Our stay for the night in Oban was at the Wellpark House, a comfortable stay with good bike parking at the rear (a few other bikes there too) with helpful staff and quite a large continental breakfast to help start our day. On the lead up to the trip the weather was always going to be a bit 'iffy and sure enough a light drizzle as we lefty Oban to head out toward Glencoe and Fort William. The chosen route took us inland and although a bit damp to start off with by the time we reached The Green Welly at Tyndrum the sun was shining and the temperature was rising towards the 20's.
Today's ride would lead us to catch our second ferry across to Skye from Mallaig and thankfully the forecast for the crossing looked good. For this crossing we had pre-booked and cost about £8.00 each using the CalMac route. The sailing time was 14:45 with a 20 minute check-in time so we needed to be there for 2pm. As ever the ride through the 'mighty' Glencoe was great as the big mountains appear on the run up and you get to thunder through the big valley between them after. Not too much traffic considering it's holiday season so I decided to take a small diversion before reaching Ballachulish on to the B863 and ride the very picturesque loop around Lochleven to Kinlochleven crossing the bridge to Kinlochmore continuing the ride on the opposite side after a short stop to admire the view (below).
We had the usual slow moving convoy through Fort William and out the other side but I did notice there were no coaches this time so at least we were able to get through the traffic easier before peeling off on to the A830 toward Mallaig past Loch Eil. We both really enjoyed this road the further west it went past Glenfinnen the wilder the scenery became and the faster the free flowing bends came on us as we quickly ran past Loch Eilt, both pausing for a short while to stop at separate times at the road work convoy system to admire the view before pressing on with a gentle cruise to the outskirts of Mallaig. I had now met up with Mark again who I lost behind in the traffic of Fort William, but didn't have to wait too long to see him appear in the distance on the empty road down. Great fun.
While waiting for Mark I couldn't believe this scenery was typical of the UK, it did seem more like another continent to me!
We arrived at Mallaig over an hour before check in so parked up and grabbed a drink and lunch with a wander around. The ferry staff didn't seem too concerned with strapping the bikes down suggesting it was "Did Cam" (Scottish accent) which I took to mean dead calm, so put my trust in them and left my bike in gear. most people sit in the vehicles for the duration but not being an option for us we sat atop the outer deck to look at the views across to Armadale.
While on the ferry we quickly loaded the route to loop us around Skye. The weather was perfect for us now, we were concerned last week today would be a wet one so decided to press on with the Skye route today rather than defer until the morning - the contingency plan if the weather was too bad. A bit of camper van traffic after disembarking before getting out into the wilds of Skye, however our first stop was Fairy Glen. Mark had been here before and it was featured in ABR so we decided to park up and walk up the hill to this strange enchanting bowl shaped valley with the tower like rocky outcrop at one end. Fascinating place almost like a miniature island view with quite unusual ridges sculpted into the hillside. Mark was feeling athletic and legged it up the 'tower' part, I tried it later but 'erm .. the gap through the rock was a bit too narrow for me and I didn't want to scuff my boots!
After Fairy Glen we turned right on to the Quiraing mountain road. Quite a short but dramatic road as it cuts through a huge landslip. The view was stunning from the top and I couldn't resist a 'Highlander' moment as I looked down on Mark taking the picture with his phone below me.
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| Amazing road! |
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| .. "there can only be one !" |
Before our ride down to the hotel on the eastern side of Skye we passed by the 'Old man of Storr', a huge pinnacle of rock caused by the landslide. This is the closest you can get to it by road, yet still spectacular as the misty cloud swirls around it. Something quite mythical I thought. The next part of the ride is quiet and quite barren as the road hugs the coastline before heading back into the lively town of Portree. We are staying at the Dunollie Hotel in Broadford overlooking the 'Inner Sound' and not too far for tomorrows ride along the Kyle of Lochalsh. A good basic hotel with clean rooms and though the car park was a bit tight for space somewhere safe to park the bikes. Excellent day!
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| Riding the Eastern coast of Skye toward 'Old Man Of Storr' |
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| Old Man Of Storr |
