My Summer of 2023

Chapter 14, A Lonely Lighthouse, Narrow Roads and a Fairy Glen

August 22, the day dawned mostly clear and bright.

Imagine opening the window curtains, to reveal a sight of the distant mountains, clouds hovering high above them, the upper sky clear and blue and below the mountains a harbor, scattered with many boats, calmly resting at anchor. Bright morning sunshine shone brightly upon the boats as though being warmed by the sun’s bright rays.

It looked like a clear start of this new day, but one never knows when or if the weather will do an about face and become cloudy, overcast, partly sunny or even begin raining.

But no matter what, our day would be filled with activity. After being picked up by our driver we set out on the day’s exploration. Soon after starting, rain did return casting that gray, dreariness over the countryside. Even with that, Scotland’s beauty shone through.

Click on any photo in this gallery to enlarge:

Leaving Portree, on the east side of side of the Isle of Skye, we headed toward the western coast to see a significant lighthouse on that side of the Isle of Skye. There appear to be no major highways in the Upper Highlands, only secondary and even smaller paved roads through the countryside and over hills and mountains. Des, our driver drove on the least of those roads toward Glendale and the nearby coast.

It was very misty, damp and overcast as we approached the lighthouse area. Many other visitors were already there upon our arrival. But where was that lighthouse? It was not at all visible from the parking lot. Before us a rather steep slope down stairs dipped into a broad grassy field with the typical long stone fences delineating separate fields for the grazing sheep. From the low point in what was like a bowl, the land sloped upward a bit to the very edge of the high coast.

Many people were making the trek down the stairs and then were following on a quite long path that led around a tall grass covered rock formation. Others were standing along the visible cliff edge taking photographs. After the long walk down the stairs and across the grassy field, I walked to the cliff and there, lo and behold was a glimpse of the elusive lighthouse where only its tower appeared to be perched on a very narrow ledge.

However, the complete view of the lighthouse and its outlying buildings required another long trek around the formation. I did that, although by that time light rain with brisk winds was whipping up from the sea.

I hunkered down, fully zipped up my rain jacket, pulled my hood tightly around my head, and leaned into the wet breeze from the sea on my trek to get a full view of that elusive lighthouse.

It was worth the extra effort to come around to see the lighthouse complex, although, as I discovered, a person needed to watch his steps, as the sheep seemed to prefer hanging around the buildings, leaving behind their bowel droppings, a sort of tiptoeing through the tulips…so to speak.

I imagine that the total distance down to, around to the lighthouse and back up to the parking area was more than one mile. That meant a rushed walk back up to meet the van so that we could keep to a schedule. On the way back up the stairs, a few of our group were breathing heavily, while very slowly ascending the long stairway to the top.
After all the rush down, around and up again, it felt good to reach the top where I opened my jacket and let the cool sea breeze help cool me.

The sky, dark and gray, remained with us throughout the day. Driving on to our next stop, everyone was understandably quiet and subdued. Heavier rain followed us, mountain tops were cloaked by dense gray clouds, and yet, the green, green fields stood in contrast to the dreary gray above them.

Heading a little inland, Des drove us to what could be a magical place, or to what its name might imply – The Fairy Glen. Now, I don’t know if any little elves, pixies, imps or even leprechauns ever inhabited the area, but it was a bit fascinating to think so.

The Fairy Glen has many unusually shaped mounds, with strange raised lines encircling them, scattered about the area, which in themselves were intriguing. An obviously popular place, many other visitors had also sought it out and were exploring the area, the most notable, and most popular, being the Fairy Castle.

Not an actual castle, but a solitary, tall, narrow rock promontory, it could have been just the place for mischievous fairies to gather and look down and all around upon the beautiful land below them. The fun part of this “castle” was that it was accessible although with a wee bit of effort of the bravehearted. A narrow, now muddy trail, led up to it, then it required climbing up, still on a narrow path, and over rocks to a very narrow, steep opening through which one needed to twist and contort a bit for access to the small open top.

Oh, but the views were remarkable.

Below and in the distance lay open grassy fields, where the ubiquitous sheep grazed contentedly, white stone houses lined a distant roadway and cascading waterfalls streaked down green cliffs.

The little boy in me, was delighted to be crawling around amongst the rocks and up into the castle. As you may recall from Chapter 4 of my adventures, at Dunadd Hill, I was proclaimed King of Scotland, so as a child king at Fairy Castle, it was only fitting that I was pleased to include the surrounding land as mine also. Under my benevolent reign, fairies, leprechauns and such would all be my loyal subjects.

Alas, my reign was short-lived in the Fairy Glen, as grown-up me had to descend the throne, relinquish my sovereignty and re-join the real world. Returning to our van, my travel companions and I re-boarded to travel on to our next destination. This was more of a comfort stop to use the facilities, but we discovered a small shop there they hand-made whimsical little shaggy Scottish cows. The owners meticulously formed little rolls of clay and carefully created the little creatures for sale. Of course, I did buy one.

Returning toward Portree, Des had us visit one of the most photographed and visited sites in Scotland, The Quiraing. It is a stunning landscape, that was mostly obscured the day we visited. A strong wind with light rain, deterred much exploration, although the area has hiking paths and the views from a higher vantage point would have been awesome. Still, with heavy rain laden clouds hanging low over the mountain, the area’s surroundings were stunning. We could barely see the notable formations through the mists, The Needle, a tall solitary pinnacle that was piercing the clouds this day, The Prison and The Table. If the weather and time had permitted, you can bet I would have trekked up into The Quiraing.

Coming down from the higher elevation we emerged from the mists and began to see the sunlight and clearing clouds revealing a pleasant view from shore out into the ocean. Driving along the coast we returned to Portree.

Having time to wander about, I walked from my B&B to investigate the little town. A very colorful waterfront row of buildings had caught my eye and I headed that way. Right on the harbor, these buildings were replicas of the Tobermory colorful waterfront business that we had seen several days before when sailing with Graham & Maralyn. My walk about also allowed me to find a suitable place for supper, a small Oriental restaurant not far from my lodging.

Returning to my room, the day departed with a clear, nearly cloudless sky. Possibly a good omen for the next and last day of the Scottish Highlands exploration.