A slightly belated post … about a month ago, I went on a great trip with a few friends up to the Isles of Lewis and Harris, for our Outer Hebridean fix (now seemingly an annual event). Despite having two names, Lewis and Harris are actually the same island. They are, however, geologically separate - Lewis is a bleak, glacier swept landscape with thousands of lochs; whereas Harris is more mountainous in nature.

Anyway, despite the fact that Lewis/Harris are in Scotland, the weather was great - we had sunshine for most of the week and, more importantly, did not see a single midge. Good times.

The climbing on Lewis is great (we didn’t end up getting anything done on Harris). Lewisian gneiss (nice!) - a granite-like rock which is some of the oldest rock in Europe, and maybe the world (I’m not sure if this is entirely true - you’ll have to look that up). Mostly single pitch climbing on sea cliffs. Great rock, great protection, great scenery.

But I don’t think I’ll remember this trip for the climbing. I have been telling everyone (not just climbers) that they must visit Lewis and Harris - it’s such an amazing part of the world; you’ll feel like you’re thousands of miles away from your everyday life. It’s a beautiful place.