Today we have a large batch of photos from neuroscientist Mayaan Levy, who documented her travels to the isle of Skye. Her captions are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.
“Over the sea to Skye”
Skye makes you believe in Faeries. You may find yourself gazing at the clouds and storms come and go at the whim of the Cailleach. You might avoid stepping into the swamps by Loch Coruisk worrying the Kelpie will snatch you. The Isle takes you back in time to when folks believed in magic, and for the duration of your stay, you’re allowed to give in, throw any logic or contemporary science to the bitter island wind, and indulge in this quaint fantasy.
We visited in late May 2023. I’ve been a low-key Scotophile for a while before, drawing on Hume, Robert Louie Stevenson, Braveheart, the Hogwarts express, and more recently Outlander (which is my guilty pleasure. Guilty as charged). After Skye, my Scotophilia worsened and is now considered incurable.
Skye (“The Island of the Clouds”, was connected to the Scottish mainland only in 1995 with the construction of the bridge. The only way on or off before, was by sea. The photos are from our north-bound hike on the Skye trail, spanning 80 miles, plus a Loch Coruisk circuit, totaling at about 100 miles. We took 6 days, but I wish we have had double, or even triple that time.
The ocean meets the mountains and the clouds. Taken right before Torrin.
Skye has way more sheep than people. A fun pastime while hiking was to try to guess by how much, and upon getting signal we have discovered that both of us grossly underestimated. The answer is 10-fold more sheep than people! In the 21st century! Some sheep are marked in different colors (for different owners), and they graze / sit on / sleep on the tall and steep cliffs. Throughout the Island you can see old stone walls the crofters have erected ages ago.
Elgol is famous today due to its role in politics back in the 18th century, and this role was just to be a clandestine location, in the middle of nowhere and difficult to approach. The site in question is Bonnie Prince Charlie’s cave, where he hid from British government forces after the defeat of the Jacobite army in Culloden (1745).
Elgol Beach – it took scaling some class 3 sea cliffs to get here:
Beadlet Anemones (Actinia equina) – if I wasn’t in Neuroscience I would be a Marine Biologist. These creatures have 192 tentacles (so cool!), and they are sort of immortal (please weigh in on this) or at least have extremely long lives:
Elgol beach is rich in fossils. I have no clue what left this impression fossil:
One of my favorite areas was hidden Loch Coruisk and the Black Cuillin – a semi-circle of pitch black, ominous mountains. Multiple legends and myths surround the Cuillin, and I’m afraid I can’t do them justice. If you’re interested, some can be found here.
A view southwest of Loch Coruisk and the sea:
The peaks of the Black Cuillin tower in the distance over Sligachan 19th century bridge:
Our next stop was Portree (probably from “Port of the king” port + re as in many Latin languages), the capital of Skye, where there are more people than sheep but fewer residents than tourists. We were hungry, and luckily Portree is the place to get authentic fish and chips. Now, by fish I don’t mean small mackerels in newspaper, I mean a foot long, deep fried haddock. Chips are similar to what Americans call fries, except the Scottish ones tend to be very soggy as opposed to crispy. To each their own (ugh).
Is it a phone booth? Is it a library? (on the outskirts of Portree):
Portree harbor:
Fish farming just north of Portree. Perhaps this was home to our lunch not so long ago:
From Portree we hit the woods. There aren’t many trees on Skye, and it’s not clear to me exactly why. The island is at the mercy of the elements, with strong winds even in the summer which naturally will strip the land. But it may also be the case that humans deforested the isle to raise livestock.
I told you Faeries live here:
Small emperor moth (Saturnia pavonia) – common throughout Europe but is actually the only one from this family to inhabit the British Isles:
Now we start climbing for an epic stretch starting at the Storr, walking on the cliff edges of the Trotternish ridge. The ridge, including the Old man of Storr, was created when lava erupted from beneath, causing the softer rock to slide down about 60 million years ago. Skye’s geological origins are partially volcanic; Land that was to become the British Isles was once upon a time landlocked in pretty much the middle of Pangea. When the super-continent split and multiple fault lines were created, heat generated beneath led to a series of mini volcanic eruptions. Indeed, these events were part of a period of increased volcanic activity all over Earth, which some hypothesize might have been the true cause of the K-Pg extinction (aka the Deccan Traps theory). Disclaimer: not my field, and I have no skin in this game, but the so called “Dinosaur wars” have been fascinating from a history and sociology of Science perspective.
