PART TWELVE - Brothers point, The Quiraing, Skye museum of island life and Duntulm.

 

BROTHER'S POINT, THE MIGHTY QUIRAING, THE SKYE MUSEUM OF ISLAND LIFE, AND DUNTULM.

Today was a REAL gift! It dawned with a beautiful blue sky, so we were eager to get going to walk one of the icons of the island - the Quiraing. 

On the drive there, we stopped at a couple of places of interest, of which there are MANY if you ever visit the island. The whole island is dotted with these beautiful crofters cottages.

First stop was Brother's point, to see if we could find the dinosaur footprints. There is a museum next to the road, but we didn't go in, as we wanted to see the point, and get on to the Quiraing ASAP.

This was a really well restored crofters cottage, now a holiday home rental, above Brother's point..

 When I see these graveyards, I can't help wondering how they get six feet down, or indeed IF they do, on such rocky ground?

The stunning views, looking back over our shoulders.

Looking over to Kilt Rock. This was as close as we were going to get, as the viewpoint was being upgraded and improved, so was closed for now. It also meant we couldn't see the famous waterfall.

The rugged coastline as we descended to Brother's point.

There WAS this small waterfall to see as we descended.

 

We never found the dino prints - one major factor was the smell!!! There was obviously a LOT of rotting seaweed on the beach here, and it was obnoxious! We didn't fancy poking around in it, so we climbed back up and made our way to the Quiraing.

The winding road climbed inexorably towards the Quiraing. The views excited us as we gradually continued the drive up, mainly due to traffic. It was a minor mistake to come here late, as there was more traffic on the road than usual (this being a honeypot for visitors). When we got to the car park - it was full! We were SO lucky, as ONE car pulled out, and we nipped in.

Our route.

Here's Sue at the start - it's all uphill from here!

Looking forward, how can you NOT be excited by this? 

We were - VERY!

It was medium busy as we climbed. Not so much as to be a problem, but sometimes you had to pick your moment to take a picture.

Absolutely superb strata here - really prehistoric!

We saw this guy appear on top of the cliffs, above us on the left. 

How the hell did he get up there, we wondered?

This is where we had lunch, and as we ate, we realised that this was how to access the cliff viewpoint.

After climbing up to the viewpoint.

You can see the path to the right of Sue. From there, it would look like she too was standing atop the cliffs (a bit of a cheat really).

View from the top.

Wide angle view of the valley and cliffs.

Click on this (or any other picture) to get a bigger view.

We were aiming for that col. We would decide then if we had time to turn right and walk to the end of the promontory, or go left, and up over the top of the Quiraing.

The numbers had thinned out a bit now, as we were well into the walk.

Sue, seeking divine advice :-)

You can click on ANY picture for a bigger version. It works especially well with these wide angle or panoramic shots.

With all this grandeur around us, it would be easy to miss the smaller things, like this beautiful clump of plants.

I LOVE a good overhang!

Looking up to our goal - the tops.

The Quiraing castle.

Looking back, the Trotternish ridge loomed large.

This is how the path mostly is. A little rough in places, so good footwear (boots) is essential.

A happy lady!

Come on Les - keep up!

We soon reached the col, and decided that, in the time available, we couldn't walk the peninsula, so we turned left and headed up the steep, grassy slope.

The view from the top.

As we topped the climb, the views were even better!

The walking was a bit easier too.

This is the view forwards. The pathfinding after here was a bit harder, but not really a problem. 

The table. A hidden,  flat piece of land where the local crofters and clansmen could 'hide' hundreds of sheep and cattle, as the plateau can't be seen from below .

Much needed path repairs were taking place while we were there.

As you get to the final part of the downward path, it becomes quite steep and treacherous. I wouldn't like to try this in the wet!

After our Quiraing adventure, we pressed on down to try and see the village museum, but we arrived JUST after they had closed, so we just nosed around and took a few pictures.

These are the houes representing how the old crofts used to look, and how the people lived.

After that, it was on to a derelict castle (of which there are MANY on Skye). This one is called Duntulm, and is so very photogenic.

The small islet in Tulm Bay doesn't have a name.

The castle was built in the 14th/15th century,

and was a fortification done because of the feuding between the Macdonalds and the MacLeods.

Although almost a total wreck now, it was improved and used later in it's life. It stood up to four stories high, and the only way in was through a small sleft in the sea cliff (which I investigated).

We left Duntulm to make our way back. We passed this beautiful example of a crofter's cottage.

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