Wednesday 5 May : to Glenbrittle and Coire Lagan

This morning started with an overcast but while driving to Kyle of Lochalsh the higher clouds dissolved. The hills around us - having their own weathersystem - kept their blanket of clouds. Despite major road maintenance on Skye we reached Glen Brittle YH at 9.45am. Enough time to check in and put on our walking clothes.

Our goal today was Coire Lagan, a relatively short walk but still wetting the appetite for more hills. This was going to be Gillean's first hillexperience. His previous heightrecord stands at 160 meters.

The track started at the Mountain Rescue building and we soon caught up with a group of - excusez le mot - tourists. To Gillean's delight one of the members of the group turned out to be a Dutch woman. Someone else to talk to instead of dad !

From Loch an Fhir-Bhallaich we saw the Rubha an Dunain peninsula covered in very low clouds while we were walking in glorious sunshine. Coire Lagan itself was also hidden in clouds. Negotiating the vulcanic slabs just before entering Coire Lagan itself turned out to be a doddle for Gillean. His first wee scramble and he was ahead of us all on the lovely gabbro.

In the picture you can spot Gillean at the edge of the lochan just left of the big boulder. The low clouds added to the mysterious feeling of being at a sacred place.
We had lunch and a walk around the wee lochan before returning to the youth hostel.
I think Gillean did very well today and tomorrow we'll be going to The Old Man of Stoor and The Quiraing.
I've never been there myself and hopefully Gillean will experience some more of Scotland's mysterious touch.   

Tuesday 4 May : arriving in Newcastle

Yesterday we left from IJmuiden harbour in The Netherlands. The sea was quite rough and during the first hours big waves were crashing the ship from the north. The 'King of Scandinavia' from DFDSSeaways is a big ship but the movement of the ship did put another dimension to walking. One big step forward, two to the right and other variations. Gillean and I didn't get seasick and we slept well regarding the circumstances.
This morning we arrived in sunny Newcastle upon Tyne. Our goal was Ratagan YH near Shiel Bridge. We started driving at 9.45am and followed the A1 towards Edinburgh. Of course (?) it started to rain as soon as we crossed the border with Scotland.
At 4pm we arrived at Shiel Bridge, it had dried up and there was occasionally sunshine.
Tomorrow we'll drive to Skye.