The Old Man of Storr: Isle of Skye, Scotland

Keep going.  It's worth the hike.

One last stop.

It had been an incredibly busy day.  We had been to most of the main attractions on the Isle of Skye, having started at 7:30 that morning at Kilt Rock, hiked the Quraing, saw castles, hiked Neist Point, saw fairies and cemeteries, and almost anything else you could think of.

​So when DC said one last stop...it was time to rally for one more hike.

Traveling isn't easy.  The goal of travel is to see and learn as much as possible, allowing the destination to guide you.  The weather the next day was looking iffy, and we only had so much time to make it to everything we wanted to see.  The Old Man of Storr is an iconic hike on the Isle of Skye, and we had saved it for last.  The weather makes hiking tricky, and we needed the clouds to clear to be able to make it to the top.

There are two paths you can take.  One is longer and slightly easier.  The other is shorter, but a more rigorous hike.

We were on a time frame, so of course we took the more rigorous one. 

There were a lot of steps.  The path is undergoing restoration, so there is an attempt to making it easier.  You can choose to hike just to the base, as the sights are just as beautiful.

However, we want to encourage you to keep going.  

Along the way you begin to forget how long you've hiked that day, or how difficult the track is.  The stones of begin to rise up in front of you, creating a backdrop made for classic novels and imagination.

You begin to fell you've entered a land for giants.  The Old Man of Storr sits as the prominent landmark, yet the rest of the landscape is equally as stunning.

That's the moment in which the Isle of Skye had us captivated.  The entire day had lead to the moment in which we walked among clouds and stood face to face with the earth.  Millions of years of history lay within the rock around us.  The Trotternish Mountains stood out, as the gray weather rock begged us to stand in silence and marvel at the sheer power of the rock formations.  

It had been an exhaustingly wonderful day.  Leaving the Old Man felt both nostalgic and a little bit sad, as you somehow know you won't get the moment back again.  Each trip must be unique, as the mountain speaks its own language in the silence around the stones.

As we said good-bye and descended back down the side of the mountain, we passed another couple.  We could see it in her eyes.  He was motivated to climb to the top, she was struggling under the weight of the difficulty of the hike.

"Keep going".  The words were easy to share with her.  Keep going.  The most difficult hikes are always worth it.  It's worth the struggle, it's worth the frustration, it's worth getting over the feeling of wanting to give up.

The truth of life sits within the hike to the Old Man of Storr.  So many times in life you may want to quit, or give up, or view something from afar.  But when you keep going, when you keep reaching, when you keep trying, you land yourself in a place of humbling silence and awe.  Places so beautiful they really do not need words to describe them.  These places in your life come after those tough times.  And, like the Old Man of Storr, they become just as legendary.

Don't miss this iconic hike.  Make sure that you get the right jacket and shoes.  You can find our recommendations HERE for hiking.  We saw a few people who had not anticipated the hike being as difficult as it was, and they had to give up because they couldn't hike in flip flops.  Our favorite shoes can be found HERE.  

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