Highlands Hiking – Point of Sleat

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Highlands Hiking – Point of Sleat

July 6

Today’s hike took us to the most southerly point of the Isle of Skye, the Point of Sleat. After shuttling toward Armadale we turned inland to the Aird of Sleat. Our walk began with views of the mountains of the Knoydart Peninsula and beyond. We undulated across barren moors to Camas Daraich, a beautiful cove and beach considered one of the most idyllic on all of Skye. The white-sand beach was a perfect place to relax for about 30 minutes and enjoy vistas of the coastal cliffs and Sound of Sleat (basically, the Atlantic Ocean).

We got beautiful views of Mallaig across the Sound, and the isles of Eigg and Rum.  While hanging out at the beach, Em, John, and I took our shoes off and got our legs wet in the water.  Our guides pulled out flasks of spiked hot chocolate…ahh…Backroads hiking trips!  We hiked 4.5 easy, but visually satisfying miles this last day.

After our hike, we left the Isle of Skye and embarked on a private, scenic boat charter back to the mainland to Mallaig. These waters offered particularly good views of landscape, and visits from seals.

Once on land, a private bus took us to Benderloch, where we crossed a small bridge to access the private island which houses the Isle of Eriska Hotel, surrounded by 350 acres. This is where we spent our final night with Backroads. The hotel is beautiful, and it was a wonderfully posh stay, but the hiking around the grounds was average at best.  We had a very nice final dinner with Backroads at the hotel.

Off to Edinburgh the following morning where we meet up with daughter Suzannah. She is flying in from America to tour Edinburgh and the Glencoe area of Scotland for 6 days.

Next: Edinburgh