Church ruin, Kilmuir, Isle of Skye, Scotland.
I’ve no idea of the history of this ruin. Though by the looks and condition of it, I wouldn’t imagine it to be more than 200 or so years old, which is relatively new by Skye standards. It’s a big structure, offset from the ‘highway’ by about a half mile or so. Perhaps it simply fell out of use with time and population decline. Now only sheep and cows walk among the walls, and American photographers.
Neist Point Lighthouse, Isle of Skye, Scotland.
What can’t be seen in these photos is the 60-70 mph winds that were screaming over the the island. Near where I was standing for the first photo was a small waterfall, flowing completely in reverse. No water was making it down the cliff, it was all being blown backwards towards were it came, and soaking me as I had to pass by.
If there was bus service to Neist Point, it would probably be the most popular tourist location on Skye, but since it is a fairly long drive from Portree, it’s only the 2nd most popular location. On a nice sunny (and calm) day it is a pleasant place to hike around and enjoy the scenery – some of the most dramatic cliffs on Skye are here. There is a paved walkway most of the way to the lighthouse, but if it has been raining a lot, bring waterproof boots if you want to go further as there is some fairly evil bog that needs to be crossed. The mountains of South Uist are visible in the distance.
Standing Stones of Stenness, Orkney.
The Stenness stones, along with the Ring of Brodgar form part of the UNESCO world heritage site known as ‘the Heart of Neolithic Orkney.’ From Stenness, Brodgar is within eyesight and about a 5 minute walk to the north. The Neolithic chambered cairn, Maeshowe, is also within visible and also a short walk away.
Even though the stones are man made, their age makes the appear as just another element of the Orkadian landscape. Something that is just ‘there’ as you drive by in a car or are looking out the window of a bus. Covered in moss, struck by lightning, and standing among grazing sheep, simply ‘there;’ part of a living land.
Loch Ba and Rannoch Moor on a cold December afternoon. I was given a few moments to photograph the still water, then drop, drop, drop and the return of the rain.
Winter dawn at Ring of Brodgar, Orkney, Scotland.
In December, the sun has little strength to rise very far above the horizon this far in the north. The winter days are short and the nights long, only to be reversed in a few months during the endless days of summer. Such a contrast of light at dark that I never knew growing up at a more mild latitude. No wonder that the sun played such an important role in the lives of the ancient peoples of this barren land.
It is always a strange feeling for me to walk amongst something so old. To think that these stones have seen some 5,000 winters, and will probably see another 5,000 more; it helps to put things in perspective about the importance of our ‘achievements.’
The rugged and rocky coastline at at Elgol with it’s view back towards the mighty Black Cuillins as they rise from Lock Scavaig is one of the more iconic photo locations on the Isle of Skye. As long as one is willing to gamble on good weather, it is well worth the long drive down the winding single lane road.
Snow covered peak on the left is Gars-Bheinn at the start of the famous Cuillin ridge. Sgurr na Stri is the lower, snowless peak towards the center. To the left of that sits Loch Coruisk, another marvelously scenic, and isolated, place and Skye. There is a nice hiking route that starts in the north at Sligachan and passes by loch Coruisk and then around the coast under Sgurr na Stri to Camasunary and eventually finishing here at Elgol.
One of my stupider moments in life happened along the coast under Sgurr na Stri. It had just finished raining ( = slippery rocks), I was trying to eat a piece of chocolate while at the same time messing with my camera to take a picture of Bla Bheinn rising above the Camasunary bothy. Well, I slipped and ended up upside down; nothing bad, just a little ‘oops’ moment. Not wanting to drop my camera on the muddy ground, I couldn’t use my hands to get myself up. And not wanting to drop the piece of chocolate in my mouth that I had been munching on, I couldn’t talk clearly enough to ask my friend to pull on my backpack to help me up. So was upside down with my backpack on top of me and unable to move. Totally stuck, but only because I didn’t want to drop my camera or chocolate. Finally my friend came to the rescue after a moment of wondering if I was practicing some new form of mountain yoga. Luckily there was only two of us to witness this event.
Last week my brother talked me into heading back out into the desert to join a group of people driving the old Mojave road. The road is a 130 mile 4wd dirt road with follows an old Native American trading route and later route of Spanish missionaries through California’s Mojave desert to the shores of the Colorado river on the California – Nevada border.
Kungsleden Trail Hiking Guide