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<\/a>Although geographically a single landmass, Lewis and Harris are often treated as separate islands due to their distinct landscapes and historical and administrative divisions. Harris to the south is more mountainous, while Lewis, the northern part, is characterised by low-lying, flatter land. This physical separation, coupled with historical governance by different clans and regions, contributes to the perception of two separate islands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lewis is larger, with the main town of Stornoway acting as the administrative and cultural centre of the Outer Hebrides. It has a rich history of Norse and Gaelic influence, centuries of crofting tradition, and some of the most iconic archaeological sites in Scotland, such as the Callanish Standing Stones \u2014 though sadly not on the Hebridean Way route itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I followed the road through cuttings of Lewisian Gneiss, with views out over Seaforth Loch where heavy clouds threathened rain.<\/p>\n\n\n
<\/a>Forests, Pylons and Fellow Hikers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The route soon had me heading uphill on a pleasant stony path into the large Aline Community Woodland. This was originally a commercial plantation of Sitka spruce and lodgepole pine, but these were decimated by the\u00a0Pine Beauty Moth<\/a>. There are still lots of dead, skeletal, trees giving the forest a somewhat sad appearance. Native trees are now being planted, but much of the original woodland persists. As well as the trees, there were some temporary stores of hardware for what looked like a large civil engineering project. As far as I could tell, they were replacing the overhead electricity cables and the pylons on which they were suspended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Over the course of the next two days, I came across several small work-sites where hi-vis-clad workers were battling through the bog to carry out this no doubt essential work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Over the top of the hill, I came across yet another German girl who was hiking the Hebridean Way. She was just packing up her tent after a night camping on what looked like a fairly sketchy campsite in amongst some midge-ridden bog. She was clad head to foot and had a midge-net on but was still complaining of midges, mites and ticks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I said a quick hello and continued on my way, down the hill alongside a lovely stream where peat-stained water tumbled over the rocks as the stream meandered between dark peaty banks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next was a long stretch of raised boardwalk \u2014 easy walking, but not so for my poles, which were all too easy to get stuck between the boards. After this, the path merged onto a stretch of old tarmac road alongside the new two-lane road. Again, it made for easy walking, but if I stopped, the midges were abundant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I did finally find a breezy rock to sit on where I could take a rest, take off my shoes and chill for a bit, unbothered by the midges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I rested, the German girl I\u2019d seen earlier approached and somewhat sheepishly said, \u201cYou couldn\u2019t do me a huge favour, could you?\u201d I answered somewhat positively without committing to too much, so she continued: \u201cCould you check my back for ticks?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trouble was, I couldn\u2019t quite be sure if she had said \u2018back\u2019 or \u2018butt\u2019. I made a spur of the moment decision \u2014 she was attractive enough and looked friendly, so why not \u2014 whichever it may be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She then said, \u201cThanks, I know it\u2019s an awful lot to ask of a complete stranger that I\u2019ve never met before but\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I thought to myself maybe she did say \u2018butt\u2019, as it\u2019s not that much to ask to check her back. She then bent over and I wondered what was about to happen. She reached backwards, grabbed her top and pulled it up over her head, revealing her back. Aha \u2014 she did say \u2018back\u2019 after all. Her back was tick-free, which was a relief, and I didn\u2019t have any explaining to do to Anna. All was good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The rest of the morning saw me walking through boggy ground across the interior of Lewis. It\u2019s a wide open, relatively flat landscape with endless peat bogs dotted with lochs. It wasn\u2019t too difficult, but it wasn\u2019t necessarily fast either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The German girl and I leapfrogged each other a couple of times as we stopped for breaks, and then she passed me when I stopped on a lovely grassy area overlooking Loch Strandavat for my gourmet lunch of cheesy Pepperami wraps. She was complaining about the endless bog and was still worried about ticks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of the loch the route headed back inland again around Loch Cuthaig. Here, the German girl decided to head to the road and take a shortcut to Balallan rather than face a few more miles of bog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I, of course, followed the official route out onto the bog once more and was treated to sightings of two more golden eagles. It did get quite boggy after that for a while, and there were no route markers and not much of a path to follow at some points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I did, however, eventually emerge back out onto the road at Balallan \u2014 where the caf\u00e9 that I thought wouldn\u2019t be open until Thursday was indeed open. It was an honesty box system with a hot water urn, various teas and coffees and some cakes and biscuits on offer. Not quite deleicous home-baked cakes but welcome nonetheless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That was something of a bonus, and I couldn\u2019t resist some tea and cake. As I went in, another guy (who I later discovered to be called Steve) was just leaving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The German girl was also here \u2014 or at least her kit was. She was off making use of the other facilities, which included a museum, a shop, toilets, showers and even a launderette \u2014 very useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I didn\u2019t make full use of them, but did stick around for two cups of tea and a piece of cake. I also helped the German girl inspect her tent \u2014 it was indeed full of some sort of beastie, but I couldn\u2019t be sure if they were mites or ticks. There were hundreds of them, though, so she decided she was no longer camping and instead made the decision to end her hike here and catch the bus into Stornoway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was soon on my way once again. After a stint along the road, where I crossed the Laxay River I could just about make out Steve up ahead of me. I’d forgotten to fill up my water bottle at the caf\u00e9, but this didn’t look too tempting either, I’m sure it would have been fine but I decided to wait for something that looked a little fresher.<\/p>\n\n\n I then headed off, following the trail up a somewhat pointless track over a hill. From the top, I could see that Steve had decided to skip this section and was walking along the road. I followed the route diligently, back to the road and then up to the little village of Laxay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here the route headed inland once again and steeply uphill for a while. I soon caught Steve, had a quick chat but left him behind as I was moving much quicker than he was. I was also aware of the need to find a camp spot soon, so I secretly wanted to be first on the trail so that someone else didn\u2019t get the best spot before I did!<\/p>\n\n\n\n After some climbing and some bog-hopping, I had a long slog across the featureless Achmore Bog. I filled up my water bottles at a small stream before this so that I\u2019d have water if I came across a dry campsite \u2014 but there was nowhere to camp here. It was very wet, there were no grassy dry patches, and very little in the way of shelter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/a><\/figure><\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\nBogs, Butts and Birds<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCaf\u00e9 Stop<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>Achmore Bog and a Night with the Beasts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n