outer hebrides in may, ticks, midges and weather

Smidge is the best insect repellant and will work for both midge and ticks. I'm a bit of a tick magnet but I've never encountered one in 8 years of Uist holidays. Typically, it's a bit windy for midge but they're there if the wind drops, though I've never known them as bad as the mainland, Skye or Lewis.

Where are you staying?

We ended up with AirBNB for accomodation in FW instead of the PRemier/Travelodge.

Also, the cost of a hotel in Fort William on the way home – 200 quid a night for a travelodge. Wow

Yha in Glencoe should be a bit cheaper than that. It's only about 1/2 hour further south. Yha in fort William is also excellent.

Both have bike storage (sheds)

Scotroutes +1

Smidge, headnet and hope you don't need them.

Accomodation costs are crazy in the tourist hotspots this year... We are paying £120 a night to stay in a glorified shed on the north coast...

Accomodation costs are crazy in the tourist hotspots this year…

OTOH I'm hearing that self-catering bookings are down on the past couple of years. I also know folk who are saying that holiday letting is becoming unsustainable due to energy costs, cleaning costs etc. Maybe one for another thread though...

Thanks guys. We are staying in various pods, starting at Ullapool to Stornaway, Lewis, Harris and working our way down to south Uist, with a day trip to Barra. Ferry back to Mallaig and then im looking for somewhere sensible to stop (ferry gets in 5pm ish) and then have a nice lazy day heading south with maybe another stop possibly east coast somewhere if we feel like it.
On the way up i was thinking Sterling centre Travelodge. Will i survive or should i go elsewhere?

OTOH I’m hearing that self-catering bookings are down on the past couple of years. I also know folk who are saying that holiday letting is becoming unsustainable due to energy costs, cleaning costs etc. Maybe one for another thread though…

https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/accomodation-costs/

Smidge is effective but anything with 20% Icaridin will keep the midges and ticks at bay - Autan is good too but I use "Flies Undone", it's half the price of the others and I find it just as effective and easy to use.

We stayed on Harris in early May in a self catering place and the midges were annoying enough that we didn't sit out in an evening. Weather was glorious.

We were early June and stayed up at Port Ness. I can highly recommend that you buy black pudding from the in store butcher at Cross Stores just south of Ness. It’s possibly the best pudding I’ve had.

Hi DT - yeah ill try and stop by 🙂

To also add: we had a week on Harris & Lewis first week of July in 2021 - and had a few moments of midges. TBF, the rain when it came in was more 'challenging' at times...Not a tick all week, and one of mine is a proper tick magnet.

As was the overpriced and not great accommodation.

Torridon the next week was more midgy, although still not a significant inconvenience, and a couple of ticks...

Early May should be before the midges appear. Though the little sods are getting earlier every year. That said, the wind should be your friend.

As regards weather, May is as good a time as any for the OH, but it is Scotland, so go prepared.

Have a great trip. It's a beautiful place.

Speaking as an ‘islander’ you shouldn’t really need to worry about midges before the end of May unless it’s been exceptionally mild. We rarely have problems despite living right by trees and standing water, as we’re quite close to the coast as there’s generally a breeze.

Ticks are becoming a year round problem - already pulled a few off the dog already this year as we have deer in the garden.

The other thing to worry about is horseflies/clegs in summer as they will bite through clothing - often through the bum of your Lycra shorts! 😳

Weather-wise who knows? We often get settled weather in April/early May where we go straight from winter to blazing sunshine whilst the rest of the UK is shrouded in cloud and rain.

We've used Jungle Formula and Autan in Scotland and Indonesia. They appear to work a bit but stuff always still bites me.. just less.. We encountered no ticks in August a couple of years ago, which is unusual as I'm a tick magnet, but we were in our campervan so not in such close contact with the ground as when tent camping.

Weather in May... could be anything! 🙂

Fantastic part of the world, we want to go back as we rushed Harris due to mechanical issues with the van.

Speaking as an ‘islander’ you shouldn’t really need to worry about midges before the end of May unless it’s been exceptionally mild. We rarely have problems despite living right by trees and standing water, as we’re quite close to the coast as there’s generally a breeze.

Ticks are becoming a year round problem – already pulled a few off the dog already this year as we have deer in the garden.

The other thing to worry about is horseflies/clegs in summer as they will bite through clothing – often through the bum of your Lycra shorts! 😳

Weather-wise who knows? We often get settled weather in April/early May where we go straight from winter to blazing sunshine whilst the rest of the UK is shrouded in cloud and rain.

