My Heart’s in the Highlands

Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North,

The birth-place of Valour, the country of Worth;

Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,

The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.

My heart’s in the Highlands, my heart is not here,

My heart’s in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;

Chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,

My heart’s in the Highlands, wherever I go.

 

The Scottish poet Robert Burns composed that song in 1789, and this past weekend, I came to empathize with the song’s theme. I traveled on a three-day excursion into the Highlands of Scotland with thirteen other people this past weekend. The tour was provided by the company Heartland Travel. Our guide, Nory Hope, was everything you would expect from a hardy, Scottish man. He told exciting stories of folklore, made us all laugh constantly, and enhanced the landscape with the history that surrounds it. It was a wonderful trip, and there’s no possible way to share every single part with you. I’ll do my best to share the highlights!

The first stop on our trip was Glen Coe, one of the most famous places in Scotland. Unfortunately, the weather was very foggy, windy, and snowy for a large part of the first day, so it was difficult to see much. The mountains still looked magnificent. In fact, the weather gave them a certain brooding quality that sunshine would not have provided.

The next stop was Glenfinnan. This was one of my favorite spots. Here you can see the monument to Prince Charles Edward Stuart, the man who started the Jacobite Uprising here in 1745. The village is situated at the northern tip of Loch Shiel. The weather cleared up for the duration of our stay here, making the scene quite spectacular.

A simple 180 degree turn reveals the Glenfinnan Viaduct, better known as the train bridge used in the Harry Potter films. Several girls in our group were very excited to see this.

After observing the view from a vantage point, I walked down to the shores of the loch. I would love to take a kayak and travel from one end of the loch to the other. I would have to take care to not fall in; the water was pretty cold!

After Glenfinnan, we continued north up what is known as the Great Glen, a large fault line that runs for 62 miles through Scotland. There are two large, freshwater lochs within the Great Glen: Loch Lochy and Loch Ness. The one you see pictured here is Loch Lochy where we stopped for a restroom break. Loch Ness will come later!

We finally arrived at our accommodation right before sunset, and it was beautiful. We stayed in a converted hostel owned by the tour guide in the little village of Stromeferry, which is located on the southern banks of Loch Carron. Complete with a wood-burning stove and a boat ramp, this house was cozy, rustic, and wonderful.

I woke up the next morning before everybody else in order to watch the sunrise by the loch. I went down to the boat ramp, and luckily, the weather was much better that day. The sun coming over the nearby hills illuminated the water with a deep blue color. I didn’t stay too long though. The wind was chilly!

This is the house, in case you were curious.

That day, Saturday, was my favorite day of the trip and the one I had been looking forward to the most, because our day was to spent on the Isle of Skye. Skye is revered for having arguably the most beautiful and unique scenery in Scotland, and the world as well. It is the largest of the islands making up the Inner Hebrides. For everybody in Kentucky, the island is only a few square miles larger than Hardin County, yet it is packed with all kinds of features and vast landscapes. I took this as we headed into the middle of the island approaching the Red Cuillin mountains.

Highland Coos! We stopped to pet them before we started our main itinerary. They’re quite gentle.

There are two main mountain ranges on Skye, and they’re right next to each other: the Red Cuillins, which you saw earlier, and the Black Cuillins, pictured here. There are more mountains, but we could only see a part of the range. The Black Cuillin Ridge is the toughest hill-walk in all of Scotland. Only those with great experience or a guide are advised to undertake the full ridge, especially in winter. Needless to say, I’m content with the view I had from the ground!

The next stop was the famed Fairy Pools of Skye, situated at the foot of the Black Cuillins. The stream you see here houses the pools. We spent an hour here exploring.

We had a unique opportunity; our tour guide said that, in all his years of coming to Skye (he was 48-years-old), he had never seen the Fairy Pools frozen. Nevertheless, they were beautiful. The mountains provided a perfect backdrop for the pools, and I felt as though I was in a fantasy world.

We continued north on the island and stopped in the largest town, Portree. I helped myself to some homemade Scottish ice cream which was delicious. I then wandered down to the harbour. Portree is famous for its harbour and its multi-coloured buildings that you see pictured here.

Shortly after Portree, we passed one of Skye’s most famous landmarks: the Old Man of Storr. Unfortunately, it was cold and windy. With the ascent up to the rock needle clocking it at around two-and-a-half hours, our guide decided it was best to not walk up. It was still magnificent to behold!

Our next stop was Kilt Rock. This was another unique situation; our guide had never seen this waterfall frozen either! We didn’t stay too long here. You could see the Northwest Highlands across the bay along with their snow-topped peaks. Luckily, there was no snow on the ground throughout Skye, making the scenery beautiful and easy to navigate.

The next spot was my favorite part of the whole trip: the Quiraing (pronounced “queer-eye-ng). We hiked up a steep slope to get this amazing view. To be completely honest, it was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen in my life. I audibly said “wow” when I reached the top.

A simple turn to the right, and the rest of the Trotternish Ridge comes into view. The only way I know how to describe the scenery is like something out of The Lord of the Rings. I now understand why so many books and poems have been set in or written about the Scottish Highlands.

Our last stop on Skye was the Fairy Glen. The sights we had seen all day were spectacular and awe-inspiring, but this one was small and magical.  The landscape was bizarre, which miniature hills and small, conic shaped land forms. People had taken the rocks and created spiral shapes on the ground, only adding to the mystical feel of the place.

We then traveled back to the house where our guide cooked us the traditional Scottish meal of haggis, neeps, and tatties (haggis, turnips, and potatoes). Haggis is wonderful!

The next day was mostly travelling back to Central Scotland, but we made a few stops along the way. The first stop was the village of Fort Augustus. The main feature of the town is the Caledonian Canal which runs through the Great Glen. The canal flows through the town before emptying into….

Ta-Da! Loch Ness! It looks like a normal body of water, but the legends of the monster within caused me to look at the loch with a different tone. It appeared almost mysterious and intimidating, and after learning some facts about the loch, it only solidified that feeling. Loch Ness is nearly 24 miles long and 1.7 miles across at its widest point. Its average depth is 433 feet, but the deepest point is 744 feet. The loch holds more freshwater than all of the lakes in England and Wales combined. The craziest fact, however, is that if you emptied the water from the loch, you could fit the world’s population inside of it three times over! Not a bad hiding place for a monster if you ask me.

Our last stop was a forest park in the Cairngorms National Park. More snow appeared on the ground as we traveled further south. You think it would be the other way around!

When I first started on the tour, I was worried that it was be too “tourist-y” and fast-paced. I was pleasantly surprised when it didn’t turn out that way. The small group size, homey accommodation, and number of stops made the experience worthwhile. Until next time,

~ Dillon