The Old Man of Storr
Captured on a solo trip on the North West Coast.
This was the second day of one of the best trips I have had in Scotland. I had embarked on a four day solo trip to the North West Coast of Scotland, camping and travelling to different spots.
This day in particular could be written in a Visit Scotland blog. It included waking up at Neist Point on the Isle of Skye, watching Orca's glide past, driving to the Old Man of Storr and then over towards Applecross taking on the Applecross pass & finishing watching the sun set over Applecross bay. This day deserves it's own full post in the future.
However, the middle part of the day was taken by visiting the Old Man of Storr, iconic image of the Isle of Skye. It had been something on my bucket list for a long time and I feel very fortunate to be able to tick this off.
What I would say is that this is one of the most popular tourist sites in Scotland, especially in Summer. Be prepared to wait for a parking spot in the paid car park, I had a bit of a shock on approach.
After finding a space I began the short, but surprisingly steep ascent towards the Old Man himself. Named due to being able to see a face of an old man in the rocks profile. In all honesty I struggled to see this but its an amazing rock formation by itself.
The walk up is really enjoyable, if a little busy. There is also a clear path and stone steps, so no navigation or difficult terrain to deal with. I did however, have an old man moment when someone landed a drone right next to my head. A few choice words were exchanged...
Finally, reaching the summit of the stone stairs you get a great view of the Old Man. There are lots of little hillocks and viewpoints around the stone and it is from one of these that I climbed and took the image that is used in our artwork.
Visiting the Isle of Skye this has to be number one on your list to visit in my opinion. Not because it is any more special than some spots on Skye, in fact I think there are quite a number of more beautiful or epic places, but because of how iconic this image has become. Seeing this yourself feels like you have really been on the Isle and felt how old and enduring it is.