A Taste of Real UK Weather

Well sadly today was our last major sightseeing day. Tomorrow we start heading back to London for our flight on Sunday. But before getting too disappointment at the end of the trip approaching, we had a fun, though rainy, day out exploring the Isle of Skye.

Heading out from town this morning, we stopped at a coffee shop that has a pasture of highland cows next to it. However they had not brought most of the heard down from their nighttime pasture yet, so there was only one adult and a couple of babies hiding in the bushes.

Our next scenic stops were a couple of quick overlooks pretty close to the road where we could grab a few photos and then hop back in the car to get out of the light rain and winds that were supposedly gusting up to 35-40 mph.

Bride’s Veil Falls

We’re unsure the name of this waterfall and overlook, the views were great though. The wind was whipping through the valley though and I had my phone in a death grip as well as having a wrist strap for it.

We then attempted to hike to the main viewpoint of Old Man of Storr rock formation, one of the most recognizable mountains on the island. When we left the car, it was lightly misting and windy. But we had our waterproof shoes, rain jackets, gloves, and hats and headed out. What we didn’t account for was how exposed parts of the trail were, and how the wind and rain both picked up and were basically blowing sideways across the terrain. The rain hitting us felt like sleet it was so cold and being blown at us so hard. The actual temperature was around 53 degrees, but the feels like was around 40 with the wind chill. Despite the unpleasant weather we continued on (along with many other people on the trail - we weren’t the only crazy ones). However by the time we got to the overlook we intended to stop at, the rain and wind were so strong we couldn’t even see anything but a haze of mist. We finally decided to call it and walk the half mile back to the car, so sadly no pictures from this hike.

Once in the car and thawed out, we headed over to Kilt Rock / Mealt falls overlook. This waterfall runs from Loch Mealt over the edge into the Atlantic Ocean.

We then drove to the Quiraing Trailhead - because of the weather we only admired the views from the beginning of the trail, which works out since those are supposedly some of the best views anyway.

Continuing on, we visited Rha Falls which was on the opposite side of the mountains and in the trees, which combine offered a lot of protection from the weather and was a nice break + a very pretty waterfall.

On our way to our next stop, Duntulm Castle, we stopped to admire the views from an overlook on the side of the road

Then it was onward to Duntulm Castle, which is a ruined castle on the northern tip of the island. We’re pretty sure Mother Nature had it out for us today, any hike that was more then 5 minutes from the car, both the wind and rain would pick up while we were walking out. This one was located on a little peninsula of land, so it had water on both sides and was very exposed to the wind. Walking in the wind I felt like one of those meteorologists who go out in hurricane winds and dramatically fight against it…..that’s what today felt like and I wouldn’t be surprised if wind had played a part on the deterioration of this castle.

Our final stop for the day was originally intended for yesterdays itinerary, but we ran out of time, Dunvegan Castle. This one is a lot less ruined and building began originally in the 1200’s, with different sections being added through the 1800’s. You can tour the inside and learn the history of both the castle and family that built it and still resides there. We also walked through the gardens, admiring more of the colorful flowers.

Photo Credit to Joel

As we were about to leave I realized we hadn’t taken any photos together on the whole trip, so what better time then when we’re all bundled up and disheveled from the rain?

Tomorrow’s plan is to drive back to Edinburgh, return the rental car, hop on a train back to London, and end the night at the same hotel we started our trip at.