September 21 - Isle of Skye - Rainbows, Waterfalls, and, Yes, Cows

Skye's Suicidal Sheep

Old Man of Storr (taken at a different time )

Woke at 6:00 am to partly cloudy skies. Clouds were a little thick to the east but we decided to head to the formation called the "Old Man of Storr" in hopes of getting some sunrise photos.  When we arrived there, it didn't look too promising so we went to an area overlooking the Kilt Cliffs.  There we discovered a waterfall that falls directly over the cliffs and into the Sound of Skye.  Munching away, right on the cliff, were a couple of, what our B&B proprietor refers to as "suicidal sheep".  I knew goats were nimble and sure-footed creatures but I didn't think sheep had that a ability as well.  By the way, sheep are EVERYWHERE.

Another View of the Quiraing

The Magical Quiraing

After snapping a few photos of the crazy creatures, we decided to go inland to a geologic feature called the Quiraing, consisting of an area of volcanic rock and harder underlying granite that has been uplifted and then eroded to created these scarps that are now covered in vividly green moss and ferns.  We managed to catch just the tail end of the good sunrise light and spent an hour or so thereafter, taking photos of the lush, emerald green landscape. 

Food cart near the Quiraing

When the generator for the foodcart at the top of the pass started up (and we thought Portland was serious about foodcarts) we decided to take another tour around Trotternish Penninsula to see how how the landscape looked in morning light.

During the tour, we found many more sheep and lo and behold, I found an elusive Highland cow munching on grass along the roadside and who was quite willing to have his/her photo taken.  This photo is for Aleta!

Also, for the fifth consecutive day I've seen rainbows in this country.  When living in Colorado I frequently saw rainbows in the summer afternoons after the thunderstorms rolled through.  But here, I am seeing them daily and often multiple times of day.  This only further lends to the mystique that has caused many to call Skye "the Isle of Mist".

We trekked our way back to Spoons at this point for a BIG breakfast and had an interesting conversation with the Proprietor, Marie, over breakfast of eggs and smoked salmon, sausage, black pudding (tried it, at least, it is not half bad) crepes Suzette, granola, French press coffee, and juice.  Marie was born on an isolated part of the mainland near the western coast of Scotland and didn't have electricity or plumbing until the age 12.  On Sundays, the families took the boat to Tobermory, on the Isle of Rum, as it was the closest Catholic church.  After marriage, she and Ian managed a Scottish Island and its resort owned by a single family.  For six months it was just her, Ian, and their two boys, who were home-schooled.  The other six months they catered to wealthy vacationers.  This life too was very rustic.  After 12 years they decided to, "grow up", Marie says, (meaning, start saving for a pension) and moved to Skye which, to her, feels like suburbia, and start up the B&B. 

We chatted with Marie about our plans and she was full of good ideas and proceeded to make the necessary arrangements and reservations for our various activities.  We also learned that she had a last minute cancellation for Sunday night so we decided, with so much to see and our enjoying the island so much, we would stay another night rather than drive to Inverness.  Sorry to the folks who were hoping that we might get to a glimpse of the Loch Ness montster!

View from Distillery

After breakfast we cleaned up a little and headed out to first do a little souvenir/gift shopping and then headed over to Talisker Distillery, the only distillery on Skye, set in southwestern Scotland, known for its extremely peaty single-malt whiskey, and, consequently, my Dad's favorite.  As it seems to be the case for most distilleries it is settled next to water, in this case, the Loch Harbort, with the Cuillin mountains in the background.  A very scenic setting.  Thought, of, you, Dad, a lot when we toured the grounds.

Fairy ponds hike has falls . . .

. . . after falls

From Talisker we headed on over to the Cuillin Hills (they look more like mountains to me) to partake in a most unique hike, down in southwestern Skye on the Mingnish peninsula.  Being from Oregon, I'm use to seeing waterfalls in wooded valleys along steep cliffs (think the Columbian River Gorge).  In Scotland waterfalls are present everywhere but in a different topography,  Of course there are steep drop-offs for the waterfalls themselves but the adjacent land appears, from a distance smooth, no trees, just a lot of low-lying vegetation.

. . . after falls

 . . . after falls . . .

This hike is called the "Fairy Pools" trail where you walk along Mhadaidh Stream which flows from a cirque nestled within the Cuillin mountains.  The stream has managed to cut through the glacial moraine and and into the underlying granite and gabbro to create series of falls and pools where visitors and, according to our guidebook, "intrepid fairies" may bathe.  There is even an underwater arch where we saw a German couple donne wet suits in order to swim under the arch.  That would be quite the bucket list item!

Underwater Arch

Throughout the hike we had partly sunny skies and then an isolated, but ominous-looking, storm moved in over the Cuillins.  However, by the time we got back to the car the sun was out again giving us, yet again, another rainbow.

From there we drove back up north to the Trotternish peninsula, after waiting in line at a petrol station in Portree to fill up the gas tank, we drove through the Quiraing again to be rewarded by more moody weather, interesting light, and yet another rainbow. 

By that time it was getting close to 6:30 so we headed over to Glenview Restaurant, near the crofting village of Staffin on the eastern coast, where we had dinner reservations.  The dinner, set in an intimate dining area, (like the Three Chimneys where we ate the night before, no more than 10 tables) consisted of a wild rabbit soup, mutton pastry appetizer for Rick, a salmon ceviche appetizer for me, and something akin to pork sauerbraten, as the main meal, was all very good.  For dessert we had something called Scottish tablet, which is made from evaporated milk and brown sugar and is very similar to maple sugar.  Yum, yum, yum.

A note about dining.  In nice restaurants you must ask for the check; it is considered rude to bring it to the guests prior to their requesting it.  Wish we had known that.  We sat waiting for a good deal of time in many restaurants before finally asking for the check.  Also, you are asked if you would like to wait or have dinner settle before they bring you the dessert menu.  Again, the dessert menu won't be brought to you before you ask for it.

We then headed back to our little B&B, but not before we got lost, again.  Marie greeted us and inquired about our day which we discussed briefly before falling into bed.