I'm in Torridon first week of May and I understood that was a good time to go, before the midges have appeared and generally settled weather. Although seeing the snow up there only a couple of weeks ago, I'm hoping for the sudden change in weather! 😬

Can I order some 18 degrees, sunny with light-medium winds for April 28th to 6th May, please? 🤣🤣

I think if you expect everything, all in one day, you'll be fine. And take plenty of smidge.

@dovebiker thanks for that info. we were planning on doing bbq / cooking with the occasional eating out. whats the restaurant and pub situation like, and are they generally dog friendly?

whats the restaurant and pub situation

Mostly sparse. I'd recommend booking ahead - as in, before you even set off on holiday. That way, you'll know you've got dinner ahead of you and be spared a last minute trip to a small shop to encounter the lack of stock because the ferry didn't come in and the tourists have bought everything 😂

On the Uists, try the Berneray Bistro, the Westford Inn, the Temple View, Charlie's and the Polachar Inn. I'm pretty sure that the Westford and the Polachar are ok with dogs. Can't say about the others

BBC News - Vote to be held on eradicating all Uist estate's deer
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-64964575

+1 smidge for general purpose creepy crawly deterrent. Only ever get ticks when I forget the smidge.

shermer75
Free Member
BBC News – Vote to be held on eradicating all Uist estate’s deer
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-64964575Posted 23 hours ago

Clearly they haven't been managing them properly. Part of the reason for the trip is i want to take some pics of the Reds. I love the term 'managing' - it's Shooting them dead. Anyway sounds like years of mismanagement and now the locals are sick of it and want them gone. I don't blame them really, who wants Lymes disease. I suspect a compromise will happen where they cull a lot or most of them and promise to keep on top of it going forward. That's a lot of venison. I hope it gets eaten and not thrown away.

There's just been a bit of a cull on one of the Sutherland estates. The meat all went to butchers.

TBH if I wanted to photograph some red deer, I'd not be aiming for the islands, just based on density.

The rate of Lyme disease in South Uist is 40 times the Scottish average.

https://www.welovetheisleofharris.com/index.php/343-archive/19912-ticks-fuel-isles-disease-upsurge

Supposed to be bad on Jura as well. One reason I am timing a planned walking trip to Jura for before the bracken is up. When it is cool enough not to wear shorts, and I'll spray my tracksters with

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lifesystems-Anti-Mosquito-Clothing-Treatment/dp/B002WN1S5Y/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?keywords=permethrin+spray+for+clothes&qid=1679071774&sr=8-4

Edit. Full research paper here.

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/27/2/20-3862_article

Which seems to say the ticks are everywhere.

Within islands with a high incidence of Lyme disease, we found that improved grassland, heather moorland, bog and peatland, and domestic gardens had similar tick density and prevalence of B. burgdorferi s.l. infection among ticks as forested mainland sites in Scotland

I did a tour there in June 9 years ago ( !!!) on the bike.  didn't see a single midge or tick and we camped most nights usually wild.

Its all about the weather.  Midge can only fly at 4kph so a wind above that they are grounded

Smidge is your friend.  Nothing else comes close it that its as effective as high strength DEET but far less toxic and unpleasant

any locals care to comment on the ferry situation? Calmac have already cancelled one crossing but they got me on a different one so no dramas. The whole thing sounds a right mess - is this another SNP failing or is it a much wider thing? Sounds like the service is on the verge of collapse the whole time. As long as i get stuck there and not on the mainland, im fine with it!

is this another SNP failing or is it a much wider thing?

both

It's a Scottish Government failing (arguably goes back even further). It's not solely the fault of the current government but a lot to do with long term acquisition policies. The islanders have pointed out that more, smaller boats would provide better resilience but recently it's been fewer, larger boats. Add to that the age of the fleet, the amount they are used, and the shenanigans over the two boats currently being built.

and the fact that one of the replacements they'd organised isn't yet available.
I'd not be booking anything that required a Calmac ferry this year.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-65286224

The island ferries thing is a lot down to CMAL - the management company that run Calmac with a management board that doesn’t include one islander. They prefer large monohull ferries that are home ported on the mainland that require large crews and live aboard accommodation - this makes them expensive, slow and difficult to dock in high winds. 2 years ago, Calmac bought a smaller, used ferry from Norway the Loch Frisa and it’s home ported on Mull. We had fewer weather delays and breakdowns this winter than normal. Most of the current fleet are about 40 years old, which means problems with corrosion and reliability. On top of this, the Corran Ferry is currently out of service (run by Highland Council) which impacts on the ferries at Lochaline and Kilchoan. Doesn’t help that the mainstream media are using this as another stick to beat the Scottish Government with, when it’s simply down to plain old incompetence and lack of investment regardless of political hue going back decades.

