Isle of Harris, Day 4 - October 1

A sunrise of gentle colors portended what turned out to be a day of dynamic whether resulting in endless photographic opportunities of every climatic condition set in this bold and daunting, landscape of mountains, glens, and beaches.  Storms were moving in which made for great wave action, but the sky was not socked in yet so we had wonderful cloud formations set against brilliant blue and great dappling of light.

We didn't get a few hundred feet down the road before we had to stop and photograph the shoreline adjacent to one of the 400 freshwater lakes that dot Harris' landscape.

Our goal for the day was to visit Luskentyre, Harris' largest and arguably most well known white sandy beach. Its size has the capacity to swallow the human form as good as any mountain scene.

And yet as we drove along the coastline we found beautiful intimate scenes and rocky inlets colored with red grasses, purple heather, yellow and orange lichen, and shallow aquamarine waters.  We drove to the end of this road, as we have done on many others on this island, passing through a collection of homes, one of which contains the workshop of the weaver who produced the lovely heather colored harris tweed fabric used to make my recently purchased coat.  We could see him working in his shop, but as his sign was not out (we were told to look for that) we sensed he did not want to be disturbed so we let him be and moved on.

Work Studio of My Harris Coat Weaver

Near the end of the road was a cemetary, most beatifully set against the backdrop of white beach, beach grassess and the waters of the sea.  We hiked down to the large beach, despite the high tide coming in.  By this time, it was afternoon so we stopped at a camping spot and had a picnic of wine, cheese, crackers, and fruit, while we gazed at the landscape before us.  Afterwards we tipped back our seats, opened the windows and took a nap in the breeze and the sound of the lapping tides.

Our Picnic Spot

Afterwards we decided to change things ups and explore Lewis' largest city, Stornoway, up in northeast Lewis.  It is an idyllic port town, with its own college, set in Lewis' castle (under renovations), college, and golf course.  We briefly wandered amongst the shops and then decided to head back to Harris in search of more photographic opportunities.  We got 'em.

We drove west, through storm after storm, and consequently, rainbow after rainbow.  We couldn't photograph them all.  We debated where to attempt sunset and decided to return where we began, the rocks looking towards Traigh Mor.

It looked like it was going to be another dissappointing sunset, with clouds socked into the west, but a couple of hours before sunset, the clouds broke apart setting upon us storm after storm, soaking us to the bone and almost blowing us from the rocks, but the storms also opportunity after opportunty of fabulous light on the mountains and beaches of Harris to the north.  Standing on those rocks seeing this beautiful repeat movie of beauty is a most profound experience and I was so thankful that I was able to share it with my husband and life partner.

The day ended with a return to the Pierhouse in Tarbert for yet another dinner of langostinos, scallops, and Sancerre.  Yes, a repeat performance of the dinner we had two nights previously, but let's face, it dining options were limited and given the quality of the food, we didn't mind in the least.

We came back to sit in our living room, lights out, taking in the shadows of the landscape and starry sky while listening to a music mix of Bon Iver, Explosions in the Sky, and Sigur Ros.  The end to one of life's perfect days.