Highlands Day 3 (8/29)

After a hearty breakfast at our hotel we got into the car and headed out of Portree to visit a handful of attractions found on the Trottentish Loop around the northern headland of the island. The first was a solid hike to see the Old Man of Storr and Needle Rock. The drive there was wet and grey, which proved to be a portent for the rest of our adventures on the day. We started up the ‘moderate’ hike, into a stiff breeze and spitting rain. The hike was a little less technical than the assent of Arthur’s Seat, but still reasonably hard. It had a few steep assents, but also offered solid views of the surrounding hills, at least when the clouds cooperated. We made it up to the Old Man and Needle Rock, then attempted a small summit a bit further down the trail. Of course, as soon as we reached it, and were fully exposed on the rocky hilltop, we were hit with the hardest rain and strongest wind we’d dealt with yet on the trip, so we didn’t linger. We made our way back down to the car so we could head to the next stops on the day’s list. Fortunately for us, the rain mostly let up, so we were able to at least get started drying out in the stiff breeze as we hiked the almost 2 miles back to the car.

The rest of the day was pretty similar, we’d drive for a bit, then hop out and explore a bit. The other places we got to check off the list included:

- Lealt Falls

- Mealt Falls

- Kilt Rock

- An Corran (aka Dinosaur) Beach

- the nastiest single track drive into Uig via Quirang

- Fairy Glenn

We made it back to Portree from this loop of stops in the mid-afternoon, and Kari went into town to explore and shop while I took some time to catalog the adventure and relax in the hotel room. That night, dinner was in the hotel restaurant (I had venison, Kari had the duck, both tasty), and we settled in earlier, definitely having earned a good night’s sleep after the days’ adventure. Tomorrow, back to the mainland!