I may be able to give you a ride from Isle of Skye to Fort William on Saturday, if that is what you are looking for, Nan. I won't be heading on to Glasgow or Edinburgh later, though.

5 people died on Ben Nevis last winter.
Hope you get clear weather - my photos of my only climb of almost 60 years ago are of mist and snow!
It "is famous for difficult weather with clouds covering the summit nearly 80% of the time in winter and 50% in summer. It is said the summit is clear only one out of every ten days. The average summit temperature is around freezing and it receives twice as much rainfall as nearby Fort William. There is snow year-round in the gullies but not in climbing shape.
Q: I understand that Ben Nevis's is just a simple walk-up. How hard is it?
A: It depends on the route. The Pony Track is an easy, wide trail and requires only good shoes and willpower in good weather. However there are hundreds of routes including four ridges and the imposing north face with serious technical wall climbing in the summer and ice in the winter.
Q: Is a Ben Nevis climb dangerous?
A: Absolutely, hikers regularly get lost in the poor visibility - even on the Pony Track - and climbers suffer from the normal mountain hazards including rock fall and avalanche.

Amazing planned route From Cornwall to the Orkneys! Good luck with all the train and bus connections. By the way - is there some sort of "ticket deal" on the rail for tourists in UK? Same day rail tickets are a ridiculous price compared with pre-booked "deals" (which, themselves aren't cheap).

I will visit Antoine's Wall and Forth Bridge on Saturday 21 July afternoon (arrive in Glasgow on Saturday)
Sunday 22 July morning: from Edinburgh/Forth Bridge to Scrabster, via Forsinard Flow Country. You can join if you want.
It's about 5.5 hours to drive.

Getting to Glasgow afterwards I can manage on my own. The ride from Skye to Fort Williams would be great.


Dont intend to do anything crazy. Pony trail up and down if/as much as the weather permits. It's high summer, so I think it will be fnie.


Thanks for the compliment. Coming from such an accomplished traveller, much appreciated :)

I always try to plan with buffers and contingencies. Only problem I see is getting on time to Jodrell.


That's the Britrail ticket I was referencing. I will probably get an 8 day pass. Will also eliminate the hassle with picking up tickets.


Would love to join you.

Impressive itinerary @nfmungard

I'll be driving to Skye from Edinburgh on 24th July (free seats available).

If on the 24th July, St Kilda boat trip is confirmed for 26th July, would it be feasible/doable to visit the Orkney WHS in 1 day from Skye? Any ideas? My plan was to leave it for a separate trip but if it is feasible I might be tempted to visit.

Great. You're on.


Feasible, but would be a challenge. Drive from Portree to Scrabster 4.5 to 5 hours, 8.15 am last check-in for the ferry at 8.45 am (with car even earlier). Alternative ferry connections are probably similar:
http://www.orkneyferries.co.uk/getting_to_orkney.php

About 6 hours on Orkney should be enough time to visit the sites (see previous posts).
Return at 4.45 pm, sailing time 90 minutes, drive back to Skye.

No problem. I'll see if Els can send you my contact info.

Now as my itinerary stands I can take care of dinner arrangements. We will be in Edinburgh on Friday and Saturday evening. Who's there as well and wants to join us for dinner? Next topic would be Skye. Are there any plans for a community dinner these days? We will arrive the 24th. That might be the only date we can plan ahead.

I'm in Edinburgh on Saturday 20 in the evening and again on 27th and 28th, arrival on Skye the 24th in the late afternoon/evening, will stay in Dunvegan

Those of you who are about to embark (DV!!) on an Atlantic voyage out to St Kilda might not be aware that UK is "big" on its shipping forecasts - they are still regularly broadcast on Radio (Perhaps I should say "Wireless"!) and even interrupt live Test Cricket on one national radio channel!!! (if you would like experience this UK institution, as well as get into a "nautical" mood in readiness for your trip, then listen here. You may have to wait a few seconds for it to interrupt whatever program is on at the time. It reports for each "sea area" in a clockwise sequence using a highly formalised structure limited to 350 words and may sound incomprehensible if you haven't been "inducted"! See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shipping_Forecast )

If you want to check the changing forecasts for Thurs 24 and Fri 25 July across the next 1+ week on the Web in more comprehensible form (though still with plenty of esoteric terms!), then you will find them for the appropriate sea area ("Hebrides") here!!

So, at the moment, there are no gales forecast for either day and not for the 3 days before and after either - which seems to indicate a reasonably settled period. The Friday swell is slightly less than that on Thursday and slightly brighter weather too - but neither day looks too bad (And no, I don't know if a "Swell period" of 8 seconds is anything to worry about! Given the size and speed of your boat I would have thought - probably not -though possibly worth having those seasickness prophylactics if you are susceptible). And Uk weather can be changeable even with modern forecasts........!

Bon voyage!

Thanks for the positive input Solivagant. I have been following the updates from the boat company for the past few days and quite a few departures have been cancelled. The weather is improving though, at least here in NL.

I note that tomorrow's sailing Wed 17 July is cancelled. It is worth looking at the official forecast for tomorrow using the web site I gave above -
" STRONG BREEZE WARNING FOR WEST SCOTLAND - HEBRIDES"
Wind speeds 8 - 10 knots.
Gusts 17 - 20 knots
Sea State 2 - 2.5 metres

So - you know the sort of weather which causes a cancellation - at the moment your forecast is no where near as bad for either day!!! Friday is -
"NO GALE WARNING"
Wind speeds 3 - 5 knots
Gusts 7 - 8 knots
Sea State 0.5 - 0.8 metres

I'd be up for dinner on the 24th, and I'll probably be arriving on Skye, not far from Dunvegan, by early evening. Is Dunvegan the most central locale for those interested?

Probably rather Portree, as most will pass through on the way to their hotels and it seems to be the biggest place with the most restaurants.

I think after the boat trip we should have dinner in the nearest place. Requires designated drivers though. Otherwise í will go all in on the trailer park lifestyle with les Français ;)