Bettyhill to Ullapool to Uig to Tarbert
Tuesday: Gorgeous weather as I set off early(ish) from the faded Bettyhill Hotel.
West along the A836 - a scenic and pleasingly twisty road. In fact, with little other traffic, a genuinely great driving road. If I had had more time, I would have wanted to spend more time in northwest Sutherland (the very top-left of Scotland) which has a great combination of scenery and driving roads. However I decided to come off the main road and head up into the mountains on the unnumbered road that goes from Loch Hope to Altnaharra. This is too narrow a road to call it a great driving road, but the scenery is good. At least it was today, with good weather. I imagine if the clouds are low, you wouldn't get to see much of Ben Hope. Three good sights on this road - a couple of female red deer, a mountain-climber eschewing conventional mountain-climbing geer in favour of a kilt and Dun Dornaigil Broch. This was my first broch and was about 50% surviving.
At Altnaharra, I turned right onto the A836, heading south, a fast but single track road. Then right onto the A838, northwest along the shores of Loch Shin then Loch Merkland, Loch More and Loch Stack to Laxford Bridge. Very windy all along this road. Left onto the A894 along the west coast, then shortly after Unapool, I turned right onto the B869. This is a narrow single track road around a peninsula with a lot of vertical variation and hairpins. Good fun.
At the other end, I turn onto the A837 and fill up with (95 RON) petrol in Lochinver. Past Lochinver, the A road suddenly becomes an unnumbered single track road. On the atlas, it looks like it might be scenic, so I decide to follow it rather than turning back towards the main road. It is scenic, but it's also slow (more on that in a moment). Also slowing me up was the red deer stag (with two hinds in tow) who stood right in the middle of the road and tried to stare me down before disappearing up the hillside.
I got to Ullapool on the A835 and stopped to make my ferry booking. I had formulated a plan based on the local ferry company timetable that would see me in the Outer Hebrides tonight and booked on the 18.00 ferry from Uig at the far end of Skye to Tarbert on the Isle of Harris. Unfortunately I now realised that I didn't have that much time to get to Uig in time for the 17.30 check-in.
I made it, and can report that the A835 from Ullapool to Gorstan, the A832 from Gorstan to Achnasheen, the A890 from Achnasheen to Auchtertyre and the A87 from Auchtertyre to Uig via Kyle of Lochalsh and the Skye Bridge is a route that if you have the right car, the right conditions and the skill, you can drive very quickly along. The scenery was probably very beautiful, but it went past at something of a blur.
The ferry journey from Skye to Harris takes about 100 minutes. Interestingly, the mobile reception in The Little Minch (the stretch of water between Skye and Harris) is excellent, so I took the opportunity to book accommodation in Harris. The Hebrides Hotel is directly opposite the ferry terminal at Tarbert and although the room was tiny, it was nicely furnished.
West along the A836 - a scenic and pleasingly twisty road. In fact, with little other traffic, a genuinely great driving road. If I had had more time, I would have wanted to spend more time in northwest Sutherland (the very top-left of Scotland) which has a great combination of scenery and driving roads. However I decided to come off the main road and head up into the mountains on the unnumbered road that goes from Loch Hope to Altnaharra. This is too narrow a road to call it a great driving road, but the scenery is good. At least it was today, with good weather. I imagine if the clouds are low, you wouldn't get to see much of Ben Hope. Three good sights on this road - a couple of female red deer, a mountain-climber eschewing conventional mountain-climbing geer in favour of a kilt and Dun Dornaigil Broch. This was my first broch and was about 50% surviving.
At Altnaharra, I turned right onto the A836, heading south, a fast but single track road. Then right onto the A838, northwest along the shores of Loch Shin then Loch Merkland, Loch More and Loch Stack to Laxford Bridge. Very windy all along this road. Left onto the A894 along the west coast, then shortly after Unapool, I turned right onto the B869. This is a narrow single track road around a peninsula with a lot of vertical variation and hairpins. Good fun.
At the other end, I turn onto the A837 and fill up with (95 RON) petrol in Lochinver. Past Lochinver, the A road suddenly becomes an unnumbered single track road. On the atlas, it looks like it might be scenic, so I decide to follow it rather than turning back towards the main road. It is scenic, but it's also slow (more on that in a moment). Also slowing me up was the red deer stag (with two hinds in tow) who stood right in the middle of the road and tried to stare me down before disappearing up the hillside.
I got to Ullapool on the A835 and stopped to make my ferry booking. I had formulated a plan based on the local ferry company timetable that would see me in the Outer Hebrides tonight and booked on the 18.00 ferry from Uig at the far end of Skye to Tarbert on the Isle of Harris. Unfortunately I now realised that I didn't have that much time to get to Uig in time for the 17.30 check-in.
I made it, and can report that the A835 from Ullapool to Gorstan, the A832 from Gorstan to Achnasheen, the A890 from Achnasheen to Auchtertyre and the A87 from Auchtertyre to Uig via Kyle of Lochalsh and the Skye Bridge is a route that if you have the right car, the right conditions and the skill, you can drive very quickly along. The scenery was probably very beautiful, but it went past at something of a blur.
The ferry journey from Skye to Harris takes about 100 minutes. Interestingly, the mobile reception in The Little Minch (the stretch of water between Skye and Harris) is excellent, so I took the opportunity to book accommodation in Harris. The Hebrides Hotel is directly opposite the ferry terminal at Tarbert and although the room was tiny, it was nicely furnished.