Cycle touring & wild camping from Lerwick to Aberdeen.
635 miles, 11891 metres of ascent, 21 days of cycling, 18 nights in the Staika tent, 1 night on the ferry, and 1 night in a bothy.
Given this summer’s often grey and wet weather, heading north to the Shetland Isles, cast adrift from mainland Britain in the storm-tossed waters of the North Atlantic might be seen by many as an ill-advised choice for the first week of a bike tour. Our previous visit to the islands had been in August 2020, when easing of Covid 19 lockdown measures once again allowed travel. Then, we pedalled off the Hjaltland ferry into Lerwick’s dismally grey streets, the wind and rain immediately asserting its authority. Actually, this was an aberration; for most of our two weeks the weather was kind to us and we had a wonderful tour, enjoying the spectacular coast and wild camps on the shore. Three years on, as we once again disembarked the very same vessel I wondered if we’d be as lucky with the weather.
Wind is the real enemy of cyclists and Shetland is famous for having plenty of it, but we pedalled north, bound for the Eshaness coast with a gentle south easterly breeze helping us on our way, the sun shining strongly from largely cloudless skies. Our first wild camp was stunning; fifty metres of turf separated us from the cliff edge and an array of coastal features certain to set pulses racing. We feasted our eyes on ruggedly impressive stacks and stumps, arches and geos, caves and headlands, carved into the tough volcanic rocks by the restless Atlantic. For a week we pedalled to a range of wild coastal camps and enjoyed some stunning walks on the western seaboard, the wind mostly notable by its absence and even the sun made plenty of appearances too.
The Orkney Isles were a blank on our map but arriving in Kirkwall near midnight and pitching our tent by the feeble beams of our tiny travel torches we wondered if our luck had changed as the wind tugged at the nylon flysheet, the air laced with a wetting drizzle. Our week was indeed windier, but once again we enjoyed the wonderful coast and the thought-provoking array of archaeological sites from the 5000-year-old settlement of Skara Brae to the peppering of World War Two vintage remains dotted around Scapa Flow. From a stunning wild camp in Rackwick Bay we walked to Hoy’s most famous resident; The Old Man. An improbably slender sea stack of red sandstone rising 140mts from the Atlantic swells that is dizzying to view from the nearby cliff edge. I wondered what climbing its weathered and crumbling rock is like… Those same cliffs grow to 370mts at the nearby St John’s Head and our walk along their very edge, dodging the arctic terns and bonxies was exhilarating. Payback time was back at the tent where a dark cloud of midges had gathered unsullied by even the merest breath of wind. This despite the 3000 miles of open ocean to our west where there is nothing but the waves to impede its flow. We swatted and cursed as the little blighters made our life a misery, their bites itchy, the air so thick with their tiny bodies that it was impossible not to suck them in with every breath.
We crossed the storm-tossed waters of the Pentland Firth on the Pentland Venture foot ferry, the larger car ferry crossing cancelled due to the weather and sea state! John O’ Groats was bleak and windy and at our first camp back on the mainland the gusty westerly charged in from the sea, our tent pummelled this way and that by its force. The next day we were heading straight into it, our speed reduced to between six to eight miles per hour. The irony of arriving in a starkly wild camp in the Flow Country having battled the wind all day only for it to drop back totally come evening wasn’t lost on us. Indeed, it was hideously rubbed in our faces by the densest swarm of midges that followed our every move, the air almost electrified by the high-frequency buzzing of their thousands of wings. We became prisoners in our own tent; leaving it for a call of nature was hideously unpleasant and with each opening of the door hundreds of the blessed creatures made their way in and became trapped, desperate for our blood. Here our morale was dented our thoughts dominated by, well, life free from torture by midge. Packing up in the morning was a nightmare, but the bliss of pedalling off away from their eager jaws was just wonderful. We made our way back to Aberdeen beneath the vast skies of the Flow Country with the familiar Munros of Klibreck and Hope on the horizon, the terrain gradually becoming more tranquil beside the Moray Firth.
