Day 11 - Skye - Torrin and Elgol
As I was getting ready to go for a run I saw an otter swimming around. We havent seen much wildlife since getting here apart from herring gulls but today was different.
I did a 3 mile planned run. It was drizzling a bit when I went out but became much heavier over the next half an hour.
The rain stopped mid morning and we went out, this time along the south westerly road from Broadford to Elgol. It was very windy and wild but kept dry.
We had a short stop at Loch Cill Chriosd and the ruins of the church of the same name.
The road is all single track with passing places but the first section, to Torrin, was busy with lorries going to a quarry. We stopped for a few minutes at the wonderfully named Loch Slapin, and then continued to Elgol. The road climbed quite high and soon we were in the clouds with limited visibility.
Elgol is a remote village, 15 miles from Broadford. We first stopped at a viewing area high above the harbour where there were views across to Soay island and then drove down an extremely steep hill to the harbour where we watched a fishing boat struggling against the high waves. We did a very short cirular walk along a stream leading down to the harbour. There were quite a few pied wagtails collecting food for their chicks.
The former primary school had an exhibition so we went to have a look. It was an interesting history of the school, which closed 6 years ago when pupil numbers dropped dramatically. Now there are only 2 primary school aged children in the village so the nearest school is in Broadford. One of these is the son of the lady running the exhibition and she has to drive to Broadford twice a day for school runs. They were selling various items designed by a local artist of which 30% of sales went to the upkeep of the building. Paul bought a t-shirt and I bought a cloth badge!
We had an ice cream in the Elgol Community Gall cafe and then started the drive back. Before long we had to stop as a herd of cows (unaccompanied) were running towards us. The cars behind the cows were tourists who had been following them for some time.
We stopped by Lake Slappin to see the Torrin Pools and Waterfalls. They are listed as a tourist attraction but there are no signs to it and it is very well hidden from the road but spectacular when you find it.
The sun started to shine as we made our way back.
After a rest we had a walk around Broadford at low tide and bought a takeaway from the fish and chip shop.
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