the highlands

I would like to preface this post by saying these are not my favorite pictures from my travels to the Scottish Highlands. The camera I am using does have a panoramic setting, which is what I used to take these photographs. However, the quality is often less than ideal and the photos lack a vibrancy that nature so readily provides. That being said, enjoy! 

My first panorama. This is about 30 minutes up Glen Nevis.

A bit further up, about 45 minutes in.

Here I was about an hour into my hike. It was sweating so much and thought I was much closer to the peak than I actually was. 

Ah... This is where the pretty path ends. From here on out it was less stable hiking... and snow.

I was still sweating as I entered the clouds surrounding the mountain's peak. However, I could still see people for a bit ahead of me, and the snow was minimal. 2 hours in.

This is close to the top of the mountain. The depth of snow isn't shown well here. Roughly two and a half feet of snow. Most packed down, but it was melting, so my feet still went well into the snow.

This is on the way back down. The waterfall was originally clear on the way up. Around 6:30PM, when I reached this point, the clouds had descended more on the mountain.

Scotland.

Ben Nevis, The U.K.'s tallest mountain, is about 3 miles from the loch and Fort William, where this picture was taken.

The camera kinda messed this photo up, but while I was waiting for my bus on Tuesday morning, I saw this familiar train waiting to depart. It's the actual train used for the Harry Potter series. Funny story... This train runs over the Glenfinnan aqueduct, which is a familiar sight in most of the films. However, the train 'departs' from King's Cross in London. This train runs only one course... none of which passes through England. Sorry for ruining the movie magic.

This was a town in the Isle of Skye called Portree. I only stayed there three hours. I had a weird feeling about it so I hopped on another bus and headed south.

While in Portree I took a walk through the pine forests. They are everywhere in Scotland!

Sadly, deforestation is occurring everywhere. It was so sad to see the number of mountainsides that were left destroyed from the process.

After leaving Portree I headed to Kyleakin. A much more beautiful town that was peaceful and home to my favorite picture from my trