This happened in 2014. It is still one my favourite travel misadventure stories……. enjoy!
Orkney, 2014:
In my guidebook, it mentioned that it was possible to hike from Skara Brae to Yesnaby, a supposedly beautiful castle/sea stack. I say supposedly, because I never got there. After reading my book and looking at maps, I stupidly assumed that if you could hike from Skara Brae, you could hike TO Skara Brae. I asked around Stromness and was told, “yes it’s possible to hike, but it’s a long hike, will take you all morning, take food, etc.”
That was good enough for me – I’d biked 40 miles the day before, I am in shape, I figured… “ok, I’ll leave early, hike up, have lunch along the way, visit Skara Brae and then take the 13:35 bus to Kirkwall and vist the Highland Park distillery. Then I’ll watch the Germany/USA game at a local bar before catching a bus back to Stromness.. it’ll be a great day…”
I made myself a few sandwiches to take with me, tucked my water bottle into my backpack, slung my camera over my shoulder and set off through town. The guy who’d hired the bike to me the day before told me one route that I could go, but I forgot what he’d said and knew that if J followed the road out to the campground, I could get around the cemetery and then keep going up the coast. So that’s what I did. (Mistake #1: it added at least two hours to my hike.)
An hour in, I felt great. It wasn’t raining, it wasn’t all that cold, and the scenery was amazing. I could see where I wanted to be too: the top of Black Craig, a monstrosity looming above me that (presumably) looked over the coast. I rounded the cemetery, passing an old man in a motorized wheelchair and his dog in the process, followed the coast along a sandy dune, passed a couple in a beat up van reading a map and wended my way slightly uphill along a small cliff to… a fence and a stile with an arrow pointing inland and the words “coast path Skara Brae” posted on it. I could see beyond the field to a pile of ruined stone houses/barns and presumed I needed to get there in order to get to the top of Black Craig (looming closer now.) (Mistake #2: never assume you know the right path.) I looked up the farm track that this arrow was pointing me up and saw a few gates that would get me to where I thought I needed to be.
“Alright,” I said to myself, “you’re only an hour in, about five miles in, you’ve got time, you’re right on schedule…” and off I went up to the first gate. The road went off back toward town and I opened the gate (thanks right-of-way!) and followed a well-worn footpath into the field… (Mistake #3: not asking the one person I saw if I was on the right track.)
Without retyping those exact words above three more times, let’s just say that I did the exact thing FOUR TIMES. At which point I brushed away a few tears, breathed in the fresh, manure-scented air and began trekking up the road. I figured that I could wave a car down and at least make sure I was going the right way. The first woman I stopped said, “yes, you are, but it’s a long way.” I said I knew that. She said, “alright, just go on up the road and go off to the right, keep going off to the right and you’ll get to the top of Black Craig, then you just follow the coast.”
Right, I said, and kept on.
I stopped one more car, just to check, but they weren’t from around there, although they had seen a sign, so they assumed I was going the right way too.
Then I came to a fork in the road, with a stile with an arrow pointing to the right, so at least the first lady was right. But then. Another fork and NO SIGN. Gah. But Black Craig was right in front of me, and there was a well-beaten path up to the right, which looked promising, so I followed it to the right (that’s what the lady had said anyway, right, I reasoned.) I passed a possibly abandoned house and kept on up the track. And then, a gate. I debated here for about five minutes. Do I risk going through the gate – with no way of knowing if I am going the right way, or do I go back down to my last split and go up the other hill – one with not much of a path? I actually walked back down only to decide to go with my first instinct. I got the gate open and headed up what was another well-worn path (with a few cow patties.)
Sigh. I beat back more tears as I picked my way back down again, opened the gate and walked past the judgmental cows (who by now were probably like, what the HELL is this person doing?). I got back down to the road and a fresh wave of tears came over me. It was now after 11 and I had a schedule to keep! I wasn’t going to be able to get to Skara Brae at this rate.
As if by magic, a car pulled out of the driveway nearest me, and I flagged her down. explaining through my new tears that I must be so stupid, that I couldn’t figure out how to get to the cliffs, that I was trying to hike to Skara Brae.. well, she took pity on me and offered me a ride back into Stromness. She said her name was Chan (that is very phonetically spelled, as I would pronounce “Sian” as “Shan,” not “Chan,” and therefore have no idea how you spell her name) and her young daughter was strapped into the backseat, presumably thinking along the lines of cows – namely, what the HELL is this girl doing? SO if she reads this: Hi Chan, thanks very much for being a good Samaritan!
Long story now much shorter, I ended up taking a cab to Skara Brae in order to still catch that bus, because damnit, I EARNED that whisky tour.
Like this post? Pin it!