Well, were are here. Not seen any midges. Weather on the whole has been really good. Our ferry home has been cancelled so we are going via Lochmaddy and Skye. Did a day trip to Barra and watched a plane land and take off on the beach. The beaches are spectacular. I imagine in the summer it must get frustrating for the locals as even now every other vehicle is a motorhome or camper. There is a lot of single track and passing places. We will definitely be back! Seen loads of seals, several eagles, lots of Reds (even saw 2 fellas shooting a red, off the bonnet of a pickup early one morning) all sorts of birds. No otters though. Must get some nicer binos or a spotting scope. Seen lots of people doing the Hebridean way, the tool for the job appears to be a nice gravel bike with widish tyres and strap on luggage. Off to look for otters again now.

If you're coming back via the Armadale-Mallaig ferry, make sure you have fuel in your vehicle. The filling station in Mallaig is currently closed and you'll not get another until Fort William.

Thanks 👍 good to know

Just back from a trip that included Barra and Uist (S&N). No ticks from the Western isles, some from Skye (Slig to Camasunary) but quite a few (20 or more in total) from the Arnisdale to Kiloch Hourn route. I think the reason we didn’t pick them up on Uist is more down to the vegetation we rode through and camped on. On the Uists we were on roads, beaches and machair tracks… on the mainland we rode through some moorland with rushes, molina and heather. All the ticks I had were poppy seed sized larvae.

Pulled a couple of ticks off the dog on Harris. None so far on Uist

Otters - look for them on the coast at an area with weed covered rocks on the rising tide

Some pics
The boy loves a paddle

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Back on the mainland after a ferry to Skye, and another to mallaig and then a big drive round to fort William because the small ferry across is knackered.

If anyone has done the Hebridean way on a bike, please let me know how you did it. Ie get to the start, and then get back to your car at the end. Are there outfits than can get you back to Oban, or at least the ferry port going to Oban. Or does it involve trains from Inverness or buses from Ullapool? Ta.

I did it in a loop from Oban - ferry to barra, ride up the island chain and back to Harris for the ferry to skye, ride across skye,  ferry to mallaig, ride to ardnamurchan, ferry to mull, ride across mull, ferry to oban

https://www.johnogroatsbiketransport.co.uk/

Based out of Inverness, they can pick you up in Ullapool and drive you to Oban. It's a bit spendy if you are solo or a couple but gets much more affordable in a larger group. Sharing with other customers is also an option.

If you can get the train to Oban and back from Inverness then the Ullapool-Inverness hop is obviously a lot cheaper.

I used to drive for them.

You can get a couple of bikes on the normal Ullapool - Inverness bus, but the official limit is 2 bikes and I don't know if you can book.

Durness Bike Bus was another option but they stopped a few years ago and I don't know if they've picked up again.

The Ullapool - Inverness road isn't too bad for riding, at least as far as Garve. I hate the bit between there and Contin. You can get a train at Garve, or take the back roads from Contin to Inverness.

If you're happy cycling off-road then you get through to the East via Glen Achall, Croick then a train at Ardgay.

Just back from doing an attic conversion near Ness, took days off when the weather was nice. Mangersta beach was stunning, quite perfect for a three second skinny dip. Cliff top walks around there quite fantastic. The stretch between Dalbeg and Shawbost has many sea arches. On the clifftop path above Dalbeg two otters tanked across infront of us then 150ft down a grassy gully then across the rocks into the sea...whole event lasted a mere five seconds! Same day saw a sea eagle at Bostadh. Local folk were all dead nice contrary to free church stereotype that some people expect.

Did you go to the bothy at Mangersta?

Indeedy. Also did a drive round South Lochs as it's a corner of Lewis I didn't know, was rather taken with it.

Mrs S is from Leurbost. She says it's South Lochs but ...

South Lochs chicken coup.

Leurbost almost is...as the crow flies 🙂