Isle of Skye - Scotland (29 XL Pictures)
karlabbott
Registered Users Posts: 401 Major grins
The Isle of Skye is sometimes referred to as The Misty Isle. True to the moniker, the Isle has extreme weather that leaves it in clouds for a considerable amount of time. The Isle is not the easiest place to get to as it is only accessible by car or ferry from the northern reaches of Scotland. During planning to go to the Isle, my wife and I determined that a car would be absolutely necessary. The next step was determining where to hire a car and how to get to the car hire and back.
We decided to first fly into London and spend a little bit of time there. While in London, we went to the Burlington Arcade on Picadilly:
#1:
One of our primary reasons to go to the Burlington Arcade is macarons at Laduree:
#2:
After we had spent some time in London, we boarded the Caledonian Sleeper towards Inverness:
#3:
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From there, we had a 3.5 hour drive to our cottage on the Northwest part of the island. Here is one of the scenes that we passed on the way in:
#5:
One thing you must know about the Isle of Skye is that the terrain is very diverse and the island is separated into several regions (largely by peninsula): Duirinish, Waternish, Trotternish, Minginish, and Sleat and South Skye. We had almost a week in Skye and decided to visit a different region per day. Our planning was largely influenced by the weather. I had GRPS service on my mobile phone and so we were at least able to load the BBC weather forecast for Portree on a daily basis. (Portree is the largest town on the Isle of Skye and is in Minginish.)
During our first full day on Skye, there was good weather and so we headed to the Trotternish peninsula, which has some of the most unique land features on the island. On this day, we did the Quirang walk, which was quite an experience. On this walk, we went through rain, ice, sun, and winds that were so strong you had to brace yourself at times to keep from blowing over. Walking into those winds was an exercise in endurance as it became increasingly difficult to push forward. Some of the scenes that we saw on this walk:
#6:
#7:
#8:
The next morning, I went out and made a few images around the cottage we were staying at to show what the Duirinish peninsula is like. One thing about this part of Scotland is that you have lots of single track road, in which the road is barely wide enough for one car and you have bi-directional traffic. There are several "passing places" scattered along the track that enable you to safely pass the oncoming traffic. Coupled with the large number of sheep who would often block the road, it was quite the enjoyable driving experience.
#9:
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#12:
Not too long after I made these images, it began to rain -- which is not surprising at all on Skye. We decided to head to the Fairy Pools and Eas Mor which are out in Minginish. When we got to the Fairy Pools, the rain was pouring heavily and non-stop. We didn't actually want to get out of the car, and so we didn't. We headed down to Eas Mor instead (as it was a shorter walk) and we never really found the good view point for this major waterfall. However, the streams coming down from the Eas Mor were very nice:
#13:
After a while, the rain let up and so we headed back to the Fairy Pools. Upon getting a little bit down the trail, we came to an "intermediate burn crossing" (burn being Gaelic for stream). Neither of us felt safe crossing the stream (which was actually the Sligachan River) and so we didn't get to see the Fairy Pools. I was really looking forward to that part of the trip, but here are a few pictures of the valleys of the Cuillin Mountains where we were:
#14:
#15:
Since we didn't get the chance to hike to the Fairy Pools we had some extra time on our hands. With that extra time, we drove to Talisker Bay:
#16:
Getting to Talisker Bay, you pass beautiful terrain with massive waterfalls everywhere. I think I counted at least six major waterfalls just from the car to Talisker Bay (which amounted to about 30 minutes of walking).
The next day the weather was up in the air and we headed for the Waternish peninsula to go see the view from the Cliffs of Score Horan. This walk was not a lot of fun as it went over very marshy, wet terrain, but here are the views we were rewarded with:
#17:
#18:
The rest of the day turned out to be very rainy and we didn't get any more hiking in. The next day was more of the same. We did drive into Portree to pick up some groceries, but the rain continued all day.
The weather forecast for our last full day on Skye was shaping up very nicely. As this would be our last full day, we filled the schedule and the morning started for us at 4:45am to catch the sunrise out at Neist Point. One thing that makes Neist Point difficult at sunrise is that it is one of the windiest places you can go on Skye and wind and long exposure photography don't mix.
Ensuring that your gear is behind the rocks as much as possible can help quite a bit:
#19:
#20:
After this, we had some breakfast and then headed back to the Trotternish to hike up to the Old Man of Storr. Here are the images from on the way up:
#21:
#22:
Here is the view from the base of the Old Man of Storr:
#23:
And coming back down through the forest (which if you look carefully at the previous picture, you can see on the bottom left):
#24:
We then headed up to Kilt Rock and unfortunately, without hiking out to Brother's point, there isn't a real good view of this impressive sea side waterfall.
