Here we are riding into the gaping maw of the ferry for a short ride across the Pentland Firth. The total ride was about two hours, and we passed by Hoy again on our way south. We even got to see the Old Man of Hoy clearly, who had was shrouded in mist the last time we had a look at him.
Once we arrived we had lunch, got groceries in nearby Thurso, and headed westward. At the Lidl store we bumped into Marion, our recent German acquaintance who we mentioned meeting in Stronsay. Even though we are far from home, we have glimpses of how small the world is.
We stopped first at St. Mary at Crosskirk.
The Kirk was built in the 12th century, and surprisingly it resembles kirks built in Orkney and Norway vs those in Scotland during the same period. This reflects the strong influence of the Norse at that time. The Kirk was adjacent to a broch that was excavated in 1972.
All that remains of the broch is a cairn that was erected to mark its location. The sea has since claimed the rest of that
We also stopped at two chambered cairns, built over 5000 years ago as grave sites. The panorama shows the Cnoc Freiceadain long cairns in the foreground, and Baillie Windfarm to the right. In the center, on the horizon, is the island of Hoy, Orkney.
Carrying on westward we made it to Strathy that night. Stopped in a pub and found ...
A piano!!! We whipped out a few tunes, sounding a bit rusty, but sure enjoyed a pint and a tune!
We got a hot tip from the barman for a place to stay back up the road.
We had a great view of the Strathy beach, and use of the community building. We pitched the tent up the hill a wee, and used the facilities in the building for a sink-bath, doing dishes, and a midge-free place to eat. Yay! Midge free!!
When in Brawl, what does one do??? :-)
It's pretty remarkable how isolated some of the phone boxes are! This is along the north coast, and there wasn't a village for a long ways in either direction.
We were blessed with good weather for a couple days straight (almost a record!), and enjoyed distant vistas. And, as a side note, notice the little black bricks in the foreground. That's peat. Peat is cut and stacked to dry, and then used for heating in the winter. In another few hundred millennia, this would be a coal seam.
Late in the day we passed Loch Eriboll, and stopped in the village of Laid for a tea. The loch is very long (approx 16 km), and we went half way down on side and all the way up the other.
Near to Durness we stopped at the Smoo Cave. Cool name, and it's huge! (Smuga in Norse means cave for all you word junkies) The cave is being eroded from both ends - freshwater from the hill side and sea water from the north. We went a ways inside, and enjoyed a break from the midges. This cave has a long and fascinating history- recent archeological evidence has been found indicating that three of its caverns have been used as a home and workshop for generations - by the Vikings, and by previous hunting and gathering societies. Recent history is somewhat more morbid. A henchman for the Clan Mackay Chiefs is said to have deposited 19 murdered bodies here, as he knew others would not look here due to the feared cave being associated with the devil at the time. Later, in the 19th century, two excise officers requesting to inspect the second inner chamber for an illegal still were intentionally taken under the waterfall in the cave, where they subsequently drowned.
We ended the night at Durness, camping at the very top of a beautiful beach-side cliff.
The morning of the 23rd we left Durness and headed south on the A838. We decided to not visit Cape Wrath because of the complications of getting the bikes across on the tiny ferry. A few days later we learned that ferry rides were cancelled that day due to pending horrific winds. We were to learn of the horrific winds later in the day, but let's not get ahead of ourselves....
After the Cape Wrath turn we headed down the Kyle of Durness.
We passed this standing stone, a modern monument erected to recall and commemorate the Celtic heritage of the area. The stone is next to Cnoc an Cnamhan, a Bronze Age cairn dating back four thousand years. The Kyle is tidal, and the tide was out when we went by, hence the great sand bars.
We met a fellow from Glasgow doing a short tour of the far north west, and he took this picture of us. Very nice fellow, and we enjoyed his company. We had actually run across him the previous day, and then we leap-frogged hi several times over a couple of days. It is a delight to see a familiar friendly face out on the road!
We also met this guy, who happened to be out training for an upcoming marathon. We chased him for MILES up a long hill. He was going as fast as we weren't! We FINALLY passed him in a long down hill...
Kylesku for the night .... Almost there!
Heiland Coo Wi' a View.
As we neared Kylesku we were able to glimpse the western coast. This view is south of Scourie, looking west over the dozens of small islands. Just beautiful!
Here's our friend from Glasgow. By this time, the wind was picking up, so he's head-down into it. It was a tough go, with the wind and the hills. This was the last time we say him, as he was heading to Lochinver that night, far past our destination of Kylesku.
This. Is. An. Understatement.
By mid afternoon the wind was blowing so hard we had a tough time staying between the lines on the road. It was gusting from every direction because of the road cuts and hills. Brutal!
Finally we saw the Kylesku bridge. What a sight! A feat of engineering, and beautiful to look at. When it was finished in 1994, the bridge replaced a small ferry that ran across Loch Glendhu. The crews had to contend with 100mph-plus winds when they built the bridge. No kidding!
We walked around under the bridge, too...
(The bridge doesn't curve like this, really. The funkiness is a side-effect of the panorama mode of the camera.)
All that remains of the broch is a cairn that was erected to mark its location. The sea has since claimed the rest of that
We also stopped at two chambered cairns, built over 5000 years ago as grave sites. The panorama shows the Cnoc Freiceadain long cairns in the foreground, and Baillie Windfarm to the right. In the center, on the horizon, is the island of Hoy, Orkney.
Carrying on westward we made it to Strathy that night. Stopped in a pub and found ...
A piano!!! We whipped out a few tunes, sounding a bit rusty, but sure enjoyed a pint and a tune!
