Shetland, day 3
| Date | Trip |
| 04.07.26 | The Knab, Lerwick |
| 05.07.26 | Ronas Hill, Lanchestoo, Faan Hill, Sae Breck |
| 06.07.26 | Scalla Field, Hook Kame, Scalloway, Minn Beach, The Ward |
| 07.07.26 | Sumburgh Head, The Compass, Fitful Head, St Ninian’s Isle, Ward of Scousburgh |
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 06.07.26 | Scalla Field | 281m | 267m | Shetland (mainland) | – | MAP |
| 06.07.26 | Hoo Kame | 209m | 122m | Shetland (mainland) | – | MAP |
| 06.07.26 | Scalloway | – | – | Shetland (mainland) | – | MAP |
| 06.07.26 | The Ward (Kettla Ness) | 58m | 55m | Shetland (mainland) | – | MAP |
Scalla Field
Monday: Our second full day in Shetland and the morning started with Anne taking her bath outside the hotel.
We could see a cruise ship, and we expected Commercial Street to be crowded today. But we would not be going shopping…
After breakfast at the “The new Harbour Café” (the same menu choices as the day before) we were ready for more tops and scenic nature.
We started out with a rather boring top – Scalla Field. The highest point in the “Viking Energy Wind Farm”
The top is located ~18km northwest of Lerwick, so we didn’t have a very long drive ahead of us. We followed A970 up to the Sand Water lake and turned west onto B9075. We followed this road for 1,8km before we turned right onto the wind turbine service road and parked there.
At first glance, the information sign told us it was OK to go hiking here…
And so we did. This would not be the most memorable hike we’ve done…
At the gate, there was another information board – suggesting we should report our presence to someone? Clearly, we didn’t bother.
The map could have been useful, but I had of course downloaded a GPS map for Shetland, both for my GPS and for my PC’s GPS tool MapSource. Yes, it’s still being used by someone! So, finding tops was the least of our problems.
Higher up, there was more information to digest. I felt we should get a degree or something, from consuming all this information…
Below us, we could see the Kergord Converter Station.
We couldn’t see any power lines, so I asked ChatGPT to give us a summary;
Kergord Converter Station is the electrical heart of Viking Energy Wind Farm. Power from the 103 turbines is transported through underground cables to Kergord, where it is converted to HVDC before being exported via a subsea cable to mainland Scotland. The absence of overhead power lines helps preserve the open and dramatic Shetland landscape.
Approaching the top of the road (and monitoring the GPS), we had Scalla Field high point right in front of us.
I thought Anne could need some good news, after this boring walk…
This was a wind park, alright…
But the first top for the day was “in the bag”, so it was all good…
We discussed going to Weisdale Hill, 5km to the south. But in the end, we decided to leave this area and find a top elsewhere.
Back at the car, Anne thought it was very funny that this little creek required a lifebuoy…
Trip statistics: 6,8km, 280 vertical meters, 1h:52m
Hoo Kame
After visiting Scalla Field, the plan was to continue to Scalloway and Minn Beach – the tombolo between West Burra and Kettla Ness. But I had noticed that there was another easy top nearby – Hoo Kame.
We returned to the A970 and drove 4km northbound to lake Petta Water. Again, Anne would wait in the car while I hurried up a grassy slope (just like Faan Hill the day before)
The high point was not hard to find – the corner of a fence right next to another wind park.
This wind park also belongs to the same “Viking project” as Scalla Field and the ridge in-between (Mid Kame) is.
The word “kame” resembles the Norwegian word “kam”, which basically means a ridge. I had to ask ChatGPT was “Hoo” was and the answer was that this word probably was derived from the Norwegian word “Haug” – a hill. So, in short – Hoo Kame is a hill on a ridge.
I returned a few seconds after I got up. Anne was probably eager to see something else than boring hills and wind turbines.
The last part back to the car was actually quite steep. I had to be careful so I didn’t stumble and ruin our vacation…
Trip statistics: 0,9km, 120 vertical meters, 0h:17m
Scalloway
Our next stop was Scalloway. I didn’t know anything about the place, but Anne was prepared.
A signpost caught my interest…
Of course, I knew the story about the “Shetland Bus” from WWII, but being on Shetland, that story never crossed my mind. Until we were in Scalloway.
There was a lot of information, as Scalloway was the “base” for the “Shetland bus”. Being here, I started to remember stories from my own local region. Especially from the island “Skorpa” which is not far away from where I live. I asked ChatGPT to give me a resume on the role this island played:
Skorpa – a hidden link in the Shetland Bus story
On the Norwegian coast, the small island of Skorpa in Herøy became an important hiding place and staging point for the Shetland Bus operations during World War II.
From here, resistance fighters, agents and supplies could be moved across the North Sea between Norway and Shetland. The island’s remote location and sheltered surroundings made it a natural refuge before the dangerous crossings to Shetland.
The Shetland Bus was not a conventional military operation. It relied on local fishermen, their small boats and their knowledge of the sea. They sailed through darkness, storms and enemy-controlled waters, carrying people and messages between occupied Norway and the Allied base at Scalloway.
Today, places like Skorpa and Scalloway remind us of the courage and sacrifice behind this remarkable connection across the North Sea.
My respect for the fallen men grew much stronger now that we stood in front of the memorial.
This place was packed with Norwegian history. I bet they rooted for Norway when we beat Brazil the night before…
Now, we were hungry. Fortunately, Scalloway has a store for hungry visitors…
Minn Beach & The Ward on Kettla Ness
From Scalloway, we continued to the island West Burra. When we finally saw Shetland ponies, we just had to stop…
In my book, they’re on the top 5 list of cutest animals on the planet…
And since we had stopped for pictures, I took the opportunity to take a picture of our rental car. I’ve never driven a KIA before, but it behaved like a normal car. Except for the steering wheel and the gear stick…
Eventually, we reached Duncansclett, parked our car and headed for the tombolo between West Burra and Kettla Ness.
For this trip, I had to bring my real camera…
So much to zoom in on…
As we walked the tombolo, we met someone who said we could see seals.
A tombolo is a narrow ridge of sand, shingle, or pebbles that connects an island to the mainland (or to another island). It essentially forms a natural “bridge” or causeway made of beach material (Wikipedia)
And sure enough…
Once across the tombolo, I figured we might just as well visit the Kettla Ness high point – The Ward.
I am pretty sure “The Ward” indicates that this used to be a lookout tower once upon a time. The guard would probably light a beacon upon sighting enemies, signalling to nearby tops also having similar watch towers. In Norway, these tops are often called “Veten” or “Viten“
It was a fairly short hike up to the high point…
A named point is a named point, no matter how high…
I almost wrote that we had a nice “mainland view” from here, but then it struck me that the islands close to the mainland are probably part of the “Shetland mainland”
And now we were back at the shore, with cliffs and cool sea stacks…
And they Oystercatchers appeared today as well…
We returned to the tombolo…
… and Anne wanted to walk bare-footed. I didn’t.
This was clearly the “high point” of the day. Yes, I got two P100 tops, but this was the fun part…
Back in Lerwick, we had another dinner reservation at the Dowry. Today, I ordered the Seafood Tagliatelle (delicious!) while Anne had the “Buddha Bowl” – a vegan dish that she enjoyed more than the picture says…
We had just one full day left in Shetland and the next day would be spent in the south!
Trip statistics: 3,4km, 90 vertical meters, 1h:01m
