Plank Road: Legend and Rock Formations

The weather was ferocious yesterday with wicked wind and driving rain. I think that Cailleach Bhur (Hag of the Ridges) is still here. She made Scotland by dropping a creel of peat and rock into the sea. After washing her linen in the Corryvreckan (a wild tidal whirlpool off the Argyll coast) she came to Skye to spread out the linen to bleach on Storr. While Cailleach Bhur was in Skye, no good weather was to be had. Scotland is a land of legends, and Cailleach Bhur is just one of them.

We drove down to central Skye toward the Black Cuillins, a very dramatic mountain range of tertiary volcanic rock. Our destination was a walk to the fairy pools and waterfalls of Allt Coir a' Mhadaidh, which tumbles down the foothills of the Black Cuillins. However, with the downpour of rain lately, the burn was running too high and we could not make it across via the rocks so we had to abandon the walk. We were drowned rats by then so we proceeded to Talisker Distillery for a whisky warm-up and a distillery tour. That was it for Monday, so we didn’t bother blogging.

The weather forecasts are pretty accurate to the hour as they can see the big storms coming in from the North Atlantic. It was forecast that we would have a window of opportunity this morning so we hopped to it, sacrificing our morning tea.

We headed for the Trotternish peninsula to Quiraing, a very bizarre landscape of pinnacles and rock formations. Supposedly, the Quiraing was used to hide cattle in times of trouble. The single track road to the Quiraing has an incredible hairpin turn.

Since we got a decently early start we were the only people in the Quiraing until we encountered another walker after passing by the prison and the needle. The rock formations and the atmosphere of the place are something else.

After passing by the table, which has a very flat top, which we could not see as we were at the bottom, the trail turned and we ascended a steep section to get to the top overlooking the whole shebang. It was so windy up top that we dared not go close to the edge, which is a drop off, so we did not see the top of the table below us. As well, the mist started to roll in and we wanted to finish our ascent and then start descending to the car park.

We met a couple of English walkers who were coming up the hard way, in our view, as the trail dropped down really steeply near the end and was in very poor condition due to the wet weather.

After completing our walk, we drove toward Portree and stopped in at the viewpoint to Kilt Rock. Kilt Rock is a 200-foot high cliff with columns of dolerite which have the appearance of pleats in a kilt. Then we drove to Portree to Aros, a film and music centre. It was busy with people having lunch so we dropped into the café for tea.

The rain is blasting sideways again, so we are back in our cottage and will crack out a bottle of wine. The wine is cheap here in the grocery stores and there are always several types on sale.

Today there is a wind warning for the Skye Bridge, as it is that windy. The forecast for tomorrow for western Scotland is ‘amber alert,’ translation - horrible, it will likely be a day for the indoors.

Trail to the Fairy Pools, or not!