The Isle of Skye

Written May 15th.

Wow. How do I describe these last couple days? This blog post definitely won’t do it justice. What I will say first is that Isle of Skye is absolutely worth the hype and honestly should get even more - this place is cookoo bananas beautiful. It’s insanely cool not in a metaphorical sense, it’s literally insane. Every inch of this place is wonderful and magical and I’m about to break out into the Scottish National Anthem

O Flower of Scotland, 

When will we see

Your like again,

Ahem… but seriously guys go here!!! I feel like I’m in a magical fairy land (partly because everything is named after a fairy or a folktale here) and I’m just giggling, kicking my feet (all whilst being by myself, lest we not forget) at the smallest things like seeing two bunnies run away, a calico cat stretching in front of a vast ocean sunset, a lamb sending out high pitched bahhs over and over again throughout the valley for all to hear, and just randomly hearing bagpipes in the distance??? I’ve heard live bagpipes on multiple occasions just… in the background of a random part of town… figures.

But to be specific, yesterday was pretty rainy the whole time but I made the best of it by going to Dunvegan Castle and Gardens.

The castle was pretty cool because the current “Chiefs” of “Clan Macleod” pronounced “McCloud” still live there for part of the year and it’s all just so old. I’ve seen better castles and even nicer homes in Pacific Heights of SF, but they had some cool ancient artifacts and a pretty rad collection of portraits of themselves from artists of the 16th - 20th century. It was pretty creepy though because there was a jail-like “dungeon” literally next to this beautiful living room. They seriously held prisoners in their house?? There was a sign that said the dungeon was close to the kitchen so they could torture the prisoners with the smells of food. These people! Then there was a hole with a mannequin of a woman prisoner down the hole looking up! This was actually a jump scare and I had to laugh.

Also the downstairs “servants quarters” was really giving Downton Abbey vibes in the worst way possible. The gardens were surprisingly great and I would HIGHLY recommend checking out their water garden. That absolutely RULED. They basically funneled a river into their garden and created all these waterfalls between paths of flowers and trees. If I won the lottery I wouldn’t tell anyone but there would be signs…

Im soooo glad I was able to snag a car here instead of e-biking everywhere like originally planned. I’m also very comfy driving this rental car because it is coincidentally the same car I had in the Lake District except a slightly lower budget model. Also I’m getting frighteningly comfortable driving on the left side of the road. I’m gonna have to adjust back to normal when I get home! It’s wild what the brain can get used to so quickly. Like this feels natural to me and now the other way feels wrong 😑 also my brain has officially switched into 24 hour “military” time! The only thing left is Celsius/ Fahrenheit; I can never quite understand that conversion. I honestly feel like I’ve acclimated to this country very well so far!

Alrighty so after Dunvegan (I doubt they were vegans 🌱 🤨) I drove to pick up a pizza! This little pizza place in a truck was on my to-do list because I loved the name “Pizza in the Skye” and it just seemed cool. Did not disappoint! Then I checked into my Airbnb for the night - a cute cabin on a farm overlooking an astonishing view of the ocean and cliffs. It was kind of expensive but honestly worth it.

It stopped raining and cleared up a lot, so I was able to walk around the area and complete a trail a short walking distance from my front door. It’s called the Scorrybreac Circular (means spotted ridge or speckled peak). It was amazing!!! Jaw dropping views from atop the peak of Portree and the ocean, the surrounding cliffs, the nearby islands of Raasay and Scalpay. Stunning stuff. That clocked in about 2.9 miles and 604 ft elevation gain over 1 hour and 37 mins.

This isn’t color corrected - that’s how green it is. I guess the rain has its perks…

Then I settled in at the cabin and ate the rest of my pizza for dinner and read some spooky stories about isle of Skye folklore. I got a little spooked alone in my cabin at night and had to lock everything up!

Now to today, I slept in for the first time in what felt like weeks and it felt so good. I really needed the sleep! After a coffee I packed my stuff up and by 11 am I was out the door, checked out. A bunch of cows were grazing just outside the window so I watched them for a while. Just 15 mins north of there is the Old Man of Storr hike which has been on my bucket list so I headed straight there. The weather was perfect today, sunny with a few clouds!

The car park was full but I managed to snag a spot as someone was leaving. Then I hiked up the ridge to the awe inspiring rock formation. I must say, I’m feeling really good and my ankle isn’t hurting noticeably today! I was booking it up that path at a speed of just under 24 mins for 500 feet of elevation gain over 1 mile. It’s almost as if I’ve been hiking constantly for the last 3 weeks ;) But this hike was really cool. I chatted with the ranger for a second and he told me to take a separate path to avoid crowds that goes through the rock pinnacles so I did that. I took a photo on my way down and a group of people were in it in the distance and I thought it was pretty epic so I walked over to them and asked if they wanted the photo. At first they (Germans) were confused and spoke a bunch of German to each other and I thought I must be super weird but then they were like wait this is an amazing photo thank you so much. Idk maybe that’s weird but I just thought I’d like the photo if I were them. So that hike clocked in at just 3.21 miles and 1,096 ft of elevation gain over 1 hour and 37 mins again. Weird…

^Le view from the car park

^ the old man himself (the pointy thingy)

Needle rock I think, makes sense. Like a needle for giants!

Then I got an iced latte and a flapjack (a kind of pastry here) at the stand by the parking lot because I was so hungry. Then I drove to Kilt rock and Mealt Falls. It was pretty cool but kind of forgettable compared to the other stuff today! Just stayed there for like 10 mins.

Then I drove to the Quiraing; a geological formation miles long. Wow. This was absolutely the best hike I’ve ever done and that’s saying something, because you guys know I do a lot of hiking. I thought the old man of storr would be the highlight of today but this topped it. I know with certainty that I will always remember the views on this hike. I felt like I was walking in world of The Land Before Time. A review on Google of this route said it best: “This place is unreal. One of the best views I have ever seen. We got so lucky there was no rain/clouds. I'll never forget this hike. Whenever I feel down or depressed, I alway think about this hike :)” by Amit H.

It kind of felt like a “choose your own adventure” with a smidge of peril thrown in. I was absolutely giddy. It’s so fun to walk around here! So much to see. My phone is chock full of photos from today.

This hike clocked in at 4.6 miles and 1,178ft elevation gain over 2 hours and 12 minutes.

I took approximately a billion photos but these few here will have to do for now.

You wanted another selfie! I deliver.

Then it was about 5:30 so I drove to check into the B&B I’m staying in for the next few days until I leave. It’s on the other side of the peninsula near a town called Uig! The town is by the ocean (ofc) and I’m staying in the guest room in their house. It’s so cute here and everything has been thought out. It’s probably the nicest place I’ve stayed so far on my trip! I had some tea and played one of their guitars (it’s been a while so it felt great to play). Then I had dinner here (an extra fee but worth it) prepared by my host Viv: a charcuterie board with a side of couscous and salad and then a slice of carrot cake. Yum! I ate everything I was sooo hungry after all that hiking.

^I found this game and the rule book inside

After dinner I couldn’t help myself so I drove to the Fairy Glen, only a 6 minute drive from the B&B. It’s this ADORABLE little spot nestled behind mountains of these cone-shaped hills and cool rock formations. It actually looks like fairies would live here. Sheep graze freely and I saw two little bunnies! It was actually so cute. The sunset was lovely from this area. On top of all that I could see two large waterfalls in the distance! This little stroll clocked in at 1.35 miles and 230ft elevation over 44 minutes.

What a day what a day! I feel like I packed a lot in because the weather was so good, but tomorrow should be just as nice. Now I need to lie down and close my eyes, so much visual stimulation.

If you read this far, you’re a real braw bonnie lass or lad.