So many wonderful pictures - the night sky ones are particularly breathtaking, and I love the image you created with the selfie. It's been several years since I made it up to that part of the world and I'm looking forward to my next visit. I often think back to one of the most memorable road trips we ever took, over 6 years ago now. I no longer have any pics, sadly, as the pen drive on which they were stored went through the washing machine by accident! But it will live long in my memory.
We'd taken a long weekend to ride up to Skye via an initial overnight stop at Lochgilphead. Part of the reason for choosing that route was that it involved the single-track road that goes past Faslane, which even at 40mph is an exhilarating roller coaster ride what with all the crests, twists and turns, flanked by the sheer rock face on one side and Loch Long (deep enough to hide a nuclear sub!) on the other. Having ridden up from the Stranraer ferry around the coast through Inverkip as far as Helensburgh with just a 15 minute break I was still in fine form, but after the final stretch from there to our pit-stop at Arrochar my arms were exhausted following what was only a further 45 minute run. Once we'd pulled in and I'd had a moment to come down from the buzz of what we'd just done, I turned around to ask "How was that?" The response - "Aye, lovely. I left my saddle a couple of times but I was able to hang on alright."
That's my girl!! Having left the house that morning to get the ferry from Belfast, it was around 10.30pm by the time we reached our lodgings, after a ride of some 250 miles that day. So when we left Lochgilphead the following morning, it was at a
much more leisurely pace that we headed north, across the Crinan canal over the swing bridge at Bellanoch and up the glorious coast road as far as Oban, pulling in several times as we crested one hill after the next for yet another paradise-like vista to be revealed to us. At one point I told my other half that I wasn't sure my brain could cope with much more jaw-droppingly beautiful surroundings - it nearly felt like it would explode! The roads were very quiet all the way, with only the occasional moments where we might encounter more than two or three cars in succession. After a lunch break at Oban we continued on up to Skye via the Mallaig-Armadale ferry, called up to see a friend in Portree and then back down to our B&B near Broadford.
The following morning, we first spent an hour or two exploring the south-eastern part of the island that we hadn't previously seen, then took the tiny ferry crossing at Kylerhea to head up towards Applecross. On such a gloriously sunny Sunday in late July, I still remember grinning at the sight of the sign at the mouth of the road we took, which read "Road Normally Impassable In Wintry Conditions". It was an incredible climb, followed by a route around the peninsula of approximately 45 miles, along which we again rode so slowly and stopped so frequently to drink in our surroundings that it took well over four hours to complete - it would nearly have been as quick on a pushbike!! But of course, speed wasn't the point at all, and we took every opportunity to enjoy the landscape around us on a bright, hot day. All along the northernmost stretch, I kept looking longingly over the sea to the temptation of yet another stretch of mountains across Loch Shieldaig, knowing that when I reached the next junction we would have to head south again, and it was with no small regret that I turned towards Ardarroch and a lunchbreak at a picnic table in the sunshine, before setting off on our way to Glencoe.
After some 9 hours in the saddle, we were very glad of the log cabin we'd booked at the hostel there and the short stroll to dinner at the Clachaig Inn. On our final day we again avoided the motorway on our way south, stopping only for lunch at Kilwinning. Then a swift scoot back to Stranraer, and three hours later we were home, wishing we'd allowed ourselves at least one extra day!
A combination of changed working circumstances and health issues in recent years became something of a barrier to many more trips of this nature and it's been a few years since I've been able to do anything of the sort. I hope to return to it some time in the next year or so, but there are other things I have to prioritise before I can get back on the road like this. That's why I'm glad I've built up such a store of treasured memories, as they'll have to keep me going until then.