Skye. Bioda Buidhe 466 Metres. The Quiraing. Staffin. Uig.

                                               ALL PHOTOS CLICK FULL SCREEN.
On the same day that we climbed the hill above Portree in the morning then I shot up Am Meall at lunchtime while Alex and John were in the shops I also found time to do some quality photography in the afternoon. They were intent on bagging Bioda Buidhe,466 metres, a long rising slope on the Trotternish Escarpment above the picture postcard village of Staffin. I hadn't committed to that yet but was happy just to be there in an area we do not visit that often. A handful of times in 40 years. Once everybody in a club has bagged the major Munro summits on Syke, plus getting older with less same age friends still keen on the hills, the opportunities to visit here get less. Also, with fuel costs ever rising, and Skye's notoriously fickle weather it's not always guaranteed to get fine conditions if you do go. The summit of The Storr, above.

So when Alex and John unexpectedly stopped off for coffee and a bun at a posh restaurant/ cafe in  Staffin village I shot off again on my own as I didn't have any great distance shots of the classic Staffin views with the cliff escarpment rising steeply behind. One of the great Skye panoramas in Scottish calendars sent worldwide. It was dry where I was at lower levels but occasional heavy rain bands swept in across the heights, like here.

Wait five minutes though and they cleared away to leave it sunny again. Perfect for photography. Coffee shops are not really my thing compared to this experience- my own caffeine/ adrenaline hit. Slightly anti- social admittedly but also knowing I might never be back here again given the statistical probability, or have this rare photographic opportunity again at my age if I didn't grab it now, in reasonable weather. The cliffs of The Quiraing, above. Amazingly, in 40 plus years, I've only been here twice, considering Skye is only 5 hours drive away from Glasgow. It was usually 4 day bank holiday weekends when we arrived on Skye to go hill-walking or rock climbing and the often iffy weather coupled with summer midges and long traffic queues on the way back, put us off to some extent once we'd bagged the major summits on the island. But it is very spectacular here. The path in climbs up between the pinnacles to an elevated grassy platform. Little did I know, taking this, I would be up there in a few hours time.

Part of the Trotternish cliff edge escarpment walk. Away from the tourist honeypots of the Storr and The Quiraing it's an empty, wild and remote experience.

A lone isolated cottage with a small section of the escarpment behind.

A distance shot of Staffin and The Quiraing. Rain shower over the summit.

Local sheep caught in mid munch. What The ****!!!! it seems to be thinking here.You could have waited until I stopped eating!!!

Some of the houses in this district had an unusual dappled effect.

Like dalmatians. In this area a garish multi-coloured Disney style house would look completely out of place so this is distinctive but also more suited to the general area.

Fox moth caterpillar. A familiar small woolly bear of the Scottish upland mountain landscapes, often seen in October or November, totally coated in ice or frost yet still moving. Must have antifreeze in its blood. No idea what they do to change into a moth as I've never seen the transformation stage yet.

The equally remarkable Sron Vourlinn above Flodigarry where the Trotternish Walk usually ends or starts if you want to finish it in Portree. So many amazing, still little frequented, places on this island and only one lifetime to explore it properly. Most folk are fixated on the Skye Black Cuillin ridge line, as we were in the early days, but there is so much more to this fantastic and beautiful island.

Digg/Dunans- where the escarpment fades slowly into the sea. Dozens of great separate day walks in this northern half of Skye. All of them little known.

It was at this point in the afternoon that I met Alex and John again, fresh from their coffee shop 30 minute stopover and we motored up to The Quiraing Car Park. When I'd first visited The Quiraing with Alex and George, early 1980s, the car park hardly existed at all, just a few lay-bys and space in total for perhaps a dozen cars where we parked back then, lower down the road. We walked up a beautiful grass slope starting close to the graveyard, and met about three other walkers in total that day, despite fine conditions. Only a faint grass path some of the way in or no visible path at all.

Now, at the road high point, a substantial 50 plus car park is available and a £1 per hour meter charge is in place- which is not too bad- on a good day. Even in late October, in wild, misty conditions the place was mobbed. Car park almost full, and tour buses delivering eager passengers every few minutes it seemed. Good money to be made on Skye these days. 80 percent of folk were not dressed for the conditions outside however - heavy sudden rain showers- hailstones- windy and fairly chilly. Some didn't even have jackets, coats, warm hats or any waterproofs with them- so they lasted about five minutes then jumped back thankfully onto the tour bus again after a very brief selfie of dark shapes looming out the mist.

In summer on a good day it must be heaving here with visitors and I noticed they had widened the road over the top of the pass substantially, allowing more parking and new meters along it for some considerable distance with signs of a second large car park being built perhaps, going by the mud in this photo above- space for hundreds of cars. Skye has a real problem nowadays with worldwide popularity and cars churning up roadside verges and limited parking spaces over the last ten years in popular hot spots like The Quiraing but they are addressing these problems- which costs money. Like the Lake District though that means charging for car parks where they used to be free and The Highland Council recently approved similar measures across the Scottish Highland Districts.

By contrast- away from The Munros and selfie hot-spots Skye is empty and you can park no problem with few other visitors around. Just depends where you go on the island. Same with Scotland in general.

Alex and John were heading up Bioda Buidhe, a steep grass trudge to the summit with waterproofs on, and frequent rain showers, but I thought I would have much more fun following the 'selfie swarm' and so it proved. For one thing it was a flat hike into The Quiraing and not such a brutal ascent so I could concentrate more on good images, like these.

I had full waterproofs on and my hood up as the showers were intense and driving but most folk were not so well prepared for these conditions and I would say 80 percent of the visitors turned back a short distance from the car park. The hot food van was doing a good trade.

At times it did clear for ten minutes or so before the next squall hit so it wasn't relentless and the better prepared with waterproofs and warm gear made it all the way in. You had to be determined though. In some ways it was good it was only properly dressed hill walkers this far in as the path was narrow and steep in places with some easy scrambling across a gully and conditions were slippy and semi adventurous. Large waterfalls pouring off the cliffs in places I've never seen waterfalls appearing before and visibility into driving rain pretty limited. 

Being on the opposite side of the road I also managed to get good photographs of John and Alex in dry moments, climbing their hill of choice. That looked a good summit view as well but less folk up there and not as sheltered.

And a view of them as tiny figures higher up on the escarpment.

The path into the Quiraing.

A hug in the mist.                                   'Singing in the rain.'

A proud selfie with The Prison as a backdrop, one of several notable landscape features up here. It was just after this point that my own camera started acting up, impregnated with water damage so that was my last clear shot before a foggy set of snaps. It was higher into the mist level after this point anyway and hammering down with ferocity so no great loss. I had to wait until I was back in the car before it cleared inside the lens and I got it working properly again.

On the return we went over the pass and around by Uig, seen here, for more great views.

Uig again in sunshine.

A clifftop hamlet. Conditions were changing every five minutes.

A remote headland on the neighbouring smaller island of Raasay. A great trip and thanks to Alex and John for the company and the invitation to go.... to be continued.....It's an EPIC!!!