After that, we headed to where the Lealt River falls out into the ocean at Inver Tote. From the car park and the easy path you couldn't see a whole lot of the waterfalls that are down in the gorge at this area. I hiked the very steep hike down into the gorge and I must say that the lower falls is quite beautiful:
#25:
Later that evening, we went to Elgol, which is in South Skye. The drive to Elgol is a very long drive down single track roads that wind back and forth through some breathtaking country side. This particular night did not bring a lot of sunset light to Elgol, but here is what I was able to see:
#26:
#27:
#28:
That was a very long day that didn't see us getting back to the cottage until 11:30pm. The next day, we had to drive back to Inverness to catch the Sleeper back to London. On the way back, we did stop at Eilean Donan castle in Dornie:
#29:
We decided to first fly into London and spend a little bit of time there. While in London, we went to the Burlington Arcade on Picadilly:
#1:
One of our primary reasons to go to the Burlington Arcade is macarons at Laduree:
#2:
After we had spent some time in London, we boarded the Caledonian Sleeper towards Inverness:
#3:
#4:
From there, we had a 3.5 hour drive to our cottage on the Northwest part of the island. Here is one of the scenes that we passed on the way in:
#5:
One thing you must know about the Isle of Skye is that the terrain is very diverse and the island is separated into several regions (largely by peninsula): Duirinish, Waternish, Trotternish, Minginish, and Sleat and South Skye. We had almost a week in Skye and decided to visit a different region per day. Our planning was largely influenced by the weather. I had GRPS service on my mobile phone and so we were at least able to load the BBC weather forecast for Portree on a daily basis. (Portree is the largest town on the Isle of Skye and is in Minginish.)
During our first full day on Skye, there was good weather and so we headed to the Trotternish peninsula, which has some of the most unique land features on the island. On this day, we did the Quirang walk, which was quite an experience. On this walk, we went through rain, ice, sun, and winds that were so strong you had to brace yourself at times to keep from blowing over. Walking into those winds was an exercise in endurance as it became increasingly difficult to push forward. Some of the scenes that we saw on this walk:
#6:
#7:
#8:
The next morning, I went out and made a few images around the cottage we were staying at to show what the Duirinish peninsula is like. One thing about this part of Scotland is that you have lots of single track road, in which the road is barely wide enough for one car and you have bi-directional traffic. There are several "passing places" scattered along the track that enable you to safely pass the oncoming traffic. Coupled with the large number of sheep who would often block the road, it was quite the enjoyable driving experience.
#9:
#10:
#11:
#12:
Not too long after I made these images, it began to rain -- which is not surprising at all on Skye. We decided to head to the Fairy Pools and Eas Mor which are out in Minginish. When we got to the Fairy Pools, the rain was pouring heavily and non-stop. We didn't actually want to get out of the car, and so we didn't. We headed down to Eas Mor instead (as it was a shorter walk) and we never really found the good view point for this major waterfall. However, the streams coming down from the Eas Mor were very nice:
#13:
After a while, the rain let up and so we headed back to the Fairy Pools. Upon getting a little bit down the trail, we came to an "intermediate burn crossing" (burn being Gaelic for stream). Neither of us felt safe crossing the stream (which was actually the Sligachan River) and so we didn't get to see the Fairy Pools. I was really looking forward to that part of the trip, but here are a few pictures of the valleys of the Cuillin Mountains where we were:
#14:
#15:
Since we didn't get the chance to hike to the Fairy Pools we had some extra time on our hands. With that extra time, we drove to Talisker Bay:
#16:
Getting to Talisker Bay, you pass beautiful terrain with massive waterfalls everywhere. I think I counted at least six major waterfalls just from the car to Talisker Bay (which amounted to about 30 minutes of walking).
The next day the weather was up in the air and we headed for the Waternish peninsula to go see the view from the Cliffs of Score Horan. This walk was not a lot of fun as it went over very marshy, wet terrain, but here are the views we were rewarded with:
#17:
#18:
The rest of the day turned out to be very rainy and we didn't get any more hiking in. The next day was more of the same. We did drive into Portree to pick up some groceries, but the rain continued all day.
The weather forecast for our last full day on Skye was shaping up very nicely. As this would be our last full day, we filled the schedule and the morning started for us at 4:45am to catch the sunrise out at Neist Point. One thing that makes Neist Point difficult at sunrise is that it is one of the windiest places you can go on Skye and wind and long exposure photography don't mix.
Ensuring that your gear is behind the rocks as much as possible can help quite a bit:
#19:
#20:
After this, we had some breakfast and then headed back to the Trotternish to hike up to the Old Man of Storr. Here are the images from on the way up:
#21:
#22:
Here is the view from the base of the Old Man of Storr:
#23:
And coming back down through the forest (which if you look carefully at the previous picture, you can see on the bottom left):
#24:
We then headed up to Kilt Rock and unfortunately, without hiking out to Brother's point, there isn't a real good view of this impressive sea side waterfall.
