Beautiful First Day

The world was too heavy!

Big hands

So we woke to a warm, slightly overcast day.  Matt's weather forecast said it would turn out sunny for most of the day so after a quick breakfast and a shift making a picnic, we packed the car and headed north to Knocken Crag which is basically the birthplace of Geology, where some geologists, Peach and Horne looked at the layers of rock at the site and worked out how old they were and therefore how they had been formed - thereby working out the details of continental drift etc.  Scotland didn't always exist at the top of England - it was attached to the USA and then somehow came apart and moved from the near the South Pole to where it is now, colliding into England somewhere along the route.  Anyway I found it interesting, and Scottish Natural Heritage had done a good job of the site - putting in lots of explanation boards, sculptures etc etc.

Nice quote 

Climbing boy

It also included a walk which took in the cliffs of the area so you could see the different layers of rocks in the geology - the top layer was 1000 million years old and then they got younger before getting older again.  There were quotes, sculptures as you went round to keep your interest - the walk was actually longer than we expected 1.6 miles - but it was worth it - we saw lots of great views including ones of Stac Pollaidh which we were planning to climb later (we were recommended this by a friend in Ingleton who knows the area well).  Must say the view of the mountain was a little scary - it seemed to just rise up vertically, but I was assured there was a proper path up it.

Atop Stac Pollaidh

So, we arrived at the car park at Stac Pollaidh (pronounced Stack Polly) - it was windy but a fine day.  Certainly warm - over 20 degrees, so no need for jumpers, coats etc etc.  We put our boots on and headed up.  This was a short walk, but quite steep.  The ascent to the top was under 1.5 miles, but it was uphill all the way - no level walking or downwards walking, just up, up, up.  The path was well marked, and mainly stone steps meaning it wasn't hard, it was just relentless up up up.

On the way down

It took us just over an hour, but we got to the top and were rewarded with amazing views of the mountains and lochs - it is certainly a big and empty country around here.  There were other walkers around - most of which were either Dutch or German.  We discovered this last time we were in Lewis and Harris - a lot of the visitors are from mainland Europe - more so than English or Scots.  Mainly Dutch and German, but also Italian, Spanish, French and Austrian - they must really love the place to get there, also a lot with motorhomes, there are lots of places you can park for free in Scotland (including Knockan Crag, where we were this morning - the car park was full of foreign motorhomes who had overnighted there - what a stunning view they had in the morning)

It was pretty windy at the top, but we stayed for over an hour, drinking in the view.  There was a great little promontory at the top you could walk out to and have a photo taken - made it look like you were stepping out on a precipice.  It was a little scary - I didn't look down.

Not a place to slip

As we were at the top, the clouds started to dissipate, and we were rewarded with the sun shining down on the lochs and mountains, making them look even more beautiful.  It was quite a grind to finally decide to head down and around the rest of the mountain, but we were rewarded with better and better views.  It was also getting hotter and hotter.  Think we recorded 24 degrees which is mega hot especially for this part of Scotland.

Oh and Tom is a complete mountain goat - he would have got to the top in half the time it took me if we had let him go ahead.  He trounced us heading down too!  Guess the 20 hours of football yesterday means his fitness is pretty good at the moment!

We got back to the car park, happy and tired.  Matt then remembered that the Stornoway ferry was due and there was a promontory not far from the house with a lighthouse from which we could watch it come in, so we headed over.  We walked down to the lighthouse and paddled in the very clear and refreshing sea - it felt just lovely on our hot feet.  Unfortunately the ferry didn't come, but it was worth it for the paddle and views.  (Turns out the ferry is an hour later on Sundays!).  Tom started in shorts and T-shirt and ended up in just knickers (we didn't have trunks with us).  Great that he is still happy to do that, and of course he had so much more fun that way!

Panorama on the way down

Playing in the sea (before he striped off to his knickers!)

We then headed back home, stopping at a campsite which was advertising ice-creams.  We gladly tucked into one each - it had been a hot and sweaty day.  We then returned home, had showers, made tea, played trivial pursuit (still no-one has won!) and slobbed out, recovering from a busy, active and hot day.