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| Random sheep near Old Man of Storr, Isle of Skye--sporting summer haircut. |
We wake up early the next day despite efforts to sleep in. Fueling ourselves with an ample breakfast we head back out down the main road toward The Old Man of Storr, the vertical rock formation which is clearly visible from the road between Portree and Staffin. Bear in mind that National Geographic has listed Skye as one of the top 10 islands in the world for it's natural wonders. The geology of the island is unique and rugged. That said, I planned this portion of the trip to include hiking and this hike ranks as one of the best. The website below outlines every possible hike and walk you might want to attempt while visiting Skye.
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/skye/trotternish.shtml
While the weather is a bit uncooperative (we fully expected this) we have packed rain gear and sturdy shoes so the weather would not be a deterrent.
The car park on the side of the road is already half full when we begin our hike at the edge of a very dense forest.
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| Trail head, Old Man of Storr, Isle of Skye. |
Although this forest is clearly not old growth, it is managed by the Scottish Forestry Commission, it has that feel of a primeval wood. It is so thickly planted that light barely filters in at all. What immediately comes to mind are fairy tales involving children and maidens (think Snow White) who get lost in the deep dark woods. If we wandered from the trail here it would be easy to quickly become disoriented. The moss and the tips of the pine trees are such a bright shade a green they almost seem electrified and what little light filters through is so fine and ethereal.
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| Forest near the base of The Old Man of Storr, Isle of Skye |
It is hard to imagine after having driven up to the Orkney Islands and seeing the skinned bald landscape, that historically much of Scotland was covered with forests. During the 17th and 18th century what forests were left were heavily exploited for timber and charcoal production. While Scotland is environmentally stunning today at first glance, bear in mind that much of the landscape has been used and heavily exploited. Today only about 17% of Scotland is forested (up from a low of 5% in 1900) but the government plans to expand this to 25% by the 21st century. The Scottish Natural Heritage website has more information about Scotland's woodland areas. (I have since learned that much of the forest at the base of The Old Man of Storr has been clear cut.)
http://www.snh.gov.uk/land-and-sea/managing-the-land/forestry-and-woodlands/history/
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| Hiking to The Old Man of Storr, Isle of Skye |
The climb through the forest was steep but we eventually break out into the open. We pass through a gate (sheep are grazed up here as it is common land) and the uphill trajectory intensifies. Mist still clings to the cliffs up ahead of us but every now and then when the mist clears we see The Old Man.
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| The Old Man of Storr, Isle of Skye |
Sheep browse on the hillside and paid us no mind until I heard the deep guttural bleat of a ram. My first thought was "that is not a steer" (not knowing what a castrated male sheep is called.) My next vision was one of us being head butted all the way down the steep hillside. I look to the left and there is a young ram charging downhill straight towards us. I shoo the boys up to a steeper level so the ram won't have much momentum built up when it charges us! Looking back I see my husband 20-30 feet behind us on a level area that is very vulnerable. My younger son looks over to the hillside on the right and says "there are two of them!" I'm thinking "great now we have to out run two of them!" Then I remember how barnyard interactions involving two "intact" male farm animals from the same species usually plays out. Sure enough, the ram on the left completely ignored us evidently having had his ire provoked by the the ram on the other hillside. We leave them bleating and chasing each other over hill and dale to sort it all out. The boys (mine, not the rams) thought all this was extremely entertaining.
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| The base of The Old Man of Storr, Isle of Skye. |
The rest of the climb to The Old Man is very steep and I send Sam and the boys on ahead. I am perfectly satisfied with the view I have and keep taking pictures with my phone, each view featuring a different mist-draped view of the rock. It truly stands sentinel-like in the mist no less sacred than the stones at Stenness or The Ring of Brodgar. This is one stone I cannot put in my pocket and take home as a memento (see Skara Brae blog post)
One the way back down the trail we meet a cross section of the global community who have come to make the pilgrimage to view The Old Man. -- Australians, Germans, Scandinavians, Italians, a group of uniformed English schoolboys and an occasional Scot. By the time we reach the forest it is raining harder and upon arriving at the car park we are for the most part drenched and I learn the difference between "waterproof" and "water resistant." We extract ourselves from the full parking lot and rather than heading to Portree to find lunch we head back to our hotel for some dry clothes. I never thought much of the heated towel bars in UK hotels but now discover they are the perfect place to park a pair of sodden running shoes, wet clothes and a wet rain coat. We will plan our next adventure of the day over lunch.
P.S. A castrated male sheep is called a "wether."
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