Wandergliding: Stormy Isle of Skye

February 26^th, 2026

It was a stormy, windy, rainy and chilly day but we had to brave the elements to check out some of the Isle of Skye. Yesterday we had made plans to do a couple of loops around sections of the island, but we decided to limit that to one circuit of the northern part.

The day seems fine when you're in a fancy hotel having breakfast.

One of the most popular activities on the island is to hike to the Old Man of Storr. The Old Man is a 55-meter-high pinnacle of basalt rock on the mountain of Storr. It’s only a 3.8 kilometre hike, but on this day, viewing it at a distance from the car was all that we were willing to do.

We think that's the Old Man on the ridge...but it could be another piece of rock.

That looks like it.

Naomi couldn't get enough of the sheep.

There was a random viewpoint with a waterfall, but the view was actually better just before we arrived to a small parking lot as the cliffs around the corner of the part on the left looked spectacular...but neither of us were going to walk half a kilometre back for a picture in this weather...you'll see why in the videos to follow.

Naomi couldn't even get her rain poncho on properly due to the gusty wind.

Gorgeous...but in a couple of minutes my hands were freezing.

Retreat, retreat!

Continuing north near the coast.

At the next viewpoint, Naomi didn’t even want to exit the car…and I can’t blame her. It was a spot on the top of a sheer 90-meter cliff right by the ocean with a small loch releasing water over the edge, known as Kilt Rock Waterfalls. I took a picture similar to this, but not as good as I was worried about Naomi's phone blowing out of my hands! I returned to the car and got her lanyard to attach to the phone and put around my neck.

The view south.

The wind was gusting up to 70 km/h with rain pelting my face. Walking upwind, back to the car, I had to shield my face with my hood as it hurt!

The next point of interest we found out about from overhearing a couple in their 60s from Chicago telling another tourist that they were headed out to a beach where you can see dinosaur prints in the rocks at low tide. An Corran Beach has some prints of the Megalosaurus, a large bipedal carnivore from the Middle Jurassic Epoch, about 166 million years ago. We weren’t sure if we’d be able to see them for two reasons, the tide was coming in, and the weather was not conducive to wanting to walk around outside on a possibly fruitless search.

The road to An Corran Beach.

This was as close as we got to seeing the dino footprints. There was a woman standing near this sign and her partner was scouring the beach below in the rain...without any success of finding the prints...so we continued on.

This is what it looks like.

We accidentally took a turn which took us inland on a narrow road and we didn't see any other vehicles. After a few minutes of humming and hawing, we decided to continue as the scenery looked amazing.

The wind was so strong that waterfalls looked like they were going up!

Or at least being blown off of the mountain.

Looking back from where we came from.

Spectacular!

Once we reached the a mountain gap, it was a large plateau to get across to the other coast of the northern section of the island...it was nice, but not as beautiful as the mountains in the previous photos.

The locals.

Reaching the other side of the island.

After driving to the other side of the northern peninsula of the island, the rain and wind had abated and we decided to try a small hike at a spot known as the Fairy Glen. The area has a reputation of being a place of myth and wonder and was formed over 100,000 years ago by post-glacier landslides and erosion. It did feel like a spot for leprechauns (but it’s the wrong country!) or fairies to live and it was good to get out of the car and enjoy a walk, albeit a short one.

I liked the sign..."Please keep dogs on lead in order to prevent worrying".

Starting our little hike.

The windy path.

A few waterfalls could be seen in the distance.

Naomi by a small pond.

Okay, so here's the "fairy business". There were a couple of this concentric circle rings...

...and considering the weather, this was my opinion of them.

Naomi climbed up one small hill while I went up the other.

After the short hike, we completed our small circuit around the north part of the island and returned to Portree. We changed our clothes and then ventured to the hotel lounge where we spent a lovely, chill afternoon by a cozy fire. It was a well-deserved reward after our adventure in the elements.