The Isle of Skye You Don’t See

When you think about the Scottish Highlands, it's almost impossible not to picture the Isle of Skye. The jagged coastlines, the dramatic mountains. I've been building this place up in my mind for a long time, but nothing quite prepares you for the real thing. This is the final chapter of my journey across Scotland, and I saved the best for last. The road to Skye has already taken me through some extraordinary places. Ardnamuccain, the wild, remote western tip of the Scottish mainland, where I found a kind of quiet that I didn't know I was looking for. And Torridon and Ascent, ancient mountains, dramatic passes, and weather that kept me on my toes every single day. Scotland has already blown me away, and somehow, I still have quite the adventure ahead of me. My first stop on Skye was Elgill Beach on the southwestern coast of the island. From the shoreline, the full sweep of the coolant mountains fills the horizon. This jagged, dramatic ridge is the backbone of Skye, rising sharply from the island's interior and dropping almost straight down to the Atlantic. The coolants are unlike any mountain range I've ever seen, dark, volcanic, almost serrated against the sky. And then there's this relationship between these mountains and the water in front of them, the way the sea pushes right up to the base of the hills, and the whole scene is constantly changing. Even in the moody, overcast conditions, it was awe-inspiring. I've arrived in a lot of places on this trip and felt something, but standing on Elgill Beach for the first time, the words are hard to find. Skye has no shortage of incredible places to explore, and over the next few days, I want to experience as many of them as I can, especially the quiet ones. The solitude I've experienced on this trip has been something that I didn't expect to love as much as I do. And first up on that list is a hike to Brothers Point, tucked away on the northeast coast of the island. Not the most well-known spot on Skye, but exactly the kind of place I was looking for. The path drops down from the road through open sheet pasture, with the coastline slowly revealing itself as you descend. The views back up the coast are beautiful, even on this gray morning. And then you round the final corner and your breath is immediately taken away. Brothers Point sits on the north coast of Skye, where the cliffs are built from ancient basalt columns, stacked and fractured by millions of years of geological pressure. The formations here are so dramatic, and the view looking up and down the coastline from this point is just plain incredible. You can even see Kilt Rock in the distance, with Mealt Falls spilling directly off the cliff edge into the Atlantic below. That afternoon, I drove north towards the very tip of Skye, skirting briefly beneath Keerang, the otherworldly landscape of ridges that define the northern part of the island. The goal is to reach Ruha Hunish, a remote bothy perched on the northern cliffs. The walk out across the moorland is exposed and open, and as the weather came in, it took on a pretty wild feeling. After about 30 minutes of walking, a small bothy appeared on the clifftop ahead of me. This is the Ruha Hunish Lookout, a restored coast guard station that once kept watch over the northernmost point of Skye. It was decommissioned decades ago, and has since been converted into a bothy, open to anyone who makes the walk out here. There's no electricity, no running water, just four walls, a few windows, and one of the most spectacular views in Scotland. I really loved looking through the guestbook inside, realizing how people from all over the world have enjoyed this same view. I sat in there for a while, gratefully out of the wind, looking out through the windows at the coastline stretching away. It was a perfect end to a perfect day. The next morning, I spent some time wandering around the village of Portree, the main town on Skye, and the best base for exploring the island. Portree is small, but it has everything you need. Good coffee, local restaurants, and a harbor line with brightly colored buildings that somehow look even cuter in the rain. It really is the perfect little village to walk around without a plan. It was still raining as I left Portree, but I was holding out hope, so I made my way back towards the Coolans and stopped at the Sleaghahn Bridge to wait it out. The river was absolutely roaring from the overnight rain, the mountains darting in and out of the clouds. By this point in the trip, I've learned to just find a good spot and be patient. Scotland always comes through eventually. And just like that, the clouds broke. It really does feel like magic how quick the weather can shift here, and I think this next destination will be the perfect spot to take advantage of the blue skies. A visit to Talisker Bay Beach. The walk-in is short, maybe 20 minutes from the car park through sprawling farmland. It feels unassuming at first, but the moment you reach the beach, it feels like you've found the truest form of paradise. The water was this unbelievable shade of turquoise, the kind of color you don't associate with Scotland until you experience it for yourself. And the waterfalls cascading from the clifftops were beyond imagination. There's something about seeing blue sky in Scotland after days of grey that give you a whole new appreciation for it. Like the landscape saves its best self for the