Plockton

We had a relaxing Sunday morning since our ride wasn’t picking us up until 11 a.m.   We made the short 1+ hour drive to our next stop.   Plockton is a small mainland village on the shores of Loch Carron.   We stayed at the Plockton Hotel, which is not to be confused with the Plockton Inn.   Our room wasn’t ready, so we left our bags and set out to explore.

Found this sign on the train station below

Trains stop a few feet down the track from this former station

Local Primary School

We enjoyed a nice walk about the village followed by some ice cream.  The buildings are set into a steep hillside, which creates some interesting backyard terraced gardens.  One was rather eccentric with what might have been a female manikin, a metal structured once used to burn wood as a navigation beacon on the loch along with many other items.  (Owned by the Seal Cruise operator)

Since we weren’t dressed to explore the footpaths, we opted for Callum’s Seal Tour.   The cruise was faithful to its name as we found seals lounging on a small bit of rock in the loch.  We were introduced to the seals by name.

We almost had a private tour from Ian and Chris, but a family with a young girl joined us.  Watching her steer the boat while seated in her dad’s lap brought back great memories of our daughter Cierra at that age.  I learned that Ian raced sail boats and we talked about the boats in the area and how if the tide is right, he races through a narrow cut between an island and the mainland.   When the tides coming in the water moves fast, accelerating  the sailboat.  He has to be careful about the depth as the cut is a land bridge at low tide.  The tides vary by over 10 feet here.  We also learned how in 2005 Hurricane Katrina was still a named storm when it struck this area.  In fact Callum’s tour boat was torn from its mooring and destroyed on the rocks.  

Next stop was the Hotel’s deck overlooking the Loch. With Pints in hand, we were invited to join a couple at one of the tables.   They were from Edinburgh.  He born and raised, she a transplant from South Africa when she was a young women.   We had a wonderful conversation with them with a wide gamut of topics.   

View from our room while tide is out

Our departure the next day wasn’t until almost 2 p.m. so we set out for a walk in search of Duncraig Castle which we had seen from the boat.  The hotel had a pamphlet with a hand drawn map of the area with two walking paths.    On our way to the path, we found a sign leading to one of the Open Air Church’s  that came to be when the Church of Scotland split.  It remains a beautiful site to this day.

Looking into the Open Air Church

Further down the road, we found the path to Duncraig Castle.  The journey took us past many picturesque  settings.  It followed a steep hillside along the water and looked back to the village.  (See first photo)  There were steep cliffs where the rail line had cut a ledge.  The land here was rich with vegetation.   Moss covered every rock and lichen was on most trees.   

Entrance to our path with the walking sticks we made

Tangled web - reminds me of a scene from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets where the giant spiders lived

Mosses covered everything including the wall beside me

Not sure what this structure had been used for

The map showed an out and back path.   Reality was several intersecting paths without any trail markings.   We tried two alternatives, but we ran out of time and had to return to the village.  Fortunately, I captured this picture while on the Seal tour.

It and the surrounding buildings were purchased and fully renovated by a private party a few years ago.