Although the drive to Isle of Skye was only a hundred miles or so, it took several hours on the narrow winding roads. The clouds and rain battled with the sun all day long; the result was rainbow after rainbow, some hovering over the Scottish bogs, some stretching across the horizon.
It was September 11 on the day we drove to Isle of Skye. There was a WWII memorial on the way. British trooops during WWII trained in Scotland.
There was almost no one hiking to Dun Beag, a home that was over 2,000 years old. The hike was through a sheep pasture, and the sheep grazed among the grass, rocks, and wildflowers. There were stretches of heather and thistle, the national flower of Scotland.
We hiked to the top of the house and you could see for miles and miles. The only sound was the wind and the occasional baaaaaa……. We slid to the ground to eat a sandwich and talked quietly about the people who must have lived here. For me, I wondered how they stayed warm. It was mid-September and I was wearing 5 layers, plus rain gear, wool hat, waterproof boots. How did they diaper their children? What did they eat during the long, sunless winters? How did they move the heavy rocks and build a multi-level home?
Everywhere were hills and rocks. From atop the hill you could see far, far away, to the water and islands of the Hebrides.
It took several times for us to find the entrance to the cow pasture that led to nearby Dun Caan, our next stop. Mike had checked and the tide was out–the only time you could hike to the cliffs. The land was private and the gracious owners allow people to walk through their pastures to appreciate the views. Again, there was hardly anyone around and we hiked a long way through a cow pasteur and out the back gates.
The hike was certainly not mountain climbing but it was rugged and parts of it were very steep. As we got closer to the water, the wind was stronger.
We had to cross the wet rocks covered in seaweed to get to the cliffs. Each step I took was measured–I really didn’t want to fall. It took me a long time to cross with rocks. Once I was on the tall grass, the wind was so intense I had to turn and walk in another direction for fear of being blown over and rolling down the rocky hillside.
The sheep did not seem bothered by it at all!
We were on the hills and cliffs for what seemed like hours. Rainbows kept appearing across the water among the hills. We only saw a handful of people. One couple had a small dog who was trotting along with a stick twice as long as her.
When we finally made it back to the car we were both windblown and exhausted. Imagine owning such magnificent space.
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