“On The Road To Elgol” — Distant mountains and cloud-filled sky along the route to the Scottish village of Elgol.
We had several days to explore the Isle of Skye during or May visit to Scotland. We stayed at a somewhat off-the-grid location to the west of Portree. One day we did a popular route up the eastern coast toward the far northern reaches of the island, returning on the other side of that peninsula. Another day we headed south and east, visiting the Talisker distillery and, among other things, heading out to the remote village of Elgol on the southwestern coast.
“Two Highlands Peaks” — Soft light on green hills and two distant highlands peaks.
We came upon this scene while driving north from Ullapool, Scotland and then taking a diversion out toward the coast. (We were intrigued by signs promising that we would find blueberry scones, and we just keep going until we… ran out of Scotland at the coast! Sadly, we never found the scones.) We were traveling along some lowland valleys, and at the top of one short incline we looked back and saw this view. Initially the entire scene was shaded by clouds, but since it looked like sunny spots were moving across the landscape we waited until some of that light landed on the foreground.
“Highland Stream” — A wild stream rushes through a valley between highland mountains.
I am definitely not a fisherman. I’ve tried, both in the mountains and along the Pacific coast. But I’ve had few successes and many failures. (Eventually I decided that I did not need to carry fishing gear as an excuse to wander along waterways. A camera is a fine substitute!) But evenI have heard of the historic reputation of the fishing in Scotland’s highland streams and rivers. In my mind, a scene like this is central to that reputation — even I can imagine myself spending a day out in the beautiful landscape, wading in these waters.
“Wheat Field and Building Clouds” — Thunderheads rise above a Cotswolds wheat field.
If you are following along, it may start to be difficult to follow the itinerary of our late-spring trip to the British Isles. We started in Scotland, spent time in Ireland, then headed to England for about three weeks. The first week in England was spent on a walk between villages in the Cotswolds. We had heard about people doing that, and it sounded fun — and we were able to meet up with relatives who live in Europe.
