We had to change accommodation for the second half of our North-west Highlands walking tour. We'll now stay even further up north with the opportunity of new walks and places of interest, which we recently explored.
The north coast of the Durness area was our first stop where we had a short walk to Ceannabeinne Township. The residents resisted clearance in 1841 and were eventually given an extra year to prepare properly for their departure, but they had to leave in the end. They certainly enjoyed great views when they lived there.
Smoo Cave was our next stop. This is Britains biggest sea cave formed from limestone. There are 3 caves in a row. The first one is a made by the sea when sea levels were higher than they are now. The next two caves are made by the Allt Smoo river. You can walk into the first two caves with the river falling through a hole in the ceiling of the second cave.
We finished exploring the Durness area with a walk on Faraid Head, a peninsula with high dunes, sandy beaches along the west side and cliffs on the east side. A beautiful but windy end of the day.
View from Caennabeinne township, Sutherland
Allt Smoo river falls into Smoo Cave
Faraid Head walk
We continued exploring walks along the west coast of Sutherland. We stopped at Loch Stack for a view of Arkle, a magnificient mountain mostly consisting of quartzite. We were lucky, there was no wind and Arkle reflected beautifully in Loch Stack.
Scourie Headland was our next stop with a nice walk around the peninsula. The views to Handa island and the Assynt mountains we great and we could even see the Old Man of Stoer sea stack.
The last walk we explored for our North-west Highlands walking tour was from Oldshoremore west along the coast with beautifull sandy bays and rough headlands in between. An interesting feature here were "sea stacks" on top of a rock platform. Another sign that sea levels have been much higher 100-200 million years ago.
Arkle reflecting in Loch Stack
Quinag, Canisp and Suilven from Scourie Headland
Sea stacks on dry land, Oldshoremore walk
We are very pleased with the walks we explored and we think that they'll make our North-west Highlands hiking tour even better. This part of Scotland should be discovered on foot and not just by driving the North Coast 500 route! So, join us to enjoy these walks and walks in the Torridon aera.
