Scottish Bothy Walks - 28 best bothy adventures

WALK 24 The Lookout & Rubha Hunish on Skye
THE LOOKOUT
out the ruins and field system of Erisco. This
flat, fertile ground running down to the coast
has been occupied since the time of the Vikings.
Sadly, their descendants were forced from their
homes after the first wave of land clearances
during the 19th century, replaced by the landlord
for cottars (tenant farmers), who built a line of
eight thatched cottages along the old enclosure
wall, at regularly spaced intervals.
2 After half a mile of gentle climbing, pass
through a kissing gate in a boundary fence that
marks the common grazing land. Head on up
the slope, and then follow a vague path to the
obvious depression on the horizon between
Meall Tuath and Meall Deas. As you approach the
gap, the smell of the sea permeates the air and
suddenly you are peering down to Rubha Hunish,
a bony finger of rock and pasture jutting out
into the sea. The name illustrates its intertwined
heritage: Rubha is Gaelic for ‘headland’ while
Hunish derives from Old Norse, meaning
‘headland of the bear cub’.
The bothy, an easy 5-minute walk up the slope
to the right, is a small, boxy building, refurbished
by the MBA after suffering storm damage in
2005. The interior was faithfully restored to
the original design, and the west-facing panes
replaced in the epic bay window.
3 Energised by the views, go back down to the
gap, climb over two stiles in quick succession, to
reach a kissing gate. Take a deep breath, and then
scramble down a weakness in the basalt cliffs to
the grassy bank below. This is less alarming than
it looks, though you do need a good head for
heights for the first few steps. Once you reach
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