Old men and no monsters
On Sunday we had booked into a Camping and Caravanning Club site at the end of Skye so decided to go for a walk first. We drove through Portree and up to the parking for the walk up to the Old Man of Storr, probably the most famous walk on the Island - and probably the busiest! The Storr is a rocky hill on the Trotternish peninsular overlooking the Sound of Raasay, which was created by a massive ancient landslide. It is a lovely walk which only takes about an hour and a half, so we took a picnic and sat and enjoyed the fantastic views.
We then continued to the campsite with a brief stop at the Skye brewery to buy a few local beers. The campsite had a lovely position overlooking the Loch so once we were settled we took the dogs for a quick walk along the beach of Loch Greshornish.
The next day we decided that the dogs needed a rest so we had a lovely cycle around the loch and then ventured off road. The route proved quite a challenge and we had to push the bikes up a hill through quite a lot of braken. But our efforts were rewarded at the end as we stood and watched two eagles flying quite near us. We then continued our cycle back, with a quick stop at the local pottery, and got the bikes back on Vincent and the kettle boiling before the rain came.
The rain and stong winds continued all night and during our drive off the island the next day. We were quite pleased to be driving inland for our next stop at a village called Drumnadrochit on the edge of Loch Ness. The site was part of a farm that also ran a livery yard and although it was next to a busy road there was a lot of space and great walks/cycles near by. That evening we took the dogs for a walk up to the Divach falls, which were not that impressive, and then to a view point on Craig Monie in the Balmacaan woods. The rain had stopped but I am sure the view would have been amazing on a clear day. The woods had been owned by Balmacaan House, which is now derelict, but must have had an amazing garden. The Redwood trees were huge!
On Wednesday, we woke to a beautiful morning so after a quick walk down to the Loch to look for the monster, we decided that we had to cycle some of the Great Glen Way.
After a bit of research we decided that the southern route to Invermoriston, about 13 miles, should be possible. The ride proved to be much harder than we anticipated but as the sun was shining the views were amazing so well worth the hard climbs. We did have to walk occasionally but overall we cycled up 1000 metres in a round trip of 26 1/2 miles.
Today we left Loch Ness and drove to a small farm on the edge of Loch Creran, south of Fort William. Onthe way stopped at a lovely cafe, for lunch, which overlooked an island with a tiny castle: Castle Stalker.
Once we had settled in we walked round the Loch. The scenery was beautiful and we were lucky to see a huge flock of geese fly overhead.
The walk proved to be a bit longer than planned but luckily the sunset tonight has made it worthwhile.
