Scotland - Day 8

Today I bade goodbye to the Isle of Skye, sadly. When and if I come back to Scotland, I will definitely be back to this beautiful isle for more. I considered doing another hike in the Cuillen hills (shorter this time), but I was a bit tired from my hike the previous day and didn’t want to wear myself out for tomorrow’s ascent of Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in Great Britain.  It was also a bit rainy, so it felt more like a travel day than a day for hiking. I had planned a different route out of the Isle of Skye, which this time involved a fairy ride back to the mainland. Aside from simply wishing to see some new scenery, I had chosen this route because it is supposed to be quite beautiful and follows closely the route of a famous train. In fact, this very train was used for parts of the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter movies. I wasn’t going to ride it since I had a car, but thought it would be fun to at least see some of the tracks and the scenery.

But, as it turned our, shortly after leaving the ferry, I noticed the train was moving almost parallel to me. Suddenly and spontaneously, it occurred to me that I should try to get some shots of the train. It’s an old train, after all, and puts out a beautiful long trail of smoke behind her. Before long, my race with the Hogwarts Express had begun. I would come upon an area that either was in view of the tracks, or seemed to be close to the tracks (based on intuition, mostly), park my car, sprint to a good viewing point, get out my camera, and inevitably, just as I was getting ready the train would come roaring by. The first time I was late by literally just a few seconds and could only really capture its smoke trail as it shot off through the woods. I would sprint back to my car and peel off in search of the next viewpoint. It seemed like each time, I would get a little closer. Finally, at the fourth stop, at a famous viaduct in which the train is often seen in photographs, I had the train beat by a few minutes. I scrambled over a fence and up a rocky embankment to get some photos of the train crossing the bridge. As I clambered up the wet and muddy rocks, I could hear the train coming in the distance. But finally I had it beat and was able to get off a few good shots before it sped on. Unfortunately, a poorly placed electrical line blocked some of the best shots, but I think a few will be usable.

From there, I took my time into Fort Williams, only stopping to snap a few shots of Ben Nevis, its summit shrouded in clouds. I had a decent meal at a local pub downtown, and then headed to bed early in anticipation of tomorrow’s ascent.