moments when the light finally comes through. I haven't experienced a proper sunset this entire trip, but this evening the forecast was looking promising. So I raced back across the island to Elgold Beach, hoping for the best. And it was absolutely worth the wait. The light that canvassed the coolans that evening was something that I won't forget for a long time. It was one of those sunsets where you keep thinking that it's peaked and then it gets even more beautiful. Standing on that beach in the last bit of light, it felt like sky was gifting me a moment that I'll be thinking about for years. The Keyrang is iconic for good reason. A dramatic landscape of cliffs, pinnacles, and grassy terraces that look almost sculpted. Early in the morning, before the crowds arrived, it was genuinely stunning. But sky has a way of rewarding people who look a little further. And just up the road, most visitors drive straight past one of the most beautiful spots on the entire island. Duntullam Castle sits on a clifftop on the northern coast, exposed to the full force of the Atlantic. Built by the MacDonalds of Sleet in the 14th century, it was once one of the most powerful strongholds in the Hebrides. The solitude out here was so special. A reminder that you don't have to venture far off the main road on sky to feel like you have the whole island to yourself. With the weather shifting again, I headed to Dunvegan Castle. And honestly, it's one of the best things you can do on sky on a great morning. Dunvegan is the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Scotland, home to the MacLeod clan for over 800 years. The castle is surrounded by a series of beautiful gardens. And even though it was a bit early in the year for a full bloom, it was beautiful to wander around nonetheless. Honestly, I was really looking forward to seeing inside, as I've never been in a castle before. The MacLeods have lived here continuously since the 13th century, and the rooms reflect that. Portraits, artifacts, and stories layered on top of each other across generations. There's something humbling about standing in a place with 800 years of continuous history behind it. You can't fully understand the weight of all that, but you feel it. And I think that's enough. With the afternoon storm clearing faster than I expected, I got the window that I've been waiting for. This was the moment I've been building towards since I arrived on Sky, exploring the Ramassag cliffs. From the small settlement at the end of the road, a short path leads downhill through open farmland. First the view is understated, and then the angle shifts. The Ramassag cliffs drop away in front of you, sheer and massive. These are some of the tallest sea cliffs on Britain. Hundreds of meters of ancient rock falling straight into the sea. It's truly impossible to grasp the scale of this scene. The light kept shifting as I walked further along the cliffs, with golden hour slowly taking hold, and the Atlantic churning below. I kept going until I reached the furthest point I could. A narrow headland jutting out into the sea, nothing but open ocean ahead. And standing there, watching the sun drop towards the horizon, the cliffs glowing, and the waterfalls catching the last bit of light, I felt it. That feeling you chase when you travel to places like this. The one that's hard to name, but easy to recognize. Like the world is bigger than your worries, like you're exactly where you're supposed to be. It is my last morning here in Scotland, and wow what a magical morning it's been. I woke up to a fresh dusting of snow in Portree, and drove out here below the mighty Collins to such a beautiful sight. The range is entirely covered in a fresh layer of snow, and it just looks so majestic this morning. I came into this trip with three goals in mind. The first was to embrace the chaotic nature of Scotland's weather. The second was to come home with the perfect Scottish wool sweater. And the third was to capture three photographs that I was genuinely proud of. And after some reflection this morning, I think mission accomplished on all counts. I definitely embraced the weather. Scotland threw a lot of different conditions my way, from 60 mile per hour wind gusts in Torridon, to beautiful sunny days here on Isle of Skye. And yeah, through all of it I was outside hiking, driving around, just trying to make the most of it. I also found the perfect sweater from the Loch Cairn Heritage Weaver Shop, and I couldn't be more excited about it. Like I said at the beginning of this video, I try and find a sweater from every destination that I travel to. I think it's just the perfect souvenir and reminder of an experience that you can actually use day in and day out, and will hopefully last for the rest of my life. And for the final goal, I felt so inspired to use the camera over these past 10 days in the Highlands. And I feel so grateful to have come away from this trip with three photographs that I'm genuinely proud of, and that capture the feeling of this experience. Thank you guys so much for following along on this adventure. I couldn't be more grateful to bring you along in this experience. And yeah, I'm very sad to leave today, but one of the best parts of any adventure is the opportunity to reminisce and reflect. And I am excited to have that perspective from this adventure through the Scottish Highlands. So thank you guys so much for watching, and we'll see you around.