Old Man of Hoy Walk and Rackwick Camp

Walk start: Hoy Island’s Rackwick Car Park/Bay area

Return length: 8km. Ascent: 220m Time taken: 50 mins each way.

Rating: 4 stars.
I first visited Orkney about 6 years ago, a solo trip with the tent , mainly to see the amazing archaeological sites but also with a plan to do the Old Man of Hoy walk, the ‘classic’ hike on the islands.The weather gods were against me however as horrendous weather swept in which saw me sleeping in the car rather than setting up camp at the atmospheric old Bothy at Rackwick  Bay. But the whole area had impressed me hugely and I vowed to go back one day.

Somehow that took until last weekend when Chris and I spent a long weekend on Orkney and the wind  – though constant – at least kept the rain to hefty showers which passed through regularly but swiftly, allowing the sun to break through for lengthy spells. It was at night that that the heavens truly opened – acceptable in my book!

After a comfortable B&B in Scrabster with great views over the harbour, we set sail at 8.45am next morning on a bright, showery day.

The captain’s voice came over the tannoy, describing a 3.5m swell which might see the MS Hamnavoe pitch and roll a bit.Maybe we’re too used to CalMac crossings but it seemed a pretty smooth sailing albeit quite a high sea was running.The sail also gave a great view of the Old Man of Hoy rearing up against Orkney’s distinctive red cliffs.Hopefully, we’d get a better close up view this afternoon if my plans worked out this time!

The idea was to take the early afternoon ferry from Houton (Orkney Mainland) to Lyness (Hoy) then drive to Rackwick Bay and do the walk.

Arriving in Stromness, we had a few hours to spare before the sail so we set off to see the Ring of Brodgar and Stones of Stenness, barely a 15 min drive away.Below, sailing into Stromness.

These are both superb sites and a taste of the riches to come throughout the rest of Mainland.The 4,500 year old Ring of Brodgar below…

Chris in the shot below, showing the scale of the Neolithic stones…

The ferry to Hoy was packed with vehicles, so I was glad I’d booked well ahead! Looked out for dolphins or whales on the 75 min sail(via Flotta) but no sightings. My hope was Orca as several pods ply the waters between Orkney and Caithness though it was getting a bit late on in the season – I think peak time is July/August.

Hoy looks very different to the rest of Orkney, having more of a Highland appearance with lots of heathery moorland and a small range of shapely hills. Its name means High Island in Old Norse, well named as although the highest hill is only 481m that is significant when so much of Orkney is relatively flat.

 I don’t think we passed another car on the 30min drive from Lyness to Rackwick, a spectacular bay fringed by sheer cliffs, the rock a striking reddish-pink.The famed Orcadian writer George Mackay Brown called it the loveliest place in Orkney and a place of ‘enchantment.’

The plan was to camp at Rackwick Bothy (Burnmouth Bothy) but with a poor forecast with rain and strong winds due to come in, we drove up to the Youth Hostel just in case there were beds.However, it seemed to be well and truly shut.Chris found a parking place on rough grass just a short distance away so we began the Old Man of Hoy walk a bit higher than the usual starting point at the car park lower down.Oops, a bit of a cheat from the off!

Boots on, waterproofs packed and by 3pm we were heading along the clearly signposted path to our destination.I felt a bit of thrill that the walk was ‘on’ and my long laid plans hadn’t gone ‘agley’ this time.

Even better, it was continuing to be a lovely sunny afternoon with barely a breath of wind ; of all the days I’d chosen to do the walk and given the logistics too , the weather seemed almost miraculous.

Great views opened up immediately over Rackwick Bay itself with its tiny piece of pink sand at the far end. Rackwick also has Orkney’s greatest collection of traditional stone-built buildings with their stone tiled roofs…they really blend into the landscape and add to the ancient quality of this special place.

It was just under 3 miles to the Old Man of Hoy viewpoint with some ascent too though not much. The path was excellent and a bit of a dream once it flattened out. The Pentland Firth sparkled all around and on the mainland we could just make out the hazy outlines of Ben Hope and Ben Loyal.

The route got a bit more broken underfoot as we descended slightly and the top of the famous rock stack came into view.

It took us about 45 mins to reach the cliffs, the short cropped grass well worn by countless others who had admired the Old Man.It really was a wow, as much for the surrounding coastal landscape as the stack itself; 449 feet of edges and ledges tottering above a swirling sea.

Just as we arrived, a bird shot out from its perch on the rock pillar and headed east – a Peregrine! Not a chance of capturing it on the camera, it shot off like a bullet!  A perfect place for such a fast predator with Fulmars still cruising the cliffs, rising up on their stiff wings to check us out every now and again.

We spent a good half hour just admiring the whole place from all angles, slightly aghast at how very broken and friable the rock stack is.Even the cliff top itself looks as if it doesn’t have long to go before sections of it crumble into the ocean! A bit we were standing on looked decidedly dodgy, we noticed later, with great flakes of rock heavily fractured and broken below the grass.Even as recently as 1813, the stack used to have an arch at the base and geologists have suggested that it is not long for this world!

