Fairy Pools and Black Cuillins

Yesterday was a great hiking day! In beautiful weather, we started almost right in front of our door with the car down towards Glen Brittle. After just a few miles, we reached the parking lot in front of the Fairy Pools. A mountain river rushes down from the Black Cuillins and pours into a series of beautiful ice-clear pools with many waterfalls. We actually wanted to go swimming here, but since we left an hour later than originally planned, everything was already crowded with tourists. Good weather also has its disadvantages. After we had at least a small picnic, we continued by car to the sea. Loch Brittle consists of a fantastically beautiful, very flat beach with black sparkling sand. First, we sat on the warm sand and enjoyed the rolling waves. Then we headed into the heart of the Black Cuillins. This short mountain range consists of volcanoes that formed the Isle of Skye millions of years ago. They are the younger volcanoes. The Red Cuillins are about 100 million years older and have been weathered by the wind, so they appear softer. In the black mountains here, everything is even more primordial and more fairy-tale-like. One could believe that orcs are about to rush out from around the corners at any moment. After a strenuous ascent, we passed Loch an Fhir-bhallaich. Here you can often observe red deer. But we didn't have that luck today. Finally, we arrived at Sron na Ciche, the most famous cliff climbing rock in Skye. A famous sword scene from the movie Highlander took place on the Cioch, a gigantic black rock. While Martin and Mattis ended here, lay down in the shadow of the rocks and read fairy tales, I climbed a little higher into Coire Lagan. On the way back, we took a different path down, which showed wonderful views down to Glenbrittle. Here we also passed Eas Mor, the highest waterfall on the Isle of Skye. We ended our day again at the Old Inn and with a massive sunburn.