13 August

We took the early train from Fort William to Mallaig. This follows the same route as the Harry Potter steam train, but is a normal train. It is billed as one of the world's most scenic train routes, and to my mind delivers. It winds along through highlands that seem empty of everything except sheep. In Mallaig, we found time to do a little shopping at an outdoor clothing sale in the community center. I bought a pair of gloves and a rain cover for my pack, and Janene bought some gloves.

We took a ferry to the Isle of Skye where we rode a bus to the town of Portree. We had bakery goodies for lunch before hiking the local three-mile trail along the shoreline and up into the hills. We picked about a cup of raspberries along the trail. The bus got us back to the ferry landing on time, but the ferry was 35 minutes late. There were many huffing puffing joggers between the landing and the train station as we all hustled to catch the last train of the day back toward Fort William. We saw some deer on the return trip, and Janene got her picture of the Hogwarts train trestle. We didn't see any flying cars.

On a sad note, I lost my little multi-tool knife, pliers, etc, today. It had served us well. We also saw what we believe to be the highest fuel prices along our route. Diesel was ₤1.26/Litre, which I calculate to equal $7.35/gallon. ₤1.20/Litre ($7.00) has been the normal price in most of Scotland. That's quite a bit higher than on most of the continent.

Hogwarts Express route (but not on the official steam train)

private car

Loch Eil

longlines in the loch

Glenfinnan Viaduct from

the Harry Potter movies

moraine hummocks

east end of Loch Eilt	Loch Eilt, looking west	Loch Eilt moraine
outskirts of Mallaig	Isle of Skye	looking toward Isle of Rùm

Ferry from Mallaig

Armadale ferry terminal

Must Meet Train!

Isle of Skye

overcast skies

falcon in the clouds (from previous photo)

Ornsay Lighthouse

Loch na Dal	Broadford Bay	Loch na Cairidh
south of Dunan	looking north toward Isle of Raasay	Loch Ainort

our road through the mountains

Eas a' Bhradain

view from previous road

Isle Of Skye Golf Club

east end of Loch Sligachan

Sligachan Campsite

south tip of Loch Portree

Loch Portree

Portree Hike

Portree Harbour	River Chracaig waterfall	Scorrybreac Trail map (larger map)
Portree Harbour from trail	Black Rock

offshore salmon farm

zoom on salmon farm

another photo of salmon farm

Janene on trail

view from trail

heading back to town

Amanita 'shrooms

Bus & ferry back

leaving Portree	Glamaig mountain	Highland cows
back at Loch na Cairidh	Ornsay Lighthouse again	waiting for the ferry
ferry finally arrives	returning to Mallaig	at Mallaig Ferry Terminal

Hogwarts Express return trip (still not the steam train)

Loch nan Uamh Viaduct

back at Glenfinnan Viaduct

"Hogwarts train trestle"

no flying cars encountered

Banavie Swing Bridge & canal locks

The Jacobite Steam Train (taken August 14)

More photos of the official "Hogwarts Express" train

The Jacobite Steam Train (taken August 15)

passenger compartment (taken August 15)

dining car (taken August 15)