trail northwards roughly following a ridge and just finishing the short assisted section before the heavens opened. I scampered on quickly to shelter at the crowded Ref Auronzo (passing a very wet wedding photoshoot!).

With rain, cloud and wind I beat a retreat by bus back down to Cortina for the night.

Day 7 6th Sep Rif Auronzo-Drei Zinnen Hutte-Zigmondy Hutte-Rif Fondo Valle-near Rif Prati di Croda Rossa

Next day was still cloudy as I set off in mist round the north side of the famous and fabulous Drei Zinnen mountains. Nothing to see here today unfortunately and I kept going on good mountain trails bypassing some via ferrata options past three mountain huts with spells of heavy rain along with the odd clear spell.

With the rain ongoing I took the decision to avoid the supposedly excellent vf Strada Degli Alpini and instead dropped down valley to Ref Fondo Valle (a road end restaurant/hotel) before going straight back up steeply on good trails aiming for Passo della Sentinella. Into the mist again, the trail disappeared into steep, loose bouldery scree and I couldn’t see a way through the headwall cliff so I retreated back. It was getting late so I picked a high traversing trail route skirting the northern tip of these mountains around the Sextener Rotwand ending up at the top of the ski slopes above the Ref Prati di Croda Rossa.

A long wet day today with heaps of ascent and descent but still fun!

Day 8 7th Sep Rif Prati di Croda Rossa-Rif Berti-Rif Italo Lunelli-Padola

Everything was still wet in the morning but it least looked like the cloud might clear as I set off traversing the east side of the Sextener range on a mix of trails. I hadn’t any information on this area other than a map so I had a some surprising WWI relics and an assisted cable ascent scramble over a pass, down to Ref Poperu/Berti and connecting with the AV9 again. Still in ‘pea soup’ mist though I opted for a lower set of trails south round the mountains than the continuation of the AV9. And so I headed on through forest and eventually dropped down to the small town of Padola and called my own version of the Alta Via 9 hike over. It had been a wonderful trip and I would love to return to do the ‘official’ AV9 in this eastern side in the Sextener mountains – what I saw of it looked great!

Bonus Alta Via 1 hike

Day 1 9th Sep Lago di Braies-Rif Fanes-Bivouac della Pace (AV1 variant)

I headed by bus to Toblach/Dobbiacho through heavy rain and cloud. Toblach is a pleasant town at the northern end of the Dolomites near the Austrian border and has an Austrian feel to it. Leaving by bus again in rain to the start of the AV1 at the touristy Lago di Braies I hoped that the forecasted clearer weather would arrive soon.

Thankfully it did and I started hiking south round the rather lovely Lago gradually leaving the mist and the tourists behind. I met many AV1 hikers in the first few miles, wow this trail is popular compared with the AV9 where I saw only a couple of groups doing a section of that route.

I pushed on for a long day of good undulating trails and gradually gaining height with clear weather, splitting from the main Alta Via 1 south of the bustling Refuge Fanes to take a variant up to Bivouac della Pace. There were at least 4 Refuges that I passed along the way that could be used as overnight stops for those on the AV1. I left the other hikers behind here and saw no-one else until the impressive hut perched at the side of a rocky ridge. All told about 18.5 miles and 7,800 feet ascent, so quite a long but great day.

*Evening light with the Tofanes de Rozes behind*

Day 2 10th Sep Bivouac della Pace-Forc Col dei Bos-Forc Averau-Rif Nuvolau-Passo Giau-Rif Cinque Torre-Rif Bai de Dones (bus to Cortina)

After a good night in the hut shared with 2 friendly young English guys and 3 Germans arriving in the dark, I went out and ‘bagged’ a small peak to the south, Mt Ciavel, with huge panoramic views in the early morning light.

From there it was a big, steep drop to the east on scree slopes with a faint trail to the river Travenanzes at the foot of the Tofane mountains and crossing my Alta Via 9 route from last week. It was a bit of a grunt back up to the Forcella Col dei Bois and then down all the way to the road at the ski lifts of Refuge Bai de Dones.

More great scenery circuiting the mountain of Averau (scene of a fab climb Martina and I did here on the south face) and then up to the stunningly situated and ‘mobbed’ Refuge Nuvolau. I think opening parts of the movie Cliffhanger were filmed around this spot. I wanted to catch a bus down into the Cortina so finished off with a loop round and back to the north past the cool Cinque Torri rock towers.

This was an incredibly scenic two days of hiking where I covered four short days from the Cicerone guide book. To wrap things up I managed a quick visit to Venice before flying back home….

Notes for hikers

Getting there I used public transport from Venice airport to both west and east terminus’s. The transport network is superb and good value. Although I was surprised that many buses only took cash, so its worthwhile carrying some cash if using buses (and cash is handy for some refuges too).