We got a hot tip from the barman for a place to stay back up the road.
We had a great view of the Strathy beach, and use of the community building. We pitched the tent up the hill a wee, and used the facilities in the building for a sink-bath, doing dishes, and a midge-free place to eat. Yay! Midge free!!
The next morning, the 22nd of August, we headed westward toward Durness. We had decent weather, with intermittent sun and no rain.
When in Brawl, what does one do??? :-)
It's pretty remarkable how isolated some of the phone boxes are! This is along the north coast, and there wasn't a village for a long ways in either direction.
We were blessed with good weather for a couple days straight (almost a record!), and enjoyed distant vistas. And, as a side note, notice the little black bricks in the foreground. That's peat. Peat is cut and stacked to dry, and then used for heating in the winter. In another few hundred millennia, this would be a coal seam.
Late in the day we passed Loch Eriboll, and stopped in the village of Laid for a tea. The loch is very long (approx 16 km), and we went half way down on side and all the way up the other.
Near to Durness we stopped at the Smoo Cave. Cool name, and it's huge! (Smuga in Norse means cave for all you word junkies) The cave is being eroded from both ends - freshwater from the hill side and sea water from the north. We went a ways inside, and enjoyed a break from the midges. This cave has a long and fascinating history- recent archeological evidence has been found indicating that three of its caverns have been used as a home and workshop for generations - by the Vikings, and by previous hunting and gathering societies. Recent history is somewhat more morbid. A henchman for the Clan Mackay Chiefs is said to have deposited 19 murdered bodies here, as he knew others would not look here due to the feared cave being associated with the devil at the time. Later, in the 19th century, two excise officers requesting to inspect the second inner chamber for an illegal still were intentionally taken under the waterfall in the cave, where they subsequently drowned.
We ended the night at Durness, camping at the very top of a beautiful beach-side cliff.
It was a bit breezy, which helped keep down the midges, and drizzled a bit overnight.
The morning of the 23rd we left Durness and headed south on the A838. We decided to not visit Cape Wrath because of the complications of getting the bikes across on the tiny ferry. A few days later we learned that ferry rides were cancelled that day due to pending horrific winds. We were to learn of the horrific winds later in the day, but let's not get ahead of ourselves....
After the Cape Wrath turn we headed down the Kyle of Durness.
We passed this standing stone, a modern monument erected to recall and commemorate the Celtic heritage of the area. The stone is next to Cnoc an Cnamhan, a Bronze Age cairn dating back four thousand years. The Kyle is tidal, and the tide was out when we went by, hence the great sand bars.
The valley we past through was very wide and open, and afforded these great views. Such a beautiful place to ride when the weather is so lovely! We were headed south on our way to Kylesku that night.
Looking to the south, still along the A838.
We met a fellow from Glasgow doing a short tour of the far north west, and he took this picture of us. Very nice fellow, and we enjoyed his company. We had actually run across him the previous day, and then we leap-frogged hi several times over a couple of days. It is a delight to see a familiar friendly face out on the road!
We also met this guy, who happened to be out training for an upcoming marathon. We chased him for MILES up a long hill. He was going as fast as we weren't! We FINALLY passed him in a long down hill...
Kylesku for the night .... Almost there!
Heiland Coo Wi' a View.
As we neared Kylesku we were able to glimpse the western coast. This view is south of Scourie, looking west over the dozens of small islands. Just beautiful!
Here's our friend from Glasgow. By this time, the wind was picking up, so he's head-down into it. It was a tough go, with the wind and the hills. This was the last time we say him, as he was heading to Lochinver that night, far past our destination of Kylesku.
This. Is. An. Understatement.
By mid afternoon the wind was blowing so hard we had a tough time staying between the lines on the road. It was gusting from every direction because of the road cuts and hills. Brutal!
Finally we saw the Kylesku bridge. What a sight! A feat of engineering, and beautiful to look at. When it was finished in 1994, the bridge replaced a small ferry that ran across Loch Glendhu. The crews had to contend with 100mph-plus winds when they built the bridge. No kidding!
The wind was blowing so hard that we had to walk our bikes across, and even then it was treacherous and nearly blew us over. We were stopped in our tracks by the wind in our faces, then pulled over sideways, then kicked in the pants as it came from behind. Our Glaswegian cyclist made it across on his wheels, but we're not sure how!
We walked around under the bridge, too...
(The bridge doesn't curve like this, really. The funkiness is a side-effect of the panorama mode of the camera.)
So we finally arrived at Kylesku, on the 23rd of August, after several days of fantastic weather and breathtaking scenery. In our next post, we'll tell you all about the magnificent treat of the Kylesku Hotel....
August 21- ferry from Stromness to Scrabster. Thurso - Strathy. Via A836 through Reay, Melvich. Visited St Mary's chapel and Cnoc Freiceadain chambered cairns. Total 30.3 miles.
August 22- Strathy- Durness via A836.
Visited Strathnaver museum with Farr stone (Pictish) and Smoo cave. Passed through Bettyhill, Tongue, Laid, Ceannabeinne. Total 55.25 miles.
August 23- Durness-Kylesku via A838. Visited standing stone at Kyle of Durness. Passed through Rhiconich, Laxford bridge, Scourie. Total 35.5 miles.
I've gotten behind in your posts, hence the late posting here. You guys are looking so buff!! I can really see how in shape you are! Muscles of Steel!! Many of these pictures look so much like Montana and the wind is right up there with Livingston. Enjoying all this.
ReplyDeleteAhh- thanks! Yes buffer and buffer every day. And a greater more ferocious appetite as well! We love hearing from you too- thanks for all your comments!
ReplyDelete