{"id":1169,"date":"2012-10-13T11:48:57","date_gmt":"2012-10-13T10:48:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/?p=1169"},"modified":"2025-11-23T06:53:55","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T06:53:55","slug":"a-spectacular-walk-a-spectacular-castle-spectacular-waterfalls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/2012\/10\/13\/a-spectacular-walk-a-spectacular-castle-spectacular-waterfalls\/","title":{"rendered":"A Spectacular Walk, A Spectacular Castle, Spectacular Waterfalls"},"content":{"rendered":"

We awoke to another dry day; I hope you can imagine how joyful that makes us.\u00a0 Two days in a row and not a drop of rain, yippee!\u00a0 We spent the day driving right round the Totternish Peninsula, the most northern part of Skye.\u00a0 We took the road up the west coast through Uig, Balgown, Hungladder and Duntulm, stopping regularly to marvel at the beautiful scenery.<\/p>\n

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The coastline near Hungladder<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Then we drove around the top point and back down the eastern side, past the dramatic Quiraing above Digg and around Staffin Bay.\u00a0 I could have sat there above the beach all day, gazing out to sea in watery contemplation and listening to the waves, but we had plans for after our lunch.<\/p>\n

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Staffin Bay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

We parked Eileen at the northern end of Loch Leathan and walked up through the forest to The Storr.\u00a0 The Old Man of Storr is a major landmark in the Trotternish Hills range that runs along this coast.\u00a0 It looks really precarious leaning out and away from the cliffs behind and the other rock formations\u00a0that surround\u00a0it are equally spectacular.<\/p>\n

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The Storr, Trotternish<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

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The Old Man of Storr, Trotternish<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

The walk up to the base of the Old Man of Storr and back down took us about\u00a0two hours and it was a real scramble in places, but it was definitely worth it.\u00a0 It has to be one of the most striking short walks we have ever done and, apart from the deep squidgy mud at the start and finish, we really would recommend you do it, if you\u2019re ever in the area.<\/p>\n

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Amongst the Storr<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Looking south from the Storr<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Looking east from the Storr across the Sound of Raasay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

After the good butt exercise, we drove down in to Portree for a roam around the town centre and harbour.\u00a0 We stocked up on the necessities; bread, milk and a big, very, sticky date pudding and then checked in to the Torvaig campsite nearby.\u00a0 We dined on a fabulous main course of Loch Toridon hot smoked salmon steaks with four veggies.\u00a0 When Rodney was out stalking on Beinn Damph last week, I went into Shieldaig with Claire and met Mary who smokes the salmons and sells them locally. Claire highly recommended them and she was right, they are absolutely delicious, we now wish we had bought more\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n

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Portree<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Despite it being wet and windy, Thursday morning started very well.\u00a0 Rodney cooked up a big breakfast of black pudding (yum), baked beans, fried cherry tomatoes, hot buttered toast and lovely thick smoky bacon.\u00a0 I sometimes think he\u00a0could have been a chef if he hadn\u2019t chosen to be a sailor.<\/p>\n

With such awful weather and the rain clouds hanging so low, we decided it wasn\u2019t worth driving down to Elgol, because there wouldn\u2019t be any views of the Cuillin Mountains at all.\u00a0 So we drove across to Kyleakin and then back over the Skye Bridge to the mainland.<\/p>\n

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Castle Moil at Kyleakin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

We drove up to Plockton which is the village that was used for filming the TV series \u2018Hamish Macbeth\u2019.\u00a0 We didn\u2019t spot Robert Carlisle, Wee Jock, or even a caf\u00e9 open, so we shook out the wet raincoats and hopped back in to Eileen to continue west.<\/p>\n

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Plockton in the rain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

The next stop was Eilean Donan Castle where we had tea and cake to warm us up before we roamed around the chilly castle.\u00a0 The original, ancient, castle fell down many centuries ago and the current castle was completed in 1932, but it feels old and the setting, across a bridge on to a tiny island at the junction of three lochs, Alsh, Long and Duich, makes it rather extraordinary.\u00a0 I can see why they used it as a setting in \u2018Highlander\u2019, Entrapment\u2019 and the Bond film \u2018 The World Is Not Enough\u2019 and now I want to watch all those movies and see how they used it\u2026.<\/p>\n

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Eilean Donan Castle, Dornie<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Eilean Donan Castle and Loch Alsh<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

After raining all night, we left the campsite late in the morning with the wet stuff still falling from the sky.\u00a0 However, there is one beautiful side effect; the mountains here are now littered with white streaks, as endless streams cascade down their sides.\u00a0 Each waterfall seems to be literally bursting down through narrow crevices and surging over rocks and the rivers that they flow in to, are exploding with huge energy.<\/p>\n

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The Saddle in Glen Shiel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

We stopped so many times along the scenic road through Glen Shiel, just to look up in awe and to try to get one photo that just might be as spectacular as what we were actually seeing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Casading waters in Glen Shiel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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 <\/p>\n

We continued on to Fort William, after a big hot lunch in the Stronlossit Inn in\u00a0Roy Bridge and after stocking up the fridge and cupboards, we settled in for the evening, too full for more than soup for dinner.<\/p>\n

In Scotland, with the wind blowing through you, this country can make you feel very small, but also gives you a real sense of freedom.\u00a0 There is something raw and pure about these beautiful lochs and mountains.\u00a0 The space they fill seems huge, and there always seems to be a need, in the two of us, to drive around each one to see what\u2019s on the other side, or to view the next one.\u00a0 Then, with each village or mountain, loch or coastline, we\u2019re always saying \u201coh, it\u2019s so beautiful, but it\u2019s different again\u201d, yet I can never come up with the words to explain those differences.\u00a0 We have witnessed so much wilderness and habitations, in so many shades and colours that I am lost for all the words I need.\u00a0 We\u2019ll just have to keep looking around each corner and enjoying the moments.<\/p>\n

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Clouds over the peaks of Glen Shiel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We awoke to another dry day; I hope you can imagine how joyful that makes us.\u00a0 Two days in a row and not a drop of rain, yippee!\u00a0 We spent the day driving right round the Totternish Peninsula, the most northern part of Skye.\u00a0 We took the road up the west coast through Uig, Balgown, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1174,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-on-the-road-in-great-britain"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1169"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1169\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8192,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1169\/revisions\/8192"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}