A Rainy Drive to Skye

Today we left Ullapool after a late breakfast, usually we have breakfast earlier than 8:00AM but that was when they started serving breakfast.  That meant I got to sleep in till 7:00AM.  After breakfast we loaded up the car for the three hour drive down to Portree in Skye making a couple photo stops along the way.

View of Castle Strome (Cell Phone)

We took the more direct route down to Skye, rather than the scenic route so the drive only took about 2 hours. Our first photo stop was along A890 at an overlook that had a view of Castle Strome over Loch Carron.  Our second photo stop was at Eilean Donan castle, where it was raining.  I was glad I had a raincoat and water resistant pants. That castle required tickets to go into but had a visitor center and gift shop that did not require tickets.  We took some photos from the outside and got some items at the gift shop.  I got a large bead charm made from heather (the flower).  From there we crossed over the bridge to Skye.  There are some lovely views from the ends of the bridge, but we did not stop due to the rain, just continued on our way to the hotel. After checking in, we got lunch.  In hindsight we should have gotten lunch before entering Portree because there are very few locations to park, the road through the center of town in horribly congested due to people parking wherever they want,  and the food selection is limited.  There are times I just wish there was a McDonald's around to grab something quick.

Eilean Donan castle (Cell Phone)

Kilt Rock and water fall (cell phone)

After managing to grab a late lunch we drove up east side of Skye to Kilt Rock and Mealt Falls.  Kilt Rock was not what I was expecting, I thought it would be a rock in the center of the water, it is only a cliff face.  The waterfall is hard to see from the viewing area because it is on the side of the cliff face and you almost need to hang over the protective railing to get a good view of the falls.  From there we traveled back down the road to Leat Falls.  When you pull off you don’t see the waterfall at first, what you see is a path out to the cliff edge.  If you walk the path it takes you to a viewing area where you can look at cliffs and a beach.  On the way back you see the falls because it nestled into bend in the cliff face you don’t see walking out.  It was a nice waterfall.  From there we traveled a bit further down the road to see the Old Man of Storr rock formation.  

The Old Man of Storr is a pointy rock separated from the cliff face.  There is an uphill path with several switchbacks that gets you fairly close to it, and if you want to get closer there is very steep muddy path, that you might need to be a mountain goat to use,  that leads you further up a large hill for closer views.  I stopped at the bottom of the muddy path; my husband, who I believe is part mountain goat, went up the steep muddy path.  The photography video we watched before the trip, stated it took about 30 minutes to go up the path to see the Old Man of Storr, I think he lied.  It took us 30 - 45 minutes just to get to the muddy path.  I do believe I got some good pictures of the Old Man of Storr even if the light was playing peek-a-boo with the clouds after the rain finished pushing through.  That basically ended our day.   

Tomorrow we should be heading out the fairy pools and some standing stones.