Neist Point Lighthouse

I didn't get going as early this morning but was away by 7:30 am. I wanted to see more of the island which I thought I could by doing three small hikes. I headed up to the west part of the island close to the Dunvegan castle. After Dunvegan it was single lane all the way to the Neist point lighthouse. There was no traffic coming out but it was still slow going. In places there were sheep and their lambs just lying on the road. When I made it to parking lot, I could see the lighthouse in the distance requiring a walk out onto the penninsula with massive cliffs on either side. Steps down from the car park had been constructed from concrete as had a path. It all felt very institutional. The lighthouse was surrounded by large buildings, I suspect had been used for military function during WW2 as there was a commanding view of the ocean looking out to the Outer Hebrides. There was tremendous bird activity on the adjacent cliffs. Birds were just soaring on the vectors of the cliffs. I watched one gull soar for several minutes without flapping its wings. Sometimes one can see whales and dolphins off the coast from the lighthouse but no such luck. When I finished at the lighthouse I walked back up the steps to the car park and out to a concrete observations structure which also probably dated back to the war. It commanded even a better view. I imagined how lonely it must have felt back in WW2 at this post watching for German subs.
I headed back to Dunvegan. A lot of traffic was flowing in to the lighthouse making the single lane very busy. The sheep had been replaced by vehicles. I wonder how many get hit by cars. At one point a farmer had set up some type of feeding bin by the road and all of his cattle were congregating by the road. I felt I was in a cattle stampede. I was happy to have a Ford Fiesta. Lots of Europeans driving campers which difficult to navigate around. After a very long ride I made it back to Dunvegan where I visited the ancient church where many McLeods including many clan chiefs were buried. In 2000 the town's people had dragged this huge stone obelisk like stone onto the promontory overlying the church. Wonderful view from the top. I lost the path and ended the hike early
I started to head off to my last hike however the TomTom GPS told me it would take 1.5 hours. I somehow took a wrong turn when I thought the TomTom was wrong and ended up in Portree. It was still 60 minutes to the trailhead. I decided to do it tomorrow when I am closer to it when I drive off the island tomorrow.Read more