I can’t go to Skye and not have a photo of this landmark: Ladies and Gentlemen, the Old man of Storr. On the right side of the photo is the Storr itself – the tallest formation on the ridge. On the left side of the photo you can see that there are several steps or levels of cliffs until the final drop to the ocean:
The north-most point of the Trotternish ridge, looking south:
Volcanic sea cliffs:
Setting up camp for the final night on Skye. We’ll be back:
Great pictures. Thank you for sharing.
What a delightful journey you have taken us on today, thank you! I was blown away by the Beadlet Anemones – just other worldly.
Aw goodness, that’s exhilarating …
Nice photos, almost seems like you can feel the wind. The fossils might be brachiopods?
Awesome! Did you backpack and camp your whole time there or did you spend a night or two in solid lodgings?
We backpacked and camped outside every night on the island. On two nights we set up camp inside ruins, sharing our space with the ghosts. Despite the lack of roof, the partial walls serve as wind breakers are are quite effective.
Wow. Sounds terrific! Thanks.
I love Skye. My ancestors came to Canada from nearby on the mainland 200 years ago. Next time you are on Skye take the CalMac ferry west to the Hebrides. What the Scots call the Western Isles. I think that the trees were taken down in Scotland to clear the land for sheep but also to sell the trees to the British Navy to make masts for their ships. Now they are doing commercial reforestation in many areas of Scotland. Thanks for your wonderful photos.
Thank you!
The Outer Hebrides look like a fascinating place and there’s a trail across them (that does require crossing between the isles on a boat). It’s definitely on our bucket list.
There is a major popular north south hiking trail along the west coast of the Hebridean islands. There is a major ferry company – Caladonian Macbride- that operates car and passenger ferries between all the islands and Skye.
Really evocative photos and an enthusiastic commentary.
One thing you didn’t mention (which may be down to the time of year that you visited) or manage to catch on film were the midges.
The Highland Midge has few equals in its ability to ruin a perfectly lovely walk. Apart from Mountain Lions, which are rarely encountered on Skye.
You are correct, Sir – It is due to the time of year we visited at that we did not encounter any midges at all. We were generally lucky this trip – we got rained on half a day and it drizzled another half. Out of six days. Really not bad for Scotland.
What a wonderful place!
Camping there must have really added to the adventure.
I loved the area with the thin trees and drop green grasses.
Thanks!
Nice pictures, thank you. Brought back memories.
I remember crossing Skye long before the bridge to get to Stornoway, this late 1960s. It took a long time time those days to get from Yorkshire where I was based to Harris. The crossing was always enjoyable but the bridge has helped Skye.
Btw, “Braveheart “ far too late for woad, far to early for the kilt, Mel Gibson fiction!
The main reason for lack of trees apart from geography and wind is the sheep, they eat everything.
Great travelogue!
Lovely collection. Three of my grandparents were from the Highlands and emigrated to Canada.
O, Scotland!! Whisky, golf, and gorgeous views. No better place by my reckoning.
Lovely photos and a lovely place! A month ago I was circumambulating the hill visible above Portree Harbor.
Beautiful! Brings back fond memories of Skye. It sounds like you had very lucky weather. Procuring a good pair of waterproof boots (Wellies) immediately upon arriving in Scotland has always seemed necessary to me, but I had good weather on Skye as well. I disentangled a lamb caught in wire atop an old stone wall while out on a morning walk. I love the idea of turning the phone booth into a ‘little library’, a perfect update for something that might not be used for its original purpose very much anymore (does the phone even still work?). Thank you!
On a recent trip in Norway we found several little libraries in the phone boxes. It looked like the phones were working. The boxes said “leave a book, take a book” in Norwegian.
What lovely photos–especially the anemones. Since I’ll never get to Scotland, I very much appreciate seeing photos from there and reading descriptions of the country (I’m part Scottish) and hope you will have more contributions to come!
What a fabulous, beautiful collection of photos and narration with everything in it from volcanoes to anemones!
Wow. So much more beautiful than I’d imagined. Thank you.
I’m going to go for a virtual “walk” on google.earth there now.
D.A.
NYC
Oh, how magical. Thank you very much!