McSporran : Landscapes
I spent about 5 hours wandering about the Quiraing, On the way back I saw this spectacular sight of the low mist and cloud hanging over Cleat, The Black Fort and Bioda Buidhe.
Most photographers shoot the Old Man of Storr from a viewpoint to the far left of this point (on cliffs looking down to this spot). I wanted something different so I climbed to the foot of the cliffs behind the Old Man and took several images which I stitched into a pano. You need to be careful and keep a look out as the cliffs are dangerously unstable with constant rock falls.
Sometimes bad weather can make for good shots. With mist and low cloud hanging over The Quiraing, the occasional burst of sunlight revealed the layers of this ancient landslip. Cleat is the hill in the foreground, with Loch Cleat below.
Am Bàstier (The Executioner) to the left with Sgùrr nan Gillean to the right, with the knife edge peak of Sgùrr na h-Uamha jutting forward, the Black Cuillin Mountains, Isle of Skye
Dramatic storm clouds swirl around Sgurr na Stri (The Peak of Strife). Taken from the beach at Elgol.
I climbed to the rock escarpment above the Old Man of Storr during an early morning storm hoping that the weather would clear. Just as I was about to give up the clouds parted and shafts of sunlight lit up the Storr.
After a failed attempt to climb and camp on Sgurr na Stri, my mate Andy and I camped beside the small white bothy at Camasunary Bay. Our tents were flattened by a storm during the night. This photo was taken from Am Mam on the climb out of the bay.
The furthest west point on the Isle of Skye is Neist Point and its famous lighthouse. The lighthouse was automated about 30 years ago. However if you walk down the cliff edge and out to the lighthouse you can peer through the windows of Lighthouse Keepers cottages. They look as though they are frozen in time, with plates and cutlery still on the tables. It can be a wee bit spooky.
The Best viewpoint in the United Kingdom. Sgurr na Stri.
The moon over the island of Eigg, with the Isle of Rhum to its right. The Cuillins mountains to the right and Sgurr na Stri to the left with Loch Scavaig below.
The famous Rowan tree which hangs to the cliff edge at the Quiraing.
I frequently climb the Storr on The Isle of Skye. It is one of those iconic locations that is a must for landscape photographers. No portfolio of Scottish landscapes would be complete without a photo of the Old Man of Storr.
