-- Gallery 1-- Isle of Skye, Scotland

In July of 1999, my best friend, Paul Schweighardt, and I went to Scotland as part of my summer-long European trip. On the way to Skye, we stopped in Fort William, where we climbed Britain's highest mountain, Ben Nevis. This is Paul having lunch at the top of the mountain.

We then proceeded to the Isle of Skye, off Scotland's western coast. This is one of the my favorite places on Earth. Our first night there, just minutes after arriving at our hostel in Flodigarry,  we were rushed by van to Duntulm Castle to watch the sun set behind the Outer Hebrides (Lewis and Harris). Duntulm is in the foreground.

This series of cliffs is known as the Quairang. They dominate the landscape near Flodigarry, on Skye. Most of the cliffs are composed of a crumbly brick-like stone known as Lewisian kneiss, some of the oldest rocks on Earth. Paul and I spent a whole day up there hiking looking for rocks and sheep bones. This picture gives a good idea of just how desolate Skye is.

While exploring the moors near Uig, I found this beautiful and nearly complete sheep skull in a small stream. This ranks up there with the very best of my own photos, in my opinion.

While on Skye, we visited a place called St. Columba's Isle, which is a small island in the middle of a very small river. This was the site of one of the first Christian churches in Scotland, founded c.600 AD by (who else) St. Columba. In the river, there is some kind of natural phosphate scum, which I found quite beautiful.