The last Skye before lockdown.

By Scott Jackson

Litrally 1 week before the lockdown first came into play, me and mate decided to take a couple of days up into the North and in particular, Skye. Rich had never really experienced it in all of its glory so there were a few places that we were going to check out that I knew would blow him away. As the trip was kind of last minute, we left around 9am, trying our hardest not to stop at any of the ‘Instaspots’ on route… which lasted until the Corpach Wreck, not a bad effort considering where you pass on the route.

The best thing so far was the realisation that I has actually forgot a micro for my drone….especially when passing the Glenfinnan Viaduct in near perfect conditions. Anyway, you win some you lose some. We had made our way through the 80s playlist and were about an hour away from Eilean Donan, which btw we still never stopped at. As everyone knows, that part of the journey can be a little long as its not quite as spectacular as what we had already seen. Sidenote: anyone who fanices an adventure with me will realise I have a massive range in taste in music, that can sometimes be a disaster.

As we got to Skye, it was around 3 hours from sunset and the Storr was the only option in my mind. I was buzzing, more so to watch Rich experience it but selfishly, these conditions were starting to look on my side. Now, we stopped quickly so I could pick up a memory card and with a bit of footering around we realised we were a little behind. As we raced towards the Storr (at the national speed limit for single carraigeway country roads of course…) I could see the sun beginning to do its thing.

Never do this, never run up the Storr, unless you are one of these people that run mountains for fun. I mean, I class myself as a pretty fit individual but my calves and lungs would tell you otherwise. Reaching the top in what seemed like world record time, the conditions showed up. Man, what a feeling. The pain of both my lungs collapsing had suddenly disappearred as in these moment you realise how f****** worth it everything is. The images obviously help but the experience of all this is just next level, and taking it in whilst chatting about life with mates is just icing on the cake. We wandered around for an hour or so as the sun decended on the rocks, collecting some shots as we went along.

As we got to the car, blue hour at the Quiraing was still an option. The needle was the mission, but in order to spoil your dreams early we never went that far. We did however walk the ridge for a bit, not one more soul around apart from some local woolies that call this place home. Just writing this reminds me of the laughs and chats we had, the importance of these special moments all on these breathtaking places we get to call home. The composition of the sheep taking in the views is pretty special to me, its kind of how this would all look with nobody around, and thats really what these places are all about. I creeped around in order to prevent startling them, I just wanted them to be them without knowning I was going full Bear Grylls in the background. The perfect backdrop for the perfect canvas that is Scotland.

After a full boona (a full scottish breakfast) and a refresh the next morning we left Portree to head back home, detouring to Plodda Falls on the way home after seeing a few shots online of this crazy waterfall. As you walk towards the falls, you can hear it but nothing in sight. The best way to capture this in my opinion is by drone but you can also walk down and check it out for yourself. Rich wanted ot check out the Hidden Valley on the way home but the weather took a turn and he sttill will never forgive me for “taking me to that shitty waterfall’ …worth it.

What I have realised from trips like this is pretty simple.

  1. Men don’t really take time to talk about things they should and these trips really allow that to happen.
  2. Setting the world straight with your mates up in Scotland is about as soulful as you can get.
  3. Scotland is still the best place on earth.
  4. I love Scotland.
  5. Scotland is amazing.
  6. The Boots in Portree sell memory cards.
  7. 2 collapsed lungs are ALWAYS worth it.

Cheers

Scott x

  1. jackcairney June 13, 2020 3:56 pm

    Great article Scott and love the photos! Looking forward to getting back to Skye later in the year!