Climbing Ben Nevis, hiking the Highlands & touring Isle of Skye

Summit of Ben Nevis with friends Marco & Brett

Last weekend I went with some English and Italian friends to climb Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in the British Isles and then to see the Scottish Highlands and the Isle of Skye. The climb was amazing, as we started at sea level, as the mountain is next to a tidal loch and climbed (walked) to the top. The weather changed rapidly and went from sunny to pouring rain to hail and finally snow. The mountain (4,409 ft tall) is barely a hill for Colorado standards, yet it has claimed more lives than Mount Everest. As a matter of fact, one person died on the top the day after we summited. Our group was seven and we had planned to encounter the elements so we took winter and waterproof gear. The wind along the way was up to 57 mph, which at times made me feel quite cold, but the views were amazing during the walk up to the top. 

Eilean Donan Castle

After summiting Ben Nevis we drove to Eilean Donan Castle, which is located in another tidal loch (at the intersection of Loch Alsh and Loch Duich) with links to the Sea of Hebrides and The Minch. The castle was built in the mid-1200s to prevent Viking attacks and to safeguard trade routes. The castle was partially destroyed during the Jacobite uprising in 1719. The castle may have been rebuilt earlier, however the nobleman who owned the land had volunteered to teach the American rebels a lesson and was subsequently captured and died in an American POW camp after being captured in October 1780 at the Battle of King's Mountain (South Carolina). In 1911, MacRae's grandson, Lt Col MacRae-Gilstrap, acquired the property and had the castle rebuilt as the headquarters for the Clan McRae. MacRae-Gilstrap placed the property into a charitable trust (Conchra Charitable Trust) to avoid death taxes and capital gains on his heirs and for the benefit of the public and preservation of history and heritage. The castle is reserved for a two week period during the year for the exclusive use as a summer cottage for Baroness Miranda van Lynden and Maj Gen Alistair Stewart. Eilean Donan is idyllic Scotland, as it is situated in a loch, with rising highlands and moors surrounding the magical castle with heather and gorse on the bonnie banks of the brae.

view of Scottish Highlands from Plockton

From Eilean Donan we continued driving the A87 to Plockton, a small fishing and holidaying village which is in the situated with vistas of both Scotland's Highland mountains and the Isle of Skye. It has tidal or sea lochs on one side and the Hibernian Sea on the other. I included a photo from this village (it is the one with the fishing boat and houses and highlands). One of the girls suggested we do a ceilidh (traditional Scottish dance), being that I knew a few steps I was persuaded to led out. Some neighbours watching us out their window came running to join and pretty soon we were doing multiple dances and more and more people joined till our original seven had grown to 14! It was unbelievable - I have never seen such a thing, but in the movies - Plockton is definitely a special place and for the few hours we were there felt like a little Heaven on Earth. 

Red Cuillins on the Isle of Skye

On the Isle of Skye we hiked in the Cuillin hills toured the Talisker whiskey distillery - the weather was brilliant and did not produce any rain! Talisker was a lot of fun and was the only tour I've been on where they gave you samples before and after and the locals asked you to describe Colorado. I should be getting paid for the marketing and publicity I give my home state while travelling ;-) The whiskey was very good, as it had both a hint of peat and the smoky arromas and smell of sea mist. The Cuillins are divided into the reds and blacks, based on the minerals in the rocks. The odd thing is that only a glen separates the reds from the blacks (the photo of me hiking is from the Cuillins). Skye was also very beautiful and in classic Scottish tradition, there are not many trees and what trees there are were imported from the United States over the last 150 years. The Scots like to say there were trees on all the hills, but the English burned them or cut them down to build the Royal Navy of the British Empire. This is not accurate, as much of the lands are too acidic for trees and bog land is good for peat, but does not produce a stable environment for forests. That said, it is speculated that the result of baron hills is from making range land for cattle and especially sheep and that just like the rain forests in Brazil, when the forests are cut down, they are never able to be replaced due to the acidity of the soil. I don't know if I believe this, but it is a theory. None the less, the treeless Highlands have become a trademark of Scotland if forests could be re-grown, they would defeat the image Scotland has sold for the world for the last 300+ years. 

hill walking in the Highlands

Upon arriving back in Edinburgh I have kept busy by researching about the law of Maritime Piracy, as I am looking to publish and article on the topic and played several games of tennis, along with playing tourist by climbing the Admiral Lord Nelson Monument which was built in Edinburgh to commemorate the victory of the French Navy at the Battle of Trafalgar. I went with an American-French friend who pointed out that the story was completely different than what his mother had taught him. I have also been trying to plan gaps in my summer and catch up on unreturned emails and possibilities for post-bar internships.