Best Hiking Inverness/Skye and Midges!

I believe a University study concluded up to 47 trillion midges in a season.
The east is much less midgey than the west.
Midge hoods look ridiculous but are sanity saving, I am off to Skye soon and I'd I would rather lose my wallet than hood.

Hi Harriet -

Well, you are in luck. Green + water = Scotland. And much of the U.K. come to that! Although in July it shouldn’t be too bad, but travel equipped because you never can tell. Check out the Mountain Weather Information Service - online or posted by youth hostels, information centres, visitor attractions etc., on a daily basis which will give detailed and localised forecasts for where you are. Also, the Norwegian weather service (there’s an English version, don’t panic) is oddly accurate!

You may want to buy knee length gaiters if it is wet underfoot but not raining - wearing rainproof overtrousers when it’s not actually raining is a trial, but you can decide as and when you get to Scotland if you need them as all good outdoor suppliers will sell them. Same goes for trekking poles if you don’t have them, dependent on where you are going. Also carry hat and gloves. You may not realise it but you are on the same latitude as Alaska in Scotland, so it can get cold even in summer. Conversely I’ve been out in the Highlands and on Skye in particular when sunstroke and dehydration were the only real problems.

The midge. Well, universally despised and for good reason. Essential to pack a midge head net because if they are out, they can’t be avoided and it won’t be just one that bites you it will be swarms of them. Use some sort of insect repellant - they used to also recommend a product called Skin So Soft but I’m not sure whether it still works or is even available. The repellant I see most is Smidge these days. Good news is midges can’t fly if the wind speed is more than a measly 7mph which is no more than a breeze so climbing higher where there’s more chance of a little wind is a good idea. Avoid standing sheltered water sources (difficult in Scotland).

With a car you’ll be able to get across to Torridon which is spectacular and you’ll not be that far from the west coast which in good weather is sensational. Have a look at Stac Pollaidh - it looks implausible from the road, but in fact it’s an easy walk to the east top from the roadside car park. The true summit, the west one, is blockaded by a ‘gendarme’ or bad step and is more the province of climbers but there’s a wealth of adventure up there to kill half a day including the hour or so walk there and the same on return. There is ‘plummet potential’ too so keep an eye on the kids who otherwise should have great fun. The near-sh Suilven, visible north from the top is a much sterner proposition, as are the big Torridon peaks (Liatach, Bein Eighe, Ben Alligin, etc.,) but they are impressive to look at, the latter from the road from Kinlochewe.

There are a couple of ‘hillwalking bibles’ for Scotland, but I favour ‘100 Best Routes on Scottish Mountains’ and ‘Fifty Walks on Skye and Raasay’ both by Ralph Storer and both of which you should be able to obtain once in Scotland, the Skye one in particular once on Skye.

Hope you have a great trip! “Scotland’s fae me!”

Ian

Download, AllTrails app. You can see the trails around your location, or search for around another location. If you want to upgrade to the pay version you can download maps for use with no Wi-Fi or phone service.
Trails are graded, mapped, terrain, reviews.
Try it, the free version. Try it at your home and you may find trails near you you did not even know.
I used it on Skye and throughout Scotland.

Glenmore above Aviemore has well marked trails.
I believe you can still do walks with the reindeer centre up to the summer pastures to see the beasts out in the wild
It's the UKs only herd after being reintroduced in the 50s.
A well known route runs from Glnmore lodge up to the " green Lochan" then up to Ryvoan bothy and the mountain above it so a loop is possible.Check the weather if heading for high ground, hypothermia is a year round risk in Scotland

For a quiet walk on mainly forest fire roads you could try and find Utsis hut.

Nearby is Glen Feshie which might be scotlands most beautiful glen.
A near 25 year " rewilding" project after hundreds of years of poor land management aimed solely at deer shooting has transformed the place
There's a hikers shelter about 3 miles from trailhead ,it's a great place to stop off place is always open and if you are lucky the volunteer who looks after the place might make you a tea or coffee
He's a really interesting guy and works for the estate .

P.S. if you want a look at some of the locations mentioned to see what you are letting yourself in for in advance check out ‘Scotland’s Mountains’ on You Tube. Well shot videos with fantastic scenery and Murray has an engaging personality. He has even linked his two Stac Pollaidh pieces into the reviews of said peak in Walk Highlands as ‘wilkiemurray’. Needless to say, he’s covered a lot of ground in Scotland, all beautifully shot.

We will be in Scotland in August. Thanks for the heads up on the midges. We have head nets that we used in Iceland and never thought we would need them again. Midge bites are worse than mosquitos in my opinion.

We had very few midge problems when hiking. They certainly come to visit in the evenings at our campsites though lol.
No expert on Scottish hiking but we did a few fun hikes while there. 2 standards were Duncaan on Isle of Raasay. 20 min ferry ride from Sconser (Skye). We had a pod of dolphins escorted us.
Another was just past Torridon. Starting from Kinlochewe visitors centre. We followed the pony track up towards Bienn Eighe. Didn't have time to go too far but gee we got some great views.
Pretty hard to NOT find awesome hikes around Torridon way.

Generally the little darlings come out around dusk. They prefer standing water, so keep away from that or see a patch and keep walking through. Easier said than done, especially when trying to get in the washing off of the line.

In terms of planning routes, whilst there will be many books available describing walks in the areas you are visiting, the absolute gold standard item I would suggest is that you get Ordinance Survey maps of the area (Explorer series). These would enable you to plan your own routes along the rights of way, tailoring them to what you want to do. They are things of beauty in their own right, and with a little bit of understanding provide a huge amount of information on the area you are walking through. IMHO they are one of the massively under-rated brilliant things about the UK. Whilst easy to pick up when you are here (just go into any outdoor clothing shop), you probably have time to order online and get delivery, which would give you an opportunity to familiarise yourselves with them.

There is of course an App you can use, and whilst in many ways more convenient than a large piece of paper, you can't get such a great impression of the whole area with it - it's best as a partner rather than I substitute, I think.