I remember reading that Chris Bonington reascended the Old Man on his 80th birthday, a celebration of the fact that he was the first to climb it (with Tom Patey and Rusty Baillie) in 1966.I had always assumed that climbers abseil down to the stack(which is adjoined to the land) but apparently, 100m or so along the cliff edge(according to research I did later) there is a man made ladder which leads to a very steep narrow path to the base.The stack is non tidal too  – and because it’s permanently adjoined to the land there have been questions about whether it IS a true sea stack.

Orkney’s distinctive red cliffs…

(I mentioned the ladder to Chris that evening and he said ‘good job we didn’t know tha, there would have been no holding you back.’ Aye right! Cliff tops are a bit heeby jeeby for me anyway so no chance I would have climbed backwards down some rickety steps with a 400 foot drop into the churning ocean! )

Quite a few Great Skuas checked us out while we were on the cliffs though it was well past nesting season so thankfully, no dive bombing.Intimidating birds; I watched one drown a gull once, fearsome predators.That said, my view of them changed a bit after a great boat trip from Lerwick to Shetland’s Noss cliffs where some of the braver Skuas delicately  took bits of freshly caught fish from the  outstretched hands of the crew.They looked very benign in those circumstances.

 We headed back, enjoying the sea views, the distant mainland still hazy.

Before heading for the car, I detoured slightly to visit the Cra’as Nest museum, revealing life in the 1800s. It comprised of three stone buildings with turf roofs set on the hillside above the hostel.One still had the old farming implements of yesteryear (used as recently as the 1950s), another was a byre with a kiln for drying oats.also a classroom in the old school.Well worth a look, literally a step back in time.

https://flic.kr/p/2qicBPt

A couple of large, impressive houses have been built in Rackwick since my last visit though I’ve read that there are only 5 permanent residents nowadays.

Now the hard work began…sorting and transporting our stuff to the Bothy.As we unloaded the car – tent, sleeping stuff, wine, nibbles, Trangia, tea bags, milk, water…as ever it seemed like a heck of a lot! However, as Cameron Macneish said about camping, any fool can be miserable so we tend to lug in quite a lot…there was even a of bottle of Tesco Champagne from Thurso to celebrate the news we got on the mainland that Chris’s oldest son and his wife had welcomed a new baby boy, two weeks early!

As I looked at all the bags and rucksacks , it was clear we’d need two journeys to shift it all. Spur of the moment I groaned- ‘if only there was a wheelbarrow!’

Lo and behold, just as the first few drops of rain began to fall and we got ready for a soaking wet walk (though very short , maybe 15 mins!) we both spied that very thing at the far end of the car park! In fact, two wheelbarrows seem to be left to help the carry down to the Bothy.

Off we set, Chris manoeuvring the barrow and what a difference it made letting us get all our stuff down in one go.There was one gate that was completely secured with a locked chain so we unpacked the barrow, lifted our supplies over, got the wheelbarrow itself over, repacked and set off again.Another gate was easily opened. The path was good…grassy, then stony then grassy again.Perfect for a single wheel!

The Bothy is a beautiful old building, 200 years old, very atmospheric.The only sound was the surf pounding on the rounded boulders of the beach and an occasional call from an oyster catcher.

A skua occasionally swept overhead.A wild spot!
Tentatively I opened the Bothy door, not sure what we’d find inside but while royal and ancient (it’s a 200 year old building) it was very well kept with a stove, bed frames, various kettles, tables and chairs.We rigged up one of the camping lights as it was very dark inside  and got a proper look around.Oddly, there was a bed frame in one corner with a made up sleeping bag so we assumed there was at least one other occupant tonight.

We’d already decided to put the tent up in the grassy area outside anyway and sleep there.The grass is surrounded by a sturdy stone wall which hopefully would do a reasonable job of keeping out the worst of the strengthening wind.

I had read there was even a separate toilet but the adjacent building was locked.No matter, I have my own wee arrangements for having to get up in the middle of the night!

But really, what a place!

Chris is a dab hand at getting a fire started and soon the old stove was blazing away as the light began to go quite quickly.

We set up the outdoor brazier too for cooking a favourite easy meal – the Co-op’s Chicken Pakora, really excellent and about as good as from an Indian restaurant.

A bit of anxiety that the rain would douse the coals out all about but luckily it stayed off and we ate outside, overlooking the spectacular beach albeit getting blasted by the wind.

We spent the rest of the evening enjoying the fire( amazing how much you get mesmerised by the flames) and chatting about tomorrow’s plans.

I’d noticed a chap on the beach earlier, beach combing and assumed he was to the sleeping bag owner but he never came near the Bothy. As it turned out, no one arrived all night so I’m not sure what the sleeping bag set up was.

It was a wild night weather wise and I woke at one point with my side of the tent slammed against my face, the wind was so strong.Constant rain too, a combination which doesn’t make for a great nights sleep.No doubt we would have been better off in the Bothy but I always prefer my own space plus I wasn’t sure about little four legged friends who might be scampering about in the cosy indoors when all went quiet!

A very wet morning greeted us for the short walk back out so not the weather to explore the beach at all unfortunately.

It was a reminder of how lucky we’d been to enjoy the Old Man of Hoy walk in such fine weather AND get into the Bothy dry too.

A much anticipated visit second time round, had all gone to plan, amazing really when I thought of how poor the summer had been.A bit of a bucket list walk and camp ‘ticked off,’ both of which exceeded expectations. A memorable place, Rackwick, perhaps the shining jewel of the High Island.