in the outdoors, and caring for the environment.
Red deer stags in the Fisherfield Forest (Walk 13)
Access rights don’t apply to any kind of motorised activity or to hunting, shooting or fishing. They also don’t apply everywhere, and exclude buildings and their immediate surroundings, houses and their gardens, and most land in which crops are growing.
Wild camping
Access rights extend to wild camping, which must be lightweight, done in small numbers, and only for two or three nights in any one place. Act responsibly by not camping in enclosed fields of crops or farm animals, and by keeping away from buildings, roads or historic structures. Take care to avoid disturbing deer stalking or grouse shooting activities. If you wish to camp close to a house or building, seek the owner’s permission. Leave no trace of your stay by removing all litter and any traces of your tent pitch or fire, and by not causing any pollution.
Stag-stalking season
This is usually from 1 July to 20 October, although most stalking takes place from August onwards (usually excluding Sundays). (The hind-stalking season is 21 October to 15 February.) During this period, you can help to minimise disturbance to stalking activities by finding out where stalking is talking place. Use the Hillphones service if available, www.snh.org.uk/hillphones, which gives recorded advice on where stalking is taking place, or pick up a Hillphones booklet in outdoor shops, hostels, tourist information centres or hotels. Although the code advises land managers to consider popular walking routes, paths and ridges when planning stalking you can also minimise disturbance to stalking by taking account of advice on alternative routes that may be posted on signs in the area. Deer control in forests and woods can take place all year round, often at dawn and dusk. Take extra care at these times and follow advice on signs and notices.
Flora and Fauna
The flora and fauna of the Highlands are fascinating aspects of this beautiful landscape, and worthy of whole volumes in their own right. However, I will summarise some of the more exciting species that the backpacker might, with a watchful eye and enough patience, come across during his or her wanderings in this area.
Fauna
Chief amongst mammals in the Highlands is the red deer, and put simply, there are far too many red deer wandering around in the hills. The lack of a natural predator is the problem – their numbers used to be kept down by wolves, but our ancestors managed to get rid of those. Too few deer are being culled, and although some estates are very good at culling, numbers of deer are still increasing. This might sound like wonderful news in one sense, but it also means that there simply isn’t enough land to support the huge numbers of deer on it – a recent estimate is around 700,000 in the Highlands. Many deer starve to death in winter, but as breeding numbers are high, the population still continues to grow. So taking all this into account, you’d be very unlucky not to see at least some red deer while out backpacking in the wilds (although you won’t find deer in the Northern Isles).
Of the larger birds, ravens, buzzards and golden eagles are the species most likely to be seen. Raven numbers are decreasing, but buzzards and golden eagles are doing very well. On all the mainland walks in this book you could enjoy good views of these birds, but again they are pretty much absent from the Northern Isles.
Other predators to look out for include otters, the pine marten and Scottish wildcat. Of these, you are most likely to come across otters, particularly on any of the walks on the west coast, although there are also very high numbers in Shetland, and a fair few in Orkney, so if you’re quiet you might just be lucky.
On ferry crossings you should look out for seals, both common and grey, while cetaceans (dolphins and whales) are often seen. In particular, you should keep your eyes peeled for bottle-nosed, common and even Risso’s dolphins, the minke whale and the harbour porpoise. Humpbacked whales have been seen around the Small Isles, and this also seems to be a fairly regular area for basking sharks.
Back on dry land there are always red grouse on the moors, and here you should also see curlew, dunlin, snipe and golden plover in the breeding season. Mountain tops are not without wildlife either – you’ll find the snow bunting, ptarmigan and mountain hare.
Sunset over the Black Cuillin from Knoydart (Walk 25)
In woodland you might see the secretive roe deer, while the trees attract red squirrels and many small birds. In ancient pine forests, such as in Glen Affric, there’s also a chance of seeing the crested tit and Scottish crossbill, which is unique to Scots pines in the Highlands.
All these species are best viewed from a distance – indeed, you will no success at all if you try getting too close to birds and mammals, and it is actually illegal to deliberately approach many nesting birds. It is obviously sensible not to try to get anywhere near deer, either, particularly during the rut, when the males will see you as competition – and they do have very big antlers!
Flora
It is also illegal to pick wild flowers, and there are plenty of these to be seen in the Highlands. Specialities include bog asphodel, bog myrtle, ling, bell and crossed-leaved heathers, lousewort, milkwort, cow wheat and a whole range of orchids. Bilberry and crowberry can be seen on high mountainsides, and occasionally you might come across bearberry and cowberry.
Each region and island has its own specialities, which can make the study of the flora of Scotland particularly fascinating, and while you are not likely to want to suffer the extra weight of a field guide to flora when backpacking, doing a bit of research before a trip can greatly heighten the enjoyment when you stumble across your first grass of Parnassus, spring squill or dwarf cornel!
THE WALKS
WALK 1
Shetland – Esha Ness
| Start/Finish | Urafirth (grid ref HU303788). Park in the lay-by overlooking the inner pool of Ura Firth, just off the A970 leading toward Hillswick. |
| Distance | 52km (32.5 miles); Day 1 – 31km (19.25 miles), Day 2 – 21km (13.25 miles) |
| Total Ascent | Total: 850m; Day 1 – 420m, Day 2 – 430m |
| Maps | OS Landranger sheet 3 Shetland, North Mainland |
| Number of Days | 2 |
The Shetland Islands offer backpacking as you won’t find it elsewhere. The best of the wild country lies on the coast, and there is certainly plenty of that – rough seas pour in from all sides, bringing westerly gales, northerly sleet and southerly showers, often all at once, and on these ocean-borne winds come millions of birds. A coastal backpack here in summer – for to be honest, you wouldn’t want to go backpacking in these remote islands at any other time of year – will bring you up close and personal with all of our birds of sea and cliff. Puffins peer out of burrows on the cliff tops as you walk by, while below, just over the edge, a teeming mass of guillemots, razorbills, gannets, shags, rock doves, kittiwakes and fulmars jostle for space on tiny ledges.
This route takes in part of North Mavine, the northern tip of the main island of the Shetland group (confusingly known as ‘Mainland’). North Mavine is almost completely separated from the rest
