Western Isles & West Coast Cycle Tour 2012 - incl St Kilda

[HighRustler]

In an effort to escape the dreich summer weather I decided to retrace my footsteps from last summer and return to the Scottish islands for a cycle tour. I was not to be disappointed!

Highlights included:
- St Kilda and Boreray
- Mingulay
- Two weeks with only one rain shower

In addition to climbing Conachair on St Kilda and Carnan on Minglulay, I also got off the bike to climb Clisham on Harris and Sheabhal on Barra.

Full slideshow is available on YouTube (last year's slideshow is also available) and can be viewed
here

And here is a wee taster..

^Camping nr Horgabost, Harris


^ Overlooking Village Bay, St Kilda from the Gap


^Stac Lee, dwarfed by the massive Boreray Cliffs with St Kilda in the distance


Enjoy!

[phil parker]

Wow, you must have had all the good weather that we didn't!

Some great photos and a great trip!

[crystalsea]

Enjoyed your video on you tube, fantastic photography, I could leave home just now and head for the western isles.There is something magical about cycling there. Unfortunately I don't go till September so will revisit your video to keep me happy for the time being! I was there last June but this year would like to see more and hopefully if the weather is kind that will happen. I would like to go to Vatersay and Mingulay and cycle the east coast of Harris which I hear is more of a challenge also I cycled Mallaig down to Fort William so this time will go to Kilchoan and over to Mull. No camping for me it will be hostels and bunkhouses unless my husband will carry the equipment haha.

[bogmyrtle]

Can I be nosey and ask how much it cost to go to St Kilda? I'd love to go but I'm not sure I've got the sea legs if the crossing is anything more than a wee bit choppy (which I imagine it is most of the time).

[irc]

Lovely pics. I'll need to get back up tto the Western Isles this year sometime.

[AndrewClark]

Beautiful! I was up there in May and it was gorgeous as well.

[pedalsheep]

Wow! Thats beautiful!

[Richard Barrett]

You got my house in there at about 10.18 across the loch. Lovely sequence.

[Richard Barrett]

St Kilda is currently £190 round trip - 12 hour day with 4 hours ashore. Not bad value consider the cost of the fuel it takes in these high speed boats

[al_yrpal]

Wonderful...your photography is stunning, thank you. My weather was cold and rainy this time, but like yours the first time.

Al

[gloomyandy]

Hi,
looks great. Did you take your bike to Mingulay. How easy was it to get out to there?

Oh and a quick question about the photography are those HDR images?

Had a great trip out there myself if May, and have just returned from a week on Harris (not touring), but the weather was not quite as good as what you seemed to have, though it was much better than at home!

Andy

[chrisc]

Did you really take your bike to St Kilda and Mingulay ? And Boreray ?? !

Nope, I really don't believe Boreray !

[Starfire]

Really enjoyed your slide show, it was excellent.

[HighRustler]

Thanks for the comments everyone

Richard,

I had hoped to pop by to say hello but time got away from me and I had to push on to make the ferry to Uig. Hope you're enjoying your move to Harris and congratulations on the book. Really enjoyed it!

gloomyandy,

Did you take your bike to Mingulay. How easy was it to get out to there?

Oh and a quick question about the photography are those HDR images?

Mingulay and St Kilda were both day trips sans bike. Mingulay trip is £50 from Barra. 3 hours on the island and roughly 2 hours by boat each way. The boat trip is pretty special - if the swell isn't too bad then the trip usually involves heading through one of the large natural archways under the massive cliffs on the west side of the island.

Most of the images were captured in RAW - I didn't use multiple exposures of the same image for any of the shots. I don't think my memory card would have coped with multiple shots for one image

[John Holiday]

For anyone visiting the Western Isles,don't forget the Gatliffe Hostels.
Fairly basic old style hostels,but in the most spectacular locations!
Remember one of the visitor's comments-"came for one night-stayed for seven!"