11:18pm Cuil Lodge B&B, Uig
If the rest of the trip is a complete bust, today's achievements would be enough to make the trip a success… The weather forecast for today was looking to be the best day of our time on Skye: Partly cloudy in the morning with small chance of rain, some showers in the early afternoon, and clear skies for the afternoon/evening. I lined up a short morning hike to Oronsay Island, to be followed by "one of the best hikes in the world" (according to me), the Quirang, in the late afternoon. I was up at 6:30am, with a solid 7.5hrs of sleep. Wendy got up with the 7:30am alarm, and we had the car packed by 8am breakfast for a quick start. I took some pics of Dunvegan Castle before we departed.
Another tasty breakfast (same menu as yesterday morning). A zoomed in shot of Dunraven Castle before we departed. Very Mario-esque with the flag pole and boxy trim...
In ~20 minutes we reached the trailhead in Ullinish to begin our walk to the Island of Oronsay. Yes, we could walk to this island because during low tide, there is a causeway linking the island to the mainland. Low tide was 9:40am today, and we started our hike ~9:20am. The causeway disappears a couple of hours each side of high tide, so we would have plenty of time to complete the 3 mile hike.
The weather was splendid this morning so far, but just as we started, some brief rain appeared. Roosters cock-a-doodled from the farmhouse at the trailhead, as we entered some cattle/sheep grazing land at the start of the hike.
We parked in the "overflow" parking lot accidently, which added .5km each way (1st pic). We soon reached a cattle grazing field...
Animals are always a plus on a hike. The cows and sheep entertained us, and in no time we were staring at the dry land bridge to Oronsay.
The Black Culliens were in view to the south...
MacLoed's Tables were to the north...
This is a cropped shot from the above pic, showing an arch in the rock...
Oronsay Island lies straight ahead. Plenty of sheep in the grass lands...
The sun was in and out of the clouds today...
Following the trail to the land bridge. Impressive cliffs to the south. More sheep...
Descending down to the causeway to Oronsay Island...
It was 10 minutes past low tide, and the causeway was very broad and dry. During high tide, this land bridge is submerged. So can't dilly-dally too long on the island...
A white sand beach exists here during low tide...
Two Wendy's appear in this stitched pic, which looks back towards the mainland, after we reached the island...
A green closely trimmed carpet of grass acted as the trail up the gentle slopes of Oronsay. The island is shaped like a wedge, with sheer cliffs on the thick end.
The cliffs to the right were very dramatic! Wendy went ahead while I stayed back for pics...
Wendy looks back at me along the cliffs...
1st pic: Wendy near a cliff. 2nd pic: Me near a cliff...
The view from the end of the island, looking out to the open sea...
We hung out for awhile, and I was waiting for the sun to come out, when we spotted a rainbow. We rushed to the cliffs for a better look. I was about to setup the tripod for a group shot of us, when Wendy yelled out, "Another rainbow!". This rainbow was the closest I had ever seen. And soon I realized a rain swell was about to land on us. We covered up, and waited for 5-10 minutes while the rain passed through. Then I set up the tripod for a group pic.
Oronsay is a great island to explore. Soon we saw a storm coming at us, and we covered up my backpack...
We turned our backs against the storm, and waited out the rain. Looking down at the island, with the causeway to the mainland on the left. Lots of sheep (white dots) below...
After the rain passed, I set up the tripod for a pic. We had the island to ourself today...
A look back at the cliffs during the descent...
I hung out a little more with the camera, while Wendy went back to hang out with the sheep. When I descended, I saw Wendy below, herding a group of sheep up the mountain.
Descending down the north coast...
Below I could see Wendy herding the sheep up the hills...
I realized our B&B in 3 days was one of the white houses across the bay (nearest house above Wendy to be exact). I wondered what the views of the island would be from there...
Wendy takes a pic of me, with the sun finally out again...
We returned via the same path, with a wee bit of rain appearing at the end of the hike ("wee" is used a lot in Scotland). Then we drove to Portree, the largest town on Skye, and hung out in town for an hour to kill some time between hikes, and get some soup from a local bakery. It rained on and off the entire time. We were particularly entertained by a large group of grade school student, dressed up like Hogwarts, who were on lunch break in town. Guess the Harry Potter uniforms are close to real life.
Some pics from Portree...
We enjoyed seeing & hearing the students during their lunch break. They were dressed like Hogwarts, and we some with "prefect" jackets on...
~1:40pm, we drove north along the coast, stopping at some of the sights, and killing more time before the Quirang hike. The skies were still dropping rain intermittently, and I knew better weather would await us later in the afternoon.
There was better weather further up the coast. These warped grassy slopes are signature Trotternish character...
Notice the white specks on the grass slopes. Sheep out there...
Ruins of an old village could be seen below...
There were lots more tourists on the roads than I had expected for a Wednesday in mid Sept. But then again, Portree is the main town, and the Trotternish Peninsula is probably the highlight of Skye, so anyone visiting the island for a day or 2 would likely focus on this area.
Heading north towards Staffin for the turn off to the Quirang. More beautiful coastline from the car...
To be continued...
A hint of things to come....