highlands Archives - Nightborn Travel

Smoo Cave (c) ABR 2016

Waterfall in Smoo Cave (c) ABR 2016

One of our first stops on the N500, after John O’Groats, was a place called Smoo Cave . I simply love caves (although I have not had the chance to go caving, I have visited caves in several different countries and continue to make it a priority when I travel), so based on that and my immediate love for the name, I just had to check this place out. The outer part of the cave that opens out onto the beach is a sea cave, while the inner cave, past the waterfall is a karst cavern. For the casual passerby, there is a section of Smoo that is freely available to anyone that hikes down the path that winds its way down the sea cliffs from the parking lot to the beach-front. This includes a large, stone room that is covered by a thin carpet of green, and a wooden walkway that leads back to a view of the waterfall that is the main visual prize of the location if you can’t go on the tour. Unfortunately, we didn’t do the tour ourselves, although it was very affordable, because we weren’t sure when the last group had left, and we didn’t want to wait around for a half hour for the next one. Pretty lame excuse! But we did still have a lot of driving left to do, and the weather was steadily going downhill, so we weren’t even sure that there would be another tour at that time, since rain can cause flooding in the cave.

The bridge between Loch a’ Chairn Bhain and Loch Gleann Dubh (c) ABR 2016

The views coming south from Smoo Cave south to Lochinver were some of my favorite from the trip, and heavens, I was sad that we weren’t prepared for a hard hike. For one, if you ever drive this way- please stop at the turn off just north of the bridge between Loch a’ Chairn Bhain and Loch Gleann Dubh. The bridge isn’t particularly artful, although it is oddly pleasing to the eye… perhaps due to the juxtaposition of the concrete structure and the towering highland mountains beyond. The Lochs are breathtaking too, and I hate to say it, but in my opinion, much more beautiful than Loch Ness, although they are much smaller and lack a prehistoric monster (as far as we know). Driving past the bridge (south) you will then get some great views of the mountains that have stuck in my mind ever since the trip- three peaked Quinag to the west and Glas Bheinn to the east. Even when we visited the Isle of Skye, there were not mountains that outmatched these for beauty and mystique, in my opinion. And regardless, they are both great examples of highland mountains, and worth a gander if you like challenging hiking.

Little Assynt Estate (c) ABR 2016

There is also some easier walks that you can check out on the way down from Lochinver to Gairloch. For instance, the Little Assynt Estate has a very nice area to walk around in with great views of a little loch and the mountains, as well as a place to sit and relax (and maybe fish as well?). The trails are dry and mostly flat here as well, so they make for a nice break from driving if you don’t have the proper equipment for a highland hike. We also walked up from Gruinard Bay to Eas Dubh Falls – which was a nice stroll along the beach, but the hike itself, up from the ocean into the hills to the waterfall, was quite boggy. Due to this, and our lack of proper, high-top hiking boots, forced us to walk through the bracken more than I would have liked, and I ended up getting a tick. So, do plan ahead, bring good, waterproof shoes, and be aware that Scotland does, in fact, have ticks. I definitely did not regret this second hike, however, as the waterfall was beautiful and the trail was deserted.

If you want to see more picture of my journey through Scotland, as well as past pictures, check out my travel Tumblr here.

On July 1st, I am planning on posting about the cities and castles of Scotland.

Feel free to leave relevant comments and/or questions below.

Eas Dubh Falls (c) ABR 2016

Example of the route (not exact to what we did).

I love roadtrips. How many times have I mentioned this in my blog? Many, I am sure. But it is still as true now as it ever was, so please take that into consideration when I say that the N500 of Scotland is one of the best roadtrips that I have ever been on. I got the idea for this journey from a Guardian article, and we actually replicated this intinerary fairly closely. It is a great little outline, unless you have more time, in which case I would suggest taking a day or two more on the way down from Wick to Lockinver- especially if you like to hike (or walk as they call it in Scotland). In any case, this means that we travelled from Inverness to Wick, Wick to Lochinver, Lochinver to Gairloch, and then Gairloch to Oban over the course of our roadtrip.

When I used to think about the UK, I imagined rolling green hills sprinkled with little villages, and webbed by narrow roads. The image is based on what I can remember of a two week trip I took to Ireland in 2012. This was nothing like that.

Urquhart Castle with Loch Ness in the background (c) ABR 2016

Actually, the drive from Inverness to Wick was somewhat like what I imagined, but that was no indication of what was to come. On the particular day that we did this drive, we first went a little south from Inverness down to Loch Ness to visit the ruins of Urquhart Castle . While the castle itself is little compared to the sprawling fortresses that you can see elsewhere in Scotland, there was something enchanting about these ruins. Maybe it was the fact that the famous loch was the backdrop to the crumbling walls, but I think there is just something that I love about such places… the element of imagination that you need to immerse yourself there can be so personal. It wasn’t a long drive down from Inverness, and even though it rained during the free tour, we enjoyed our time there, and it was unique among the castles that we saw in Scotland. After spending the afternoon wandering through the old rooms, now open to the sky and elements, we started north, up to Wick, and through the green pastures that I naively expected (somehow, despite having read the article that I posted above).

Pole at John O’Groats with the Orkneys beyond (c) ABR 2016

Our longest drive was on the day that we traveled from Wick to Lochinver. That morning, we drove as far north as possible, joining the ranks of bicyclists that had made the long journey from Land’s End in the south of the British Isles all the way to John O’Groats, the northern most point of mainland Scotland. There we looked out across the sea to the Orkney Islands, and posed next to the white post that marked this special point. After that, it was down the west coast and into some of the most beautiful landscapes that I have ever seen in my life.

The road that we followed south took us into the mountains and along sweeping coasts. While the white beaches and cliffs dropping off into the blue sea were lovely, it was really the peaks that I fancied the most. Many of them swept up from the ground with steep, stark and treeless flanks. Those mountain sides reached up into the low lying clouds on many occasions, but when their crowns were revealed, the bracken and grass gave way to dead stone, traced by veins of water making its way back to the earth after its stay on the summits during the winter. On some mountain tops, that snow may never melt, even in the depth of summer.

To be continued on June 15th.

The highlands (c) ABR 2016

Tag: highlands

The Scottish N500: The Scenic West Coast of Scotland Part Two

The Scottish N500: The Scenic West Coast of Scotland

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