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that morning we managed to see quiraing in the clouds, mist, rain and sunshine.. and all this within only 3 hrs!
starting point for quiraing visit is a car park located along the minor road going between staffin and uig. when driving from staffin it's easy to find -there is a signpost for quiraing. it's about 5 mins drive from the main road, and you cant miss it. the single track road will take you steeply up to the cliffs height (thanks goodness it's not a busy road!) and just at the top -there is a reasonably large car park.
from the car park, take the path signposted for flodigarry.
generally, there are 2 ways of seeing quiraing. easy one -from the car park follow the flodigarry path directly to the weird rock formations and come back the same way. this will take between 1.5 - 2hrs.
there also is other way to see it -more difficult (but not much) as it involves going to the summit of quiraing.
this was what we decided to do. from the car park, still take the flodigarry path but very soon turn left and climb up the hill. at first there isn't any well defined path only grassy slope but you will be able to see where people walked. soon enough you will join a well defined path going along the cliff's edge. follow it.
during our visit, the summit was well covered by clouds and at first we did regret taking this route. but then we realised that this dance of clouds and light brought some kind of magical atmosphere. and after all we managed to see something from the top too
we reached the summit rather quickly, then walked down to the pass. I imagined it will be a gully of some sort that would lead us steeply back to the glen. fortunately, the path led us gently down and when we reached the edge of cliff it became steep, of course, but not for long, maybe 20 metres only. at the end of the day going down was much easier and pleasant than I anticipated.
there is one main path going underneath the impressive cliffs and dozen of smaller ones taking you to the hidden corners and rock needles. take time to explore
the main path goes back to the car park, the only thing I wanted to mention is a stream crossing. at one point there is one, rather awkward. summertime -no problem but in winter it might be icy and wee bit of a challenge.
steep winding road to the cliff's edge level
rather cloudy
quick glimpse around before more clouds come
quiraing summit
magical atmosphere
.. and finally some sunshine, at last we could see the beautiful surroundings!
who knows where the sea ends and the sky begins...
that's it, rain comes back
last glimpse before heading back home to Edinburgh
take care
Ela
