Today was a big day with three places on the agenda but it ended up getting expanded to a lot more. We took in all the stunning scenery and did a lot of steps in constantly changing weather (rain, sun, clouds, wind). The plan was to visit:
- Old Man of Storr
- Quiraing
- Fairy Pools
The weather forecast called for moderate chances of rain in the morning and early afternoon with the rain getting heavier and more consistent in the late afternoon.
We started a bit later than we were planning and the drive to Old Man of Storr took a bit longer than we thought, so by the time we reached the place, we found the parking lot to be absolutely full with cars in front of us still waiting for a place to park in. We slowly went through the lot without getting a free parking spot, so we circled back and entered the lot again. This time, we were lucky to see somebody pulling out of their spot, so we quickly took it.
But, right from the parking lot, we looked up at the tiny figures trekking up to get nearer to the OMoS and realized that it would be foolish to attempt it ourselves. I didn't think that we couldn't do it physically but it would just take a really long time and it would eat into our program for the rest of the day. We climbed up a short distance and reached a fork. At that moment, I heard a guide for a tour bus tell his group that the the trail on the left was the easier and shorter one and you could still get a very good view of OMoS from it. So, we decided to take that trail and walked for about 10 min till we got a good view and some nice pics. By this time, the sun, the clouds, the wind and the rain were all playing hide and seek and the view of the mountains as well as OMoS was partially obscured by low clouds /mist. The whole place still looked magical and it was a great start to the rest of our day. Since we had earmarked about 2 hours for this place but ended up finishing it in about 45 min, we had more time on our hands, so we decided to not hurry but stop at any scenic viewpoints and take in the stunning landscape/scenery.
We ended up stopping at 3-4 places where the views were so breathtaking, it's very difficult to adequately describe in words or by photos. The near vertical cliffs, the waterfalls, the clouds and mist, the mountains, everything combined to create a truly unforgettable experience.
The next big place we visited was called Quiraing. Again, it was a bit difficult to find a parking spot but we goe one after a short wait. And, like OMoS, when we saw where people were hiking and how small / high they were, we realized that we should not be attempting a strenuous and time-consuming hike and instead spend the time judiciously and get as many good pics as possible closer to the parking lot. So, we walked on one of the trails for about 15 min and saw more amazing views from an altitude of about 850ft above sea level.
The final stop was a place called Fairy Pools which was supposed to be the shortest and easiest hike according to Claude. It was also, the longest drive for us (from Quiraing to Fairy Pools), so we decided to stop for a quick coffee/tea and restroom break at a random restaurant on the way. We were pleasantly surprised to see that they also had oat milk available. After finishing the tea/coffee, we walked to a nearby stone bridge where there's a legend that if you dunk your face in the river for 7 seconds or more and then let your face air dry (no towels!), you will gain eternal beauty. Obviously, I didn't need to dunk my face because it's not possible for me to get any more handsome! Anyway, we watched with amusement while a lot of crazy people actually dunked their faces in the cold water! After a few minutes of that, we resumed our drive to the Fairy Pools. Parking was less of a problem here but the weather was beginning to look quite threatening with fierce winds and rain threatening to start pouring any minute.
We wore our raincoats and headed down the trail to the Fairy Pools. We could see the trail stretch in front of us for a long distance but we decided that we have to do at least one of them. This trail started off heading downward, so we felt less daunted by it, I guess. There was a very nice cascade of waterfalls right at the beginning of the trail and then you had to walk along the river for about 20-25 min to get to a gorge where there were more small waterfalls and rapids. The river itself was nevre more than about 10-15 ft in width, so it was more like a big stream than a proper river.
The wind was gusting quite heavily by now and our raincoats were flying around all over the place! Climbing back up to the trailhead was even more difficult with the wind and the rain but we finally made it back to the car just as the rain started really coming down.
A lot of the roads on the Isle of Skye are literally single-lane by which I mean a single lane for both directions of traffic. Every 100m or so, they have these things called Passing Places where they widen the road just a bit, so you can pull over and let an oncoming driver pass by. If traffic is heavy in one direction, this passing place is sometimes not enough, so traffic can get bogged down. Things can get confusing with one driver waiting for another or two drivers thinking that the other driver will wait at a passing place.
It was a bit slow going on the way back from Fairy Pools and we came back to the same place where we saw people dunk their faces in a river. Sahana found that there was a Mexican restaurant nearby that had vegan tacos on the menu. We followed the directions on Google Maps and found ourselves in a huge campground and no sign of a restaurant. After a while, we realized that it was just a food truck affair and the guys running it had not yet opened the food truck but were planning to within the next 10-15 min. So, we waited in the campground and just chatted till they opened and were ready to take orders. We ordered some tortilla chips and vegan tacos (no beans, only shredded tofu, some mexican sauce, jalapenos and pickled onions). We were hungry so it tasted good.
We started the drive back to Broadford and again stopped at various points along the way whenever we saw something scenic. We dropped Rashmi off in her hostel and then drove to a co-op (supermarket) near our Airbnb to buy some bananas. We returned to the hotel and crashed out for the night.
No comments:
Post a Comment