Duncansby

Our next night's lodging was in Dornoch for 2 nights. From that base we made it a day trip to the Duncansby Stacks. We drove to the far north and east corner of Scotland, to a place called John O'Groats. The best I can figure, the little town exists only because of its ferry terminal with boats leaving toward the northern Scottish islands. It is a high sharp point that sticks out into the North Sea and is a danger to shipping, so there is a light house. A good walk south of the light house are the Duncansby Stacks, a picture perfect part of Scotland.

Next stop; Inverewe Gardens.

This is the view looking south from the lighthouse. When I say it's a good walk, it's several miles out to the point where, looking back, the best views of the stacks are. As you look down through the photos, I'll take you on the walk, at least vicariously.
The area is home to lots of species of sea birds; Gulls, Puffins, Eagles, Hawks and many many more are native.
We've come a short way on our walk. The weather is good although there is some risk we'll be rained on. We can begin to see how high the cliffs are from here and we begin to get a better view of the stacks.
The walking is pretty easy. The ground is mostly dry and firm. There are sheep paths we can follow along the cliffs. And where there aren't paths, we walk through the heather. Not difficult but a bit like wading through a shallow surf.
This is pasture land and it's fenced to keep the sheep from falling off the edge. Tourists too, I suspect. Good to watch where you're walking as well as watching what we're walking to see. I start to wonder how we'll answer the immigration question about being on a farm when we return to the states.

We've come about a third of the way to our destination. The sun begins to peak out and we get a foretaste of the views to come.
The point we're walking on is mainly sandstone and subject to erosion from the North Sea during strong winter storms. But the erosion wears away the sandstone unevenly leaving these towering pillars a few hundred feet tall.
They form a safe place for birds to nest and offer picture perfect vistas for the photographer and tourist.
Time to turn around and head back. We have walked far enough that we've seen no other people in some time. We have only the sunshine, a light breeze, the birds and the sheep for company. Lovely day. Long and lovely walk. One of the high points for me and certainly made the trip worthwhile.