Day 19 - Isle of Skye

Sun was streaming through the breakfast windows this morning. Could it actually be that we finally got a break in the weather? Cataorina was very excited about a high-pressure front that was coming in and would push out some of the muck. We were so excited to explore the Northern Peninsula and to have good weather seemed like a miracle. Unfortunately, the miracle was short-lived…perhaps it lived for only the 30 minutes during breakfast, because by the time we started driving away from Portree, the clouds and rain returned.

We made our way counter-clockwise around the Northern-most peninsula. We were able to see the rock formation called, “The Old Man.” We were told it had been shrouded in cloud cover the last few days. But with the gray day, everything seemed so flat. We were supposed to hike up to the formations, but the road was packed solid with vehicles and there was no where safe to park. That many people on a small trail in the rain would not be fun. We skipped the hike up and continued on our way. 

There are 3 industries in Scotland—farming (sheep), tourism and logging. I never thought of Scotland as being logged, however, that is what is happening all over the island and on Skye and it's in full swing. According to Catoarina, all the trees were planted 50 years ago with the intentions of logging them. Over the 50 years, the trees grew into beautiful hillside forests that blanket the country. Then the clock was up and the logging began. It is so sad to see vast areas completely logged. They are suppose to replant, but it will take another 50 years to achieve the look that the islanders loved. It is obvious that opinions have greatly changed over the last 50 years and that residents don't want the trees to be harvested. 

Next stop was the ruins of a 1900s factory far below the cliffs. The factory ruins were an interesting factoid, but the real stars were the cliffs and the river below emptying into the sea via a deep gorge.

The Kilt was our next stop. It’s a series of basalt columns resting on layers of colorful sediment.  Locals say it looks like tarten fabric and kilt pleats. There was no sun to light up the rock face, so we we could enjoy all the textures, but not the rock colors. The waterfall in the forefront of the rock formation was dramatic.

We wove our way up along a tiny one lane road into the Quiraing area. This was one of the hikes I was most looking forward to doing. But yet again, the weather said no. At the top of the mountain pass where the trail head begins was not a pretty site. Hikers were coming down covered in mud from their knees down. They looked wet, cold and miserable. It was about 40 degrees and with the wind chill it was in the low 30s. If the wind was blowing this hard down at the trail head, we could not imagine what it was like up top on the plateau high above us. Again, black clouds on the horizon…we did not hike. Too cold, high winds, very narrow path on steep mountain cliff sides + rain = Not worth the risk, but I was really bummed. None of my hiking plans were working out.

After going back down the Quiraing we went towards the coast and the northern tip of the peninsula. There we stopped at the Skye Heritage Museum. It is an open air museum showing exactly how the locals lived in Skye over the last 200 years. There are 2 original dwellings on the property. The owners lived here up until 1957. The traditional thatched rock house has 1 kitchen, 1 small bedroom for the parents and 1 bedroom for their 12 children. The other dwellings were relocated to the site from other parts of Skye. It was an excellent exhibit. Matt took some liking to the 2 residents in particular. Before leaving the Heritage site, we popped into the bathrooms. The walls were decorated with photos from around the island. They were stunning. It really brought the reality crashing in on how much we lost out on due to the bad weather. When there is sun, this island is stunning. We left our respective bathrooms a bit depressed.

 This is the couple who actually lived in the house until the 1957 with their 12 children.

We arrived back in Portree around 3:30. We regrouped at our B&B and tried to figure out what to do next. The weather was crap so what ever we did at least it would be accomplishing something. We chose to go out to GlenBrittle. I had wanted to go there the day before to hike, but we ran out of time plus the weather was too unstable. GlenBrittle is where the Brittle River and The Cullins meet the sea. The tiny one track road took us to an area that could have doubled for New Zealand. Matt summed it up best, “This place is just peaceful." There were no crowds, just quiet tent campers recuperating from their long day in The Cullins. Coming here was perfect.

Fun Factoid. This is the beach where Danny Macaskill ends his bike ride in the video. We even found the actual section of the fence that they reinforced for Danny to flip his bike over.