England-Scotland Day 9 (Part 3) – Going up the Quirang in the Isle of Skye

11 April 2010

Shortly after leaving the Mealt Falls and Kilt Rock carpark, we approached the Quirang. This is the mountain range that Bill had told us about during breakfast.

We caught our first glimpse of the Quirang from the A855.

We could see tiny figures of some people on the mountain top as we took the single track road that will leads us there.

We turned off the A855 and took a single track road that zig zag up the mountain. It was like “Applecross Pass” driving all over again.

We passed some cyclists. It was amazing to see an elderly man on a black bicycle going up the mountain on the road that we were taking. This road will lead to the other side of the Skye peninsula, so he must be taking a “short-cut” by cycling up and down this mountain pass!

We left our car at the car park near the peak and explored the flat surface of this “table mountain”. We had to be careful not to fall off the edge. We were now the “tiny people” seen by cars below.

There were a few trails for walks at the top of the Quirang. We took a trail that leads to the weird formations of pinnacles and pillars, stopping often to enjoy the views.

View from the Quirang. Car negotiating one of the many hair-pin turns on the single track road.

Here, we were taking the trail at the top of the Quirang that leads to the weird formations of pinnacles and pillars.

Stopping for a photo.

View of the single track road that we took to get to the top of the Quirang.

Mom and daughter moment – enjoying the sun and views of Skye and the Applecross peninsula across the sea.

Putting my tripod to good use - Family photo at the Quirang.

After the walk, we went back to our car and back-tracked down the road we came from and headed towards Staffin. If we did not backtrack down the way we came, the single track road would take us across the top of the Quirang and down to the other side of the Trotternish peninsula.

Once back on the A855, we continued northwards to see the Duntulum Castle.

Cottages at the foot of the Quirang near Staffin.

As the Quirang is a mountain range, a panoramic photo is needed to show its complete majesty.

The photo below is created from several photos stitched together using a panorama-maker software.

Panorama of the Quirang – one last look at the mountains taken from the A855 road as we travelled northwards.