Highlands and Islands, Day 5 - Fairy Glen and Storr

On day 5 we woke up to rather wet weather, which was quite disappointing. But we didn't let the clouds and mist stop us from exploring. We headed out to the fairy glen, a magical little glen with a river winding through the hills, amazing green grass, and a "fairy castle" complete with stone circles. We climbed all over the hills and up to the "castle," enjoying the mystery of the location before we finally decided we had had enough of the cold and wet for one morning.

Our drive on this day took us around the northernmost tip of Skye and back down the other side, past the grave of Flora MacDonald (an instrumental figure in the escape of Bonnie Prince Charlie), Kilt Rock (so named because the rock formations look like the pleats in a kilt), and other amazing views of the cliffs and the sea.

A highlight for the day was a stop at the Old Man of Storr, an impressive rock pinnacle jutting up from the mountains. Laurie hiked up to it, and I do mean hike - it was a 30 minute walk uphill on a muddy track. Amie and I started the walk but gave up because I didn't want to stress my ankle any more than the lighthouse walk did yesterday. We did get to take several photos of the Old Man from the road, though, and Laurie got some great ones upclose.

We finally wound up in Portree for our last night, visited a couple of art galleries, and spent the rainy evening playing cards in the hostel dining room.