After a morning walk which gifted me with the presence of a magnificent stag, we left Uist and took the ferry from Lochmaddy to Uig on the Isle of Skye. The locals say they have not seen weather like this in many many years and they are as tired of it as we are. The rain and wind is constant – like a nor’easter at home. My camera rain covers are getting a lot of use! In spite of this we carry on and have put many miles on the car here on the Isle of Skye. This is land that takes your breath away around every turn in the road. Majestic cliffs, rolling hills, and the Cuillin, a world famous mountain range on the Isle of Skye which forms part of the MacLeod Estate. Mainly composed of basalt and gabbro, the Black Cuillin derives its name from the dark colour of the gabbro. The summits of the Cuillin, challenging to even the most skilled climber, are bare rock, jagged in outline and with steep cliffs and deep cut corries and gullies. All twelve Munros ( a Scottish mountain with a summit height of more than 3,000 ft) on Skye are Black Cuillin peaks except for Blaven which belongs to a group of outliers separated from the main ridge by Glen Sligachan. The highest point of the Black Cuillin is Sgùrr Alasdair at 992m (3,255ft). Throughout most of our visit the Cuillin were shrouded in mist and fog.
Another part of the adventure was the quick ferry ride to the tiny Isle of Raasay (pronounced Rah-see) and a tour of the distillery there. The island boasts a population of 131 people! A 9 mile drive through the hills to the other side of the island brought us to to Castle Brochel, a 15th century ruin owned by the MacLeods. The journey a cross the island on a narrow one track road was quite an adventure! There are beautiful hiking trails on Raasay but because of the inclement weather we stuck to the car. There are no grocery stores or petrol stations on the island which means a ferry ride to secure essentials. Could you live there????
