Some different views of Skye
Everyone's seen the Cuillin, so how about a gentle walk up Storr in the North of the island. It's a bit windy, so keep your coat fastened, or this may happen:
On the way up, you pass the Old man of Storr, a pinnacle of rapidly eroding rock (well something is shedding the small pebbles which the wind is firing at you).
At the top, the wind has picked up a bit, in fact it's picked up quite a lot - sufficient to blow the streams of water back up a vertical cliff, and make walking almost impossible (we were all stationary when this picture was taken, and I've not tilted the camera, or anything silly):
My red & white bobble hat was ripped off my head during this escapade, and was last seen spiralling skywards. I don't think anyone else shared my sense of loss - in fact they seemed to regard it as something of a plus point. Carefully controlled research (i.e. chatting to an RAF auxiliary in the pub afterwards) revealed that the RAF mountain rescue helicopter had been grounded due to 70 mph winds at sea level. (We were at 1500 feet, or so). The same auxiliary asked us if we had seen anything unusual on our travels, specifically a large aluminium box. Further conversation, and a few more beers later, and all is revealed - the helicopter flew when it shouldn't have, and whilst it was battling through cross winds, something inside that should have been tied down slid out of the door that should have been shut, and nobody saw it go. Line search starting tomorrow morning.....
Oh, alright then, let's have some pictures of the Cuillin:
The scrambling is excellent... (This is us escaping from somewhere we shouldn't have been.)
The best view (in my opinion) of the Cuillin is to be had from Elgol, or even better, on the boat journey from Elgol to Loch Coruisk (this is the loch in the centre of the Cuillin 'crater'). This journey has the added bonus of seeing the seals (at the right time of year) that bask near the outflow from the loch.
The (ever-changing) weather has a dramatic effect on the scenery.
Most of the Black Cuillin ridge, with Sgurr Nan Gillean on the far right.
Even if you get sick of looking at mountains, the rest of the scenery is stunning. This is the tip of Soay (bottom centre), Canna (centre) and Barra and South Uist on the horizon (taken from Sgurr Dubh an Da Bheinn - I think).
Copyright Andy Gray, 1996 / Revised 6th October 1999 /
andy@misterg.fsnet.co.uk