June 1, 2025 - Today we're headed to the Isle of Skye. It's a 4 hour drive but we've got a few things to do on the way, so we'll try to get there by 5:00 or so. We have another B&B (Green Acres Guest House) we're staying in for the next 3 days. Our first stop was Urquhart Castle which is on a bluff overlooking Loch Ness. These ruins date from the 13th to 16th centuries, although it was built on the site of an early medieval fortification. We got to the castle when it opened at 9:00 and it was free with our Scottish Explorer passes. After touring the ruins we made a slight detour to Corrieshalloch Gorge National Park, then made the final drive to our B&B. We settled in and drove into the town of Portree (a 5 minute drive) to find dinner. We had a bit of trouble finding a spot since we didn't have a reservation, but finally found a table at the Royal Hotel.
After watching a 10 minute video about the history of Urquhart, we headed down the hill to explore the ruins.
The entrance to the Castle
It's a beautiful sunny day here in Scotland!
On the left side of the pic is a “bed” not sure how comfortable that would be even with a little padding!
Kev's enjoying the audio tour and the view at the same time
The main tower looks out over Loch Ness (we didn't see any signs of the Loch Ness Monster though)
The Scottish Flag makes a nice background for a selfie.
We had a lot of lunch today at Corrieshalloch Gorge NP (and a nice view)
our trunk is FULL
The Droma River runs through the NP
There were lots of waterfalls on the fern walk
I can't pass up the hollyhocks
The Falls of Measach from the viewing platform. You can see the footbridge we had to cross to get here. The gorge is 200 feet deep.
pretty bench at the NP visitor center
The drive to Portree was quite pretty
The view of Loch Portree from our porch
a small rainbow over the water
some really beautiful views from the B&B
the town of Portree across the way
games in the sunroom
hillside of hollyhocks (they remind me of fireweed in Alaska)
view from our window
beautiful colors (this was taken at 11:00 at night we don't get many hours of dark here)
Jan 2, 2025 - Today we're driving the 50 mile Trotternish Loop around the northern shore of the Isle of Skye. We left right after breakfast and our first stop was Fairy Glen. It was a great walk through sheep grazing fields and ended with some nice sweeping views. We stopped at the Skye Museum of Island Life that had thatched cottages with exhibitions that described life here in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Next we stopped for a hike on the Rubha Hunish trail. We didn’t walk the entire trail but far enough to get great views of the Duntulm Castle ruins. Next was Quiraing walk and then Kilt Rock Waterfall, Leait Falls, and finally the Old Man of Storr. It was a lot to see in one day, but a really epic day!
We woke up to a spot light on the bay
breakfast in the sunroom
the sheep seem to roam everywhere on the island
Uig Tower
lots of little dots of sheep in the fields across the way
crazy sheep trails across the hill
Castle Ewen on the hill behind us
weird little mounds
the Fairy Glen hike
We made it to Castle Ewen
more sheep along the way
sheep and hollyhocks
Kevin and Jim are climbing to the top of Castle Ewen
views from the hike
Kevin has conquered Castle Ewen and claimed it for Indiana!
I had a nice view watching them climb the castle
beautiful views, beautiful day
we couldn't figure out what these rock circles were, but there were a lot of them in varying size on this hike
baby sheep running after mama
Jeanene and I decided to buy beanies and we finally found a highland cow (we have seen the real ones, but they've only been across a field on a narrow road we can't stop on to gawk)
iron age souterrain (underground passage, which we decided not to explore)
lots of rock fences
bench on the way back to the car
Next stop was the Skye Museum of Island Life. It was $10 each for this cute little museum.
The Crofters' (who were the people who lived here owning a small piece of land that they farmed and raised lifestock on) cottages were open to walk through and had lots of info to take in
Notice the rocks secured to the thatched roof to keep it from blowing off
Life here was hard and cold
The road on the Trotternish Loop is very narrow (often single lane) with passing pullouts
basalt wall
There were picnic tables along the loop, but it was such a windy day we opted for lunch in the car
I ended my lunch with a teacake...so good
The Rubha Hunish Trail
It's hard to tell here, but it was very very windy (but at least it was sunny)
Our first view of Duntulm Castle
The Castle behind some bundled up hikers
no better way to go through a kissing gate
beautiful spot for a castle
up close (doesn't look like there is much left of the castle)
lots and lots of pretty views
I had trouble narrowing these views down
there's always one more
It felt like the wind was going to blow us into the ocean!
It was such a fun, windy hike!
The remote Shulista phone box
It had a working phone in it (and a line to use it!)
Here is what most of the road looked like, one lane with a car waiting for us to pass in a small pullout
tiny roads! Jeanene did a great job with this crazy driving!
on our way to Quiraing
views
and more views
Quiraing
There is a 5 mile loop at Quiraing, but we just stopped for a quick walk and some pics
I'm so glad I bought this beanie earlier today!
you can see the trail behind us
Next stop was Kilt Falls
That is a long way down
more views, of course!
Next it was Lealt Falls with a short hike (it's off in the distance and kind of underwhelming after all we’ve seen today)
views of the beach
a small cattle drive
to get onto the Leilt trail you have to go through another kissing gate
the kissing gate keeps livestock from moving between fields
We can see Old Man of Storr from behind
The hike up to the Old Man of Storr is a 2.5 mile hike with 1200 feet elevation.
We didn't make it to the top. It was late in the day and we've hiked over 6 miles (in the wind!) and we're ready for dinner!
This is the Old Man of Storr from the other side. I guess we'll have to hike it when we come back to the Isle of Skye!
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