Après-Skye…
A week marked by capricious weather and a storm that “forced” us to revise our itinerary a little and spend more time on the Isle of Skye (ooohhh! the poor things!… 😜). We were able to see the most beautiful place we have seen so far in Scotland, before leaving the island and going a little further north, between mountains and small fjords…
General statistics of the adventure so far…
Total Distance (km)
Gasoil (L)
Countries Visited
6.210 km
1.005,94 L
3
By the sea…
1/06/2025 – Glenroy -> Loch Hourn (Kyle)
After two evenings watching black grouse just a stone’s throw from Marvin, and finding ourselves surrounded by a herd of about twenty deer, we left our “paradise on earth” to head closer to the Isle of Skye. We’re trying to plan around the weather again, because another storm is forecast for tomorrow night, and this one is expected to be strong (with winds over 100 km/h). On the way, we passed by Mountainview, our second property in Scotland, still with the Highland Titles association. Suffice it to say, this plot has much more potential for a chalet, and what’s more, the forest is full of deer! 😍
Then we headed to Loch Hourn, where we settled on a beautiful promontory, with an incredible view of the Isle of Skye on one side, the immense fjord, and the island of Eigg and the “Small Isles” of the Hebrides on the horizon. From there, we watched the rain showers pass over the fjord (and some over us too) and the moments of sunshine following the rhythm of the wind, which was already starting to strengthen. The ideal spot before heading for shelter before tomorrow night…
Sheltered…
2/06/2025 – Loch Hourn (Kyle) -> Loch a Ghlinne Bhig
Normally, in the event of a storm, we try to take refuge in a forest, where the trees protect from the wind and prevent Marvin from rolling more than a drifting sailboat… However, one of the peculiarities of Scotland (and the United Kingdom in general) is that everything here is private… And in Scotland, especially the forests, which are carefully barricaded behind fences and metal gates (as in Ireland, almost all of Scotland’s natural forests have been decimated, and all that remains are extremely dense plantations of fir trees imported from the United States and exploited for commercial purposes…). So, after visiting Eilean Donan Castle, perched on its small island at the confluence of three lochs, we ran four errands, officially entered the Isle of Skye, and settled in on the edge of a forest, behind a raised platform, hoping that between the screening effect of the trees and that raised platform, we’d manage to achieve a minimum of stability despite the forecast winds (only 95 km/h, according to the latest update)…
Sky or clouds?
3/06/2025 – Loch a Ghlinne Bhig -> Cuidrach
Contrary to what one might think, the name of the Isle of Skye doesn’t come from a misspelling of the word “sky”, but apparently from Norse (the language spoken by the Vikings, more or less common throughout Scandinavia), and it means “mist” or “clouds.” The Isle of Skye would therefore be “the island of clouds,” which, poetic aside, matches quite well what we’ve been experiencing since our arrival here. The worst of the storm has passed, and after yesterday’s heavy rain, the wind should return to something more “normal” (50-70 km/h) during the night. Today, we still braved the elements to drive around the westernmost tip of the island, all the way to the village of Glendale. It’s hard to describe this feeling of being at the end of the world (even more so than in the north of Norway), with this small village of about twenty houses, located at the end of a peninsula on an island to the far west of Scotland, itself to the far north of the United Kingdom, itself to the far west of Europe… And yet, it was in the only shop in this small village (which sells pharmacy, food, DIY, and much more) that we found the most “end of the world” SodaStream refill we’ve ever bought!… Which just goes to show that civilisation is gradually arriving everywhere… even in Glendale!… 😜
Old man…
4/06/2025 – Cuidrach -> Loch a Ghlinne Bhig
If you’ve ever seen those videos of weather forecasters out in the field, in the middle of a storm, trying as best as they could to do their job despite the wind and rain, that’s probably what we must have looked like today, on our hike of the day… Yes, it was windy (54 km/h base, with gusts of up to 75 km/h), and yes, it was also raining, at times, although much less than the day before. But this is part of the adventure, so we decided to go see it anyway, this giant menhir planted on the mountainside… And even though the wind almost made us fall two or three times, and even though raindrops at 75km/h on you face really hurt, we made it!… 🥳
The “Old Man of Storr” is a 55m-high menhir-shaped basalt rock, and all that remains of a 2.800 million-year-old volcanic “plug.” It is part of a small group of basalt formations, the Storr, with needles, strangely shaped rocks and enormous blocks crossed by faults, among other witnesses to the titanic forces which have put those rocks to the test… All this lying on a carpet of green grass which contrasts with the black of the rock, and below, a few hundred meters in the valley, a large lake and the ocean, right next to it. No need to say, the place is exceptional, and perhaps even more beautiful with a stormy sky… It’s definitely the most beautiful place we’ve seen so far in Scotland!… Add to that a large waterfall that flows directly into the ocean, and a coastal road along cliffs almost worthy of Ireland, and the Isle of Skye truly deserves its reputation, and it’s easy to understand why it has inspired so many artists…
A word about the reality of Scotland…
5/06/2025 –Loch a Ghlinne Bhig -> Inveralligin
The Isle of Skye is the largest (and northernmost) island in the Inner Hebrides archipelago (the others being the “Small Isles” we mentioned a few days ago, as well as the Isle of Mull, and the Hebrides also including the “Outer” Islands, a small group of isolated islands accessible only by boat). It is also the westernmost point of the “contiguous” United Kingdom (i.e. not counting the “real” islands or Northern Ireland). It is unfortunately also a place famous for its landscapes (among the most beautiful in the United Kingdom). So, it was with mixed feelings that we left the island this morning, still with stars in our eyes from the landscapes of the day before, but also a little disgusted by the mass tourism. During these three days on the island, we had the impression of reliving Norway (and especially the reason that made us leave the country and explore Sweden after a few days there). The problem is that we’ve joined the NC500 (the route we’ll follow to the north of Scotland, and a bit like the Scottish equivalent of the Wild Atlantic Way in Ireland), and things don’t seem to be getting any better around here: vans and motorhomes everywhere, and the same problem as in Norway (although to a slightly lesser extent): all the land is private in Scotland, and so everyone concentrates on the smallest parking lot or “crossing space”, with the feeling that in the morning, the whole country looks like a gigantic campsite (not to mention issues of civility, respect for others and coexistence with the locals, or simply picking up your rubbish)… No need to say that, even if we were probably there at the right time (and with dream weather), we really miss Ireland… 🥲
Back to the beach…
6/06/2025 –Inveralligin -> Inverasdale
Today’s route featured a crossing of the Beinn Alligin massif, one of the many mountain ranges that crisscross the various peninsulas of northwest Scotland. Miles of single-track road (one lane for both directions, with passing spaces every 100 meters or so) among pretty, gently sloping mountains covered in grass or heather and with rocky peaks. And to top it all off, dozens of lakes (or rather, lochs) in every little hollow or valley floor. Some are no bigger than an Andorran lake, but others stretch for miles, until they flow into the ocean via a small torrent a few hundred meters long… Plus, the sun came out again today, so everything looked much more photogenic!… 😉 We also stopped at Victoria Falls, a little smaller than their famous namesakes, but also named after a visit by Queen Victoria in 1877. And since it had been a while since we had slept by the ocean, we came to settle near the village of Inverasdale, on a great grassy area on the edge of a small fjord. According to our calculations, this shouldn’t be private land (or at least, that’s our interpretation of the plot boundaries) and… we just hope our calculations are correct, just to avoid getting kicked out by the owner… 😜
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