Trotternish Loop

I think it’s Thursday. Could be wrong. Pretty sure it's still June, but it doesnt feel like it here in Scotland. We spent last night in Portree, which is kinda the “main” city out on the Trotternish Loop on Isle of Skye. We ate a breakfast of instant oatmeal (known locally as porridge), grabbed a couple fruits, and hit the road on the Trotternish Loop, going clockwise. The road is really just 1 lane for most of it with a “wide spot”, aka “passing zone” about every 200 yards. If you encounter someone headed the opposite direction, the two of you figure out the easiest way to pass each other. I’m doubtful Americans could deal with this uncertainty, but Scotsman do it without concern, and after a while, this becomes very easy to manage, without a horn or a finger being involved. SO FAR. Our first stop on the Loop was Fairy Glen – a series of small hills, believed to have been made by fairys. Very cool area with an easy to follow path through, around, over them. TONS of sheep in the area, so we got lots of pics of them too. Beautiful views of distant waterfalls, etc. Lots of people all doing the same mild hike, but everyone was nice.

on our way to teh Skye Museum of Life we encountered a manmade cave of sorts that was estimated at 2000 years old. It wasnt huge, but was a cool, unexpected find.

After that, we hit the Skye Museum of Life, which was conveniently adjacent to a coo farm, and one of the hairy steer coos was nice enough to stand next to the fence and let you scratch him till your arm started hurting from it.

They had a bunch of old buildings still in working order to show off all the major functions of not-modern-life. This included a blacksmith setup, milking station, living quarters, workshop, etc, including lots of local history. One of the locals was involved in helping Bonnie Prince Charles escape the area after the battle of Colloden.

This briefly put her in jail, and made her a local legend of sorts. Irene McGlathery would have been proud of her. :) Her grave was nearby and she EASILY had the largest headstone.

After that, we visited a castle ruin, Duntulum Castle, which also included a nearby hike, which ran about 1.5 miles out to the coast. Incredible views of basalt cliffs, and fields of heather, and tons more sheep. I’m not sure what the fences are for, because sheep exist on both sides of the fences, and in the middle of the road, often. Amanda would have loved todays hike.

After the hike, we drove into the big town of Staffin, which is the local hub of activity. We bought a jug of ice cream at one of the two stores, and had a great dinner – fish and chips for shane, cheeseburger for Dee. We’re staying in a camper (called a caravan in Scotland) that is rented out as an AirBnB, and we really like it. Its not much smaller (if at all) than most of the normal AirBnB’s we’ve been staying at. The owner, Annie came by and showed us all the camper features (and shortcomings), and showed us all the breakfast supplies – including eggs from 4 of her 49 own chickens. She also runs a herd of guinea fowl on site, which no doubt will serve as an alarm clock tomorrow. :)