Trip Report! Day 7: Around Ullapool

We woke up to rain and serious wind. It was clear that having a nice hike somewhere around Ullapool wouldn't be happening, so today would be the day that we drove up to the northwest coast.

The weather was not better when we got there, to the town (village, really) of Durness. It really was beautiful, though.

We ate lunch in a small restaurant that accidentally served Ben a ham sandwich, and had some hot chocolate to insulate ourselves from the cold.

By the time we were done with lunch, the rain had magically stopped! We got to explore Smoo Cave right on the coast.

There were all sorts of picturesque ruins all over the place in the Highlands. This was just sitting at the entrance to the cave with no explanation. It occurred to me at some point that we have falling down houses around the U.S., too, but I guess the stone construction makes them seem exotic rather than just neglected.

I love this self-portrait because you can clearly see the weather conditions in Ben's face. So windy!

There was a large hole in the ceiling of the main chamber that let in sunlight.

There was also a second, smaller chamber with a huge waterfall crashing through the ceiling. It said boat tours were available "weather permitting," but we guessed that weather was not permitting that day. It looked like anyone who climbed into a boat in those conditions would immediately be drowned.

There was a steep path heading up the opposite side of the inlet, so naturally Ben made me climb to the top.

This provided us with a good view of Durness. This isn't the entire town, but I'd say it's a good half of it.

The path led right up and over the top of the waterfall that went into the cave.

We stopped several times on the return drive to Ullapool just to look around at the scenery. The best was the ruins of Ardvreck Castle, situated right alongside the highway (or "highway", since a lot of it was single track).

From the castle you can see additional ruins of a manor house that the lord of the area built in the 1700s for his wife, who considered the castle too primitive and drafty. It burned down almost immediately and was never rebuilt.

We had an early night in Ullapool - dinner again at the Ceilidh Place (no pictures, since Ben ordered the same thing I'd had the night before and I got soup and the cheese plate) and then we watched a documentary about Scottish monarchs on the BBC because we are nerds.