In reply to Martin W:
OK, thought I'd add an update following my return from the Misty Isle.
We stuck our noses briefly down Glen Brittle for the OH's benefit, on the off-chance that the Fairy Pools Experience wasn't as horrific as had been portrayed in the media. It is. The verges are being torn apart by vehicles parking off the edge of the single-track tarmac - there were some huge ruts, very likely caused by numpties getting stuck. There were two "no stopping" signs on the left hand side as you headed downhill towards the official - but grossly inadequate for the demand - car park: both had cars & vans parked right next to them. I doubt that they are ever enforced, which makes them utterly pointless (and IMO simply encourages more general, widespread abuse of traffic regulations). The made path to the pools was extremely busy: I can understand why it's needed, given the numbers of visitors, but looking at it from the road I could for the first time understand the Cornish term "emmets" (ants) for tourists.
Half a mile uphill from the horrible mess in the vicinity of the Fairy Pools car park, the Forestry Commission's (admittedly not particularly large) Square Mile car park was half empty. Go figure.
We ran away as quickly as possible.
It was announced last week that Highland Council have committed £100K to fund the expansion of the Fairy Pools car park from 30 cars to 137 cars and 20 minibuses/campervans:
http://www.scotsman.com/regions/inverness-highlands-islands/skye-s-fairy-po... I can understand why this is felt to be needed, but it's not going to do anything to reduce the pressure of visitors on the place which is what makes it far from the idyllic location that it used to be when only hairy-arsed walkers and climbers ever bothered going down Glen Brittle. I can't see it helping the traffic volumes on the still single-track-with-passing-places Glenbrittle road, either.
I can't help wondering whether a park-and-ride near the Talisker distillery, with a shuttle bus service to the Fairy Pools, might not be a more sustainable long-term solution which wouldn't involve tarmacing ever more of the glen simply to accommodate the five-minute-visit-including-selfie hordes. Ultimately, it's not so much the sheer numbers that I find disquieting: it's the selfish, bloody-minded abuse of the area that these people have come to visit - presumably because of its supposed natural beauty - that I find difficult to make sense of.
A few days later we drove past the car park provided for The Storr, and it was a very similar story. Vehicles abandoned (it would be too charitable to describe most of them as having been "parked") for hundreds of metres along the verge of the A855. There are double yellow lines there, obviously being policed with the same lack of diligence as the no stopping signs in Glen Brittle. And, again, another car park within half a mile that was nowhere near full. Apparently the Staffin Community Trust wants to fix this by...enlarging the car park. I can't help feeling that this simply concentrates the problem in one place, when a bit of lateral thinking might be able to spread the load a bit and reduce the overall impact.
Apart from the above, Skye was mostly lovely. The midgies weren't too bad, and even seemed to be kept fairly effectively at bay this time by Avon Skin So Soft (which had failed miserably against the beasties at Loch Creran and the Invercoe camp site a few years back). Our cottage had a fine view of Bla Bhainn and the Red Cuillin. We had a golden eagle regularly patrolling the ridge behind the cottage, and a merlin in the fields nearby. We saw more seals than you could shake a stick at, a fair few red deer, three pods of dolphins, the odd porpoise and plenty of other more commonly-seen but nonetheless welcome wildlife. And, of course, sheep. The walk to the Point of Sleat was pleasant (although horribly boggy for the bit over the shoulder of the hill once you were turned off the landrover track at the gate - I couldn't help wondering, given that the Land Reform Act has been in force for twelve years now, about the legal status of the roughly 25-hectare gated enclosure around the half dozen or so properties there which basically forces you on to that less-than-ideal route). Despite the doom-laden forecasts the weather was consistently very amenable; it did rain heavily once or twice, but almost always at night when we were tucked safely up in our beds! Not to be forgotten, either was the thoroughly enjoyable concert at the Gaelic College on the Tuesday night given by Adam Sutherland, Mairearad Green, Anna Massie and Hamish Napier - truly uplifting stuff.
Would we go back? Most definitely. But with better plans as to where to go and how to get about (I had only ever been to the Slig and Glen Brittle before, so I was still getting used to finding my away about the island this time). And avoiding at all costs the places that the coach parties go! (We encountered a classic of that genre as we passed by The Quiraing: coach completely occupying the passing place opposite the cemetery, and a party of fifty-odd folks some of whom were indeed wearing crocs or flip-flops, and apparently all intent on ascending 300ft of rough moorland to gain the main path.)
And if we do back, we will need to book ahead: I don't think I saw a single "Vacancies" sign all the time were were there, so accommodation is clearly tight, at least at this time of year.
One final point: a number of folks mentioned Rubha Phoil aka the Skye Forest Garden. When passing through Armadale coming off the ferry I noticed that there was an "under new management" sign there. Does anyone know any more about this? Has it made any difference to the place? We didn't call in this time, but it would be good to know whether it would be worth a visit another time.