Terrain Any backpacking in the Dolomites is likely to involve a fair bit of ascent and descent – I produced an ascent comparison chart for some well known trails including ones I have done. But the upshot is that if you like flat walking only then the Dolomites are going to offer limited backpacking trips! There was some scrambling and via ferrata on the route I hiked but mostly I sought those out and easier options could be taken from the large trail network in the area.

Supplies Bozen at the west end is a big town with all supply needs including gas cannisters at Sportlers outdoor shop. I saw cannisters in Cortina (Cooperative) and Lake Misurina Spar shop too.

There are grocery stores on route at Cortina (end of my Day 4) and Lake Misurina (end of my Day 5) and you could easily take a bus to access the towns of Canezai (my Day 2) and Corvara (my Day 3). Of course you could also eat and stay at the many refuges along the way.

The Dolomites are not a wilderness and although it can certainly feel rugged, mountainous and wild, on the AV9 you are probably never more than say 4 hours from a refuge or road. It seemed like I crossed a road about 6 out of 8 days. Most of these if not all had bus stops allowing access to towns. This does mean that you don’t have to carry too much food as meals and some chocolate bars can be bought at the refuges or at bar restaurants at road crossings.

Guides and maps I didn’t have a AV9 guidebook but since hiking I see there is a German guidebook for the AV9 from Rother which I would have taken. I used the OutdoorActive mapping website and app – colour printing my own A4 topo ‘stripmaps’ for the route from the website using the Kompass map layer. This worked out really well for me as I could access the paper maps quickly from my pocket without looking at a phone app all the time. You could also purchase ‘normal’ paper maps whilst out there, Kompass and Tobacco are both good and widely available.

The AV9 and variants were marked for most of the way on the Kompass maps. I didn’t see any AV9 signposts on the ground whilst hiking, but the route follows a number of existing trails each with a signpost number which were easy to follow.

As a back up I also had the topo maps downloaded to my phone using the OutdoorActive app along with an Alta Via 9 route gpx.

*Sample Kompass map with AV9 as an orange triangle (and AV1 in blue)*

Via Ferrata I had a ebook copy of Cicerone ‘Via Ferratas of the Italian Dolomites Volume 1’ for reference to be able to see more details of vf options along the way. This is a great guidebook and I made good use of the descriptions helping me plan out interesting variations to the AV9 route.

Two other blogs from other hikers on the AV9:

Walk! Matts trips and trails August 2013

Baxter Nature August-September 2024 (about the same time as me!)

Austria – Karwendel and Stubai Alps 2024

July 7, 2024 by aweewalk, posted in Austria, Backpacking, brian dickson, Karwendel Alps, Stubai Alps

Brian had 4 days at the end of June to hike near to Innsbruck. Firstly I went to the Karwendel, a range of jaggy limestone mountains between Innsbruck and the German border to the north. They are crossed by a few hiking routes; the 6 day Karwendel Hohenweg, the longer 324km Adlerweg running east- west and the even longer 570km north- south Munich to Venice Traumpfad or Dream Way. I sampled a section of the Karwendel Hohenweg between Seefeld in the west to the Nordkettenbahnen cable car above Innsbruck.

Map of Karwendel Hohenweg, Austria near Innsbruck — *Karwendel Hohenweg*

I left my tent behind (its a Nature Park and it seems like wild camping is prohibited) and stayed in the Nordlinger Hutte the first night which was lovely, with friendly staff and great views once the cloud cleared.

This is still early season in the mountains and there were quite a few snow patches around. Since the mountains can be really steep sided, lingering hard snow can make hiking in summer gear a bit tricky- I wore running shoes but also carried microspikes and an ice axe. I only used the axe but was happy to carry the spikes as well just in case.

Overall the mountains are incredibly steep and scenic with good, well signposted trails going in all directions. There are options for scrambling or Via Ferrata and this would be a great area for longer multi-day hikes. My only caveats are that wild camping is limited so staying at huts are the main option and that I suspect these get a bit busy in the peak season of July-August so may need to be pre-booked. Overall though I had a lovely short sample of this area.

Next I went to the Stubai Alps to the south of Innsbruck and explored the start and end of the Stubai High Route. This is in the higher central alps and there is a transition from limestone in the north to the schists and granites prevalent in the main alpine ranges with more snow, glaciers and great alpine scenery.

*Stubai High Route (Innsbruck is to the north of the map)*

I found the food in Austria to be excellent, the huts provide a vegetarian option for evening meals and the breads and cakes in the local bakeries and huts are superb.

We hiked part of this route in 2018 in a longer link up with the Zillertal and Otztal ranges. I would heartily recommend the Stubai High Route for a hut to hut hike that traverses amidst magnificent mountain scenery that takes about 6-8 days.