Our bikes fared well, although in Dufftown one of my lower pannier rack bolts sheared off and for the final eighty miles we hoped my repair – tight binding with some cord – would hold; with each bump in the road I held my breath, feeling certain that something would give, but thankfully we got back to Aberdeen without further incident.
The north link Ferry took us from abidine up to lck and we spent a week on the Shetland ises before traveling south on another little North link ferry to kirkwall and a week on the orne Isles before the pentland Venture F took us across to the mainland for a week getting back to
Abine we Ste past Suber ahead on our Port B in bright sun and disembarked in lerwick from lck we made our way North in the surprisingly busy a970 the 155 M tall turbine to the new Viking windfarm dominating the northern Horizon we swung West around lovely olfer and into North mine we gradually
Got our first glimpses of ronus Hill we’d hope to Head West here to a lovely Beach but uh you’ll hear more about that leag L we whiz down into Urth and finally nearing hillswick we pause for a rest on the lovely little B road heading out towards the
Lighthouse in bright Sunshine we pedal West on the delightfully quiet B 9078 above an increasingly impressive Coastline our eyes drawn to the DRS a set of spiky Seas sacks out in St Magnus Bay the remote island of fola floating out on the far Horizon and the impressively large door Home natural art
Closer in Shore it didn’t take long to find our first well Camp of the trip just to the north of cers Geo in fact we could have pitched almost anywhere there was plenty of level ground and short tur with stunning views in all directions being so open there’s also a good Breeze
Perfect for keeping the midges grounded soon our cycle was pitched and we SI bungles of tea along with slices of trous cherry cake delighting in the incredible Coastline just beyond our tent during our shetlander back in 2020 we’d somehow missed out on SNS and this time we were determined to explore its
Rugged Coastline we set off Northbound soon passing the rocky ramp parts of a brock set on an easy to defend Peninsula jutting out into loand beyond the succession of Rocky Headlands narrow slot Lake Goos and a wide variety of stacks often laced with sees and arches was a delight the weather abruptly
Turned and with forecast Winds of 30 to 40 m an hour we decided to head to a more sheltered camp and the head of rona’s V looked like a suitable spot it was a bleak ride there though not quite as lovely as last night’s pitch but this will do has had a
Ron as though much of the night we’ve been kept awake by the patter of rain on the fly sheet and come morning conditions haven’t improved at all with low Cloud blotting out the landscape we Rel luly abandoned our plans to Trek over Rona Hill to the remote Lang a beach and
Instead head down to explore the much more accessible west coast of mucko we pedal South in low Cloud wind and a drizzly rain to the roadhead our 1 to ,000 M hinting at a good wild camping possibility in the Bay of little a just beyond we passed the sad rusting remains
Of several Crofts and Beyond the road headgate we pushed our bikes through a farm gate aiming for a level patch of grass tuck behind the wall of an abandoned Croft good Shelter From The onshore Wind soon the Styer was pitched and we were sipping teased whilst planning tomorrow’s walk to explore the Coast these sweet little can’s guided us across a NOS of Tangled terrain towards the old settlement of hams at the North End of the moo Island our little Trail led us West and then Northwest along the granite clifftop the names on the map hinting at the dramatic Coast at our feet the berky
Scares the Hall of Helia the mby stacks riding stack P Nest Dandy Geo growick Geo the big Geo of stom Ness was one incredible feature after another length of this amazing Coastline the peaks of fola poking through the distant F we explored the Tumbl down ruins of the old
Crofts the red granite Stone was covered in a hairy liyen pondering what life was like out here in this remote Outpost probably completely sustainable in complete contrast to our lives so dependent on fossil fuels and modern mechanized farming these are the remains of the old water wheel water mill
Hams now it was time to head West to explore the coast around the Bay of deep Dale we trundled our way back to br’s Cal supplies then on to vau a steady climb out of town passing a try Crossing an endangered species endemic to this path of Mainland Shetland apparently
It’s a smelly and fairly unpleasant creature that can be quite can tanker us when provoked so we were careful to whz along avoiding any encounters Beyond we passed the a settlement of one of several hereabouts the pleasantly narrow and winding a 971 took us West through a Terrain dominated by Petey Mor’s dotted
With cotton grass to the Turning of the D of walls now we descended gently past numerous ruined old crafts the island of fola floating on the horizon on foot we set off North to explore the coast soon arriving at this deep Dale on the west coast sort of Subs Beau for Lang air
From 100 m above we peered down the remote shingle of the deep Dale Beach wishing to be able to scramble down but the rope climbing it Steep and loose approach look pretty dodgy in the wet and Breezy conditions instead we followed the cliff before veering off
East to Sanders Hill from the trig point we trudged South on a compass bearing through Pete hags but we were treated to wonderful views out to the wild west end of Papa stew and the fogler and lra scaries returning to lowick we made good time on a range of little roads through
The settlement of walls and over the a vau of broland pictured here to another wild camp on the coast in this scarv our arrival delayed as I fixed a puncture caused by A Shard of stiff wire deeply embedded in my rear tire right in the puncture proof band it would have been
Tricky to remove without the aid of a tiny Fair of pliers in my toolkit the weather was pretty drizzly and miserable much of the way but we dropped below the cloud to get a lovely View South down visale vau complete with its numerous islands and scaries yeah heading to the or
Now from our camp at the Breezy dogbone a location suggested to us by some friendly locals who we’ met on the ferry to kirkwell we had it up north taking shelter from some salls up the coast of Mainland or Bound for wild camp at the Sands of Eevee another location they
Suggested to us our tent L tucked l in the Junes out of the window explored the extensive ruins of the Brock of Gess which must have been Central quite a settlement back in its Heyday ruins commanded extensive views over to the island of Rus over Windswept iron Hall
Sound presumably a route which it once must have Guarded is leaving C our beach of the G we peddled West on the a 966 into the teeth of frequent squirrs driving waves onto the shores of island of Rus our route took us through pastal country herds of cattle grazing in many of the fields often guarded by large black
Bubbles having explored the island the tidal island of bruad on foot we headed south to the Bay of scale and a magnificent wild Camp right on the shores just above the beach in the evening we strolled along the beach to the rocky Headland of Ward Hill from here is a tremendous Panorama
South to Hoy the famous old man clearly visible but dwarf by the huge 350 me acoss John’s head in the evening we’d write our account of the day’s events in our Diaries we pedal South to St Nest the ferry out to Hoy hoy’s hilly terrain look wonderful
From the ferry but it was utterly calm not a breath of wind and we worried about midges it was an easy hop over to rackwick Bay and we arrived at a magical moment the westering Sun turning the cliffs a Lov shade of orange and Crimson we cast around looking for a suitable wild Camp how you doing TR we’d camped a top a little null in the windier spot but there was no wind and the midges were out in force the midges on the Le side of the tent there’s almost none on the other like most people we’d come to Hoy
Primarily to visit its most famous resident the old man from rackwick Bay a good path leads to the clifftop beside the famous St it’s a dizzying vertigo inducing Viewpoint the old man himself looks slightly crumbled and de decrepid I wonder what it must be like to climb
It very very scary I imagine a little path continues North along the very top of the cliffs the biggest in the UK with plenty of glimpses down to the Atlantic swells around 350 M below from the summit of kags headed down the broad Southern spur finding the extensive
Remains of a crashed aircraft a large one given the size of the radial engines that were deeply embedded in the Pete it must have been quite a crash as much the hillside was still unvegetated and there were large areas of mol and aluminium scattered around later in Internet
Research confirmed on the 1st of January 1945 a liberator plane had crashed here killing all seven crew Sadly a steep descent head off the very end of the spur back down down to our tent sadly it was now time to leave rackwick Bay and its magnificent Beach just one minor problem though gate first one We Pedal Power and feries took us East to kirkwell and then South to St Margaret’s hope over the Churchill barriers the strong West Wind occasionally giving us a helping hand but mostly blowing on our white shoulder making cying a tag dicey at the ferry office we discovered that both the
Evenings and the morning Crossing were cancelled due to the wind in the sea State apparently however the passenger Ferry and Burwick was still operating I did wonder how much smaller boat would F out in the wind and waves so we Cruis South at speed arriving in bwick just as
The pentland Venture Ferry was docking thankfully The Vessel was much bigger than I’d imagined getting pushed along with a good Tailwind such speed with such ease the crossing was plenty bumpy with gouts of spray blasted over us as we hit bigger waves and there were terrific views down to a stormy looking dunit
Head in the west overnight the wind had strengthened and our Styer tent been tucked this way in that light Force we’ pitched on a mat of thick grass beside non Farm building but I’d struggled to drive the pegs home discovering that the grass concealed a solid layer of tarmac into which it was
Almost impossible to get them luckily we were able to hold them down having borrowed many heavy stones from a nearby ruin out in the pentland F to see was a bass of White Caps the mer men have made tires looking particularly menacing our plan was to head broadly Southwest into
The flow country which neither of us have before visited but in this direction we were heading pretty much straight into the wind and ging distance was hard work our average speed between 6 and 8 mph we pushed on rad turning in a more southernly Direction before the
Village of hook and progress was now a bit easier Beyond lonely Strathmore lodg at T endid and we crunch forward on gravel keeping our eyes peeled for a good wild Camp a lovely spot to camp except the winds drop right back after the day of gales so nothing in the midges are out they trapped in the tent by these little things horendous this is the worst I’ve ever know is taking Shelter From the that are just infernal out
There having been imprisoned in the tent overnight it was an absolute Bliss to get going and feel that cool air soothing out itchy bites 15 wonderfully grally miles took us through the flow country below the distant peaks of Mor and CBRE the peak carpeted with purple heather and the
Gently nodding white heads of cotton grass to lonely fard Lodge here we enjoyed a welcome cup of tea with slabs of lemon cake and a chat to a group of South African bikers doing the great North trail bike route the sun Shong strongly from Deep Blue Skies as we made
Our way gradually South and then West on deserted roads passing super remal garelt hotel to a fantastic wild Camp below the River in Strath NAA given the decent Breeze that was blowing we hoped we wouldn’t be mided but it dropped right back overnight and we had a dreadful swarm inside and outside the tent these midges were really denting our morale funny how such a tiny insect can have such a big impact we hoped that
Some Coastal camps with a bit of Breeze would lessen the chances of mid encounters and we had a lovely one at Bonar bridge where we didn’t see one of The Wretched creatures the next night in rosemari on the Mori Earth again with no midges crossing the chromati Earth on
The tiny Ferry we got good views of the laid up oil rigs and I was reminded by my own time working out in the North Sea in the mid 1980s with storm clouds on the horizon we crossed to Moray fur from near iness now heading for the cin Forest
Here we found lovely quiet trails that led through stands of Scots pine and Spruce to an absolutely fantastic wild camp that we hadn’t expected in a clearing right on the shore next to an immense beach with terrific views back over the Fth to my surprise it was one of my favorite wild camps of the entire trip to passing even those on Shetland I feel and the sunrise next morning was wonderfully atmospheric and there were no midges either this is leaving our wonderful camp on the CIT Forest what a tremendous
Spot just behind wed rishes just above the most perfect Beach lovely views across the moris first we were sad to leave the quiet trails in the forest and give up the flat lands for increasingly hilly country as we made our way back towards abedine and one final high camp up in the
Hills they a bague spot but we’ve camped here cuz the rain clouds are coming in and hopefully up here no one will mind and there’ll be no mitches well as soon as we pitched the tent the wind Dro right back and guess what a mega swarm
Appeared on our final day we were lucky to have a bit of a tailwind and it took us from the fog shrouded mountains down to abedine basking in strong son that