The Old Man of Storr on the Isle of Skye
Date: 28-Sept-2011
Map: Landranger 23
Weather: Overcast, with a bit of sunshine and a stiff breeze
A circular walk from the car park at the end of Loch Leathan, up through the woods to the Old Man. Ascending past Needle rock beneath the Storr to the escarpment. Then turn around to retrace steps : 3 miles – as measured by the Satmap.
Finally some decent weather was forecast, so we drove over to the Trotternish Peninsula to do a couple of walks in a day. In the morning we decided on the Old Man of Storr and figured that if we were there early enough it wouldn’t be so busy. It’s obviously one of the main stopping off places for the tourist buses, but thankfully they don’t walk much further on than the ‘Old Man’ and the path beyond was fairly quiet. It might have been dry but it was blowing gustily – about 40 to 50mph. So much so that when we got up on top for the classic view of the pinnacle, Mrs RP refused to go on. I was wanting to walk the route described on the Walking Highlands website, but we ended up just walking back through the pinnacles and down through the forest to the car. But we did get high enough to look down on the main show, even though the sun wasn’t in the best position for photography. It’s a walk I will come back to get up on top to the Storr. It was a little cloudy at times but was improving as the day went on. For lunch we nipped up to the small and cosy tea room at Digg once more for soup and cake (apple and cinnamon) and tea – that’s all they do by the way.
up
through the dark plantation - ok underfoot for most of the way
the Old Man peering through a gap
out
in the open the Storr and the Old man come into view
looking
south the weather was improving
the
path climbs steadily up towards the Old Man
a small lochan reflects the Storr
it's a big old lump of rock close up
plenty of colour still abounds
the
Old Man with the Storr in the background
the
route took us up to the col ahead
the
face of the Storr is fairly unstable with lots of fresh rockfalls occurring
and
unfortunately the sun is shining right into the lens
fantastic
pinnacles
a steady ascent up to the col
the
classic view back to the Old Man
the
route leads around to the left under the scarp face - over a fence
the
view north over Loch Scamadal
a direct route up to the Storr - but it was too windy
it's
a beautiful view back down on the Old Man of Storr
I'll have to come back to get some better shots
the same view without the zoom
that's
enough now
there's
a sign at both ends
it would be a shame if this one toppled over - it will eventually as gravity takes effect
massive
rockfalls litter the ground beneath the Storr
a crumbly looking Storr