After that, we headed to where the Lealt River falls out into the ocean at Inver Tote. From the car park and the easy path you couldn't see a whole lot of the waterfalls that are down in the gorge at this area. I hiked the very steep hike down into the gorge and I must say that the lower falls is quite beautiful:
#25:
Later that evening, we went to Elgol, which is in South Skye. The drive to Elgol is a very long drive down single track roads that wind back and forth through some breathtaking country side. This particular night did not bring a lot of sunset light to Elgol, but here is what I was able to see:
#26:
#27:
#28:
That was a very long day that didn't see us getting back to the cottage until 11:30pm. The next day, we had to drive back to Inverness to catch the Sleeper back to London. On the way back, we did stop at Eilean Donan castle in Dornie:
#29:
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Comments
If you are interested in seeing more of my pictures from Skye, please go to:http://www.kabbottphoto.com/Landscapes-and-Nature/UK-Scotland/Isle-of-Skye-April-2011/
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A great set of photos! You did amazingly well to cover so much of the island in the short time you were there. Thank you for bringing back some great memories.
Back in 2000-2002 I lived there for a while it was an amazing experience. Unless you actually see the brilliance of the 'green-ness' it's hard to appreciate just how bright and lush it is in spring.
While I was there most pics were taken using a Nikon 990 or 995, I can't remember and some with a 5700 which I thought was just brilliant at the time!! http://www.carolineshipsey.co.uk/Places/Isle-of-Skye Apologies for including a link in your thread but you might find some familiar places to compare with.
Congratulations again on a beautiful set
Caroline
www.carolineshipsey.co.uk - Follow me on G+
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I'm being pulled by island destinations (in the North Atlantic, no less), and you've just added another must visit place for me.
--- Denise
Musings & ramblings at https://denisegoldberg.blogspot.com
Thanks for your comments -- I think that the Quirang may be one of the best hikes I've ever done too. It's between that and the Storr.
Schmoo -- I would love to see your take on Skye! It was truly like no place I'd ever visited before and I'm definitely inclined to figure out a way to go back. One thing that we noticed coming in is that not every area was green at this time of year (early April). There were several brown areas mixed in with the green. That said, the landscapes are still just amazing and pictures don't really do the area justice.
Thank you -- Scotland is, sadly, not my country. I would definitely recommend a visit!
Thank you, Caroline -- I don't mind that you linked your photos. I would love to figure out how to live there for two years. Sounds like and looks like an excellent time! Skye is definitely a place that stays with you.
Thanks
Thanks, Denise -- there are certainly lots of islands worth checking out in the North Atlantic. Skye has such dramatic landscapes that it won me over in terms of picking where to go next. One place that I didn't get to explore is the Isle of Raasay, which is a quick ferry ride from the Isle of Skye. If we had more time, that would have been on the must do list. Also, across the Minch you have more of the Outer Hebrides and I'm sure there is a lot of nice stuff to see there too. Skye would make a good base for exploring the Western Isles of Scotland.
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Andyw
My site 365 Project
Natural selection is responsible for every living thing that exists.
D3s, D500, D5300, and way more glass than the wife knows about.
And thank you for your comment!
You're welcome -- Skye is definitely worth having on that list
Sounds like a lot of fun -- it is definitely the type of place that stays with you.
Haha -- Yeah, I must be mad. We drove by the Talisker Distillery in Carbost and I had some Talisker 18 at one of my meals, but no, we didn't tour the distillery. Too much other stuff to see and do for having a limited amount of time. That said, if I go back, it's on the list.
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I want to go there.
Ana
SmugMug Support Hero Manager
My website: anapogacar.smugmug.com
Thank you, Ana! It's definitely worth the time and effort to go to Skye
Thank you, Nasser! It's a decent drive down to Elgol from the main road, but the scenery is absolutely worth it!
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Well done!!! Well done, indeed!
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Thank you! Those thing are so tasty, I wish you could get them in the States. As it stands, right now neither Laduree or Pierre Herme have locations over here.
Thank you! Indeed, Skye is a truly magical place. It's hard to capture the full essence of Skye with photography as the landscape is so varied. That's a good thing though
I had the Talisker 18 while over there and liked it quite a bit -- it is potent, though!
http://www.kabbottphoto.com/
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Twitter: @kabbottphoto
Thanks for your comment -- I often find my mind wandering back to my time on Skye. I honestly think that this trip may have been the best I've taken to date. Skye is truly an exceptional place!
http://www.kabbottphoto.com/
http://blog.kabbottphoto.com/
Twitter: @kabbottphoto