Some pics from 12 days in Scotland

**CameronCat** · 2nd October 14, 12:03 PM

Hi all,
It's tough to compete with the beautiful pics recently posted in other threads but I figured after almost two weeks in Scotland I owed y'all some of what we saw. This was our "blue jeans tour"; on other trips we had been controlled by events we "had" to attend and that limited the touring. This time, we just picked places we wanted to see and then went there. We put over 1100 miles on the rental car and toured the upper highlands, beginning and ending in Edinburgh.

The natural beauty of the entire area is beyond words; everything you've heard or read about glistening waters, distant mountains, big skies and abundant wildlife is absolutely true. Between my camera, my cell phone and my wife's camera, we came back with well over 1000 frames. Here's some to start, and I'll update the thread from time to time.

On a previous trip we had spent a brief time in Pitlochry, a touristy little town that captivated my wife. She wanted to return to see more of it, so we did. The town prides itself on its floral display and groundskeeping and was pretty much still in full bloom in mid-September. It has a nice old-world feel to it and is very walkable.

Pitlochry has a fine performing arts center just across the river, and a nice walking route that takes you across the hydro dam on the Tummel River. Having theater backgrounds, we chatted up a gent outside the PAC but he said there was a work party on stage so a tour wasn't available.

We walked on and crossed the dam -- this is looking downstream. An extensive salmon ladder scheme is not visible but just to the right.

Next day it was off to Skye. For someone who loves to drive, roads like this are seldom found in the US.

On the way, we stopped at the Commando Memorial, not too far from Fort William. Achnacarry, the River Arkaig and the Cameron lands are in the valley straight behind the monument.

We stopped at Eilean Donan castle which proved well worth the visit.

Then on to Kyleakin, just over the Skye bridge. It proved to be a good base of operations for touring on Skye.

The next morning, after a beautiful sunrise over Kyleakin Harbour, we set off onto the NE finger of Skye.

I'll leave it there for now. More pics to come.

Special notes:
** Thank you's have been said elsewhere to everyone who contributed ideas and info for this trip; I repeat them here.
** After discussions with Mrs Cat we decided not to make "dates for a pint" with the X-Markers in Scotland. It's not that we don't love you, but it was felt that doing so might restrict our ability to do things on the spur of the moment. So it proved; some nights we had dinner at six, other nights near ten. We did not want to be time-bound to a meeting we might not keep.
** Riverkilt: watch your PMs in the next few days.
** Orionson and Grizzly: Thanks again!

More later

**rtown** · 2nd October 14, 01:33 PM

Beautiful photos, Thanks for sharing.

**Grizzly** · 2nd October 14, 01:49 PM

You are more than welcome kinsman. So pleased you had a great trip and thank you for the lovely pictures. I look forward to seeing more. They bring back so many good memories.

**mookien** · 2nd October 14, 02:12 PM

Thanks for sharing your trip with us. Beautiful pictures! My favorite is the "off to Skye" shot. It just says "an adventure is imminent".

**Dughlas mor** · 2nd October 14, 05:45 PM

Very nice! Thanks for sharing, and I`m looking forward to seeing more.

**MacEanruig** · 2nd October 14, 05:51 PM

Very nice indeed. Thanks for sharing!

**DyerStraits** · 2nd October 14, 06:09 PM

Very, very beautiful indeed. And to think I spent my entire third year of university in the UK (at Exeter) and never made it to Scotand. Shows you how daft I was back then. It's on my retirement To-Do list however--Golf, Whisky, Cycling (not necessarily in that order) and maybe a cabin on the Royal Scotsman, if my sporran allows.

The vinyl LP record version of "Rock Island" by Jethro Tull has an album sleeve with a high-altitude aerial photo image of Skye. I was somehow immediately able to guess that when I bought it without consulting a map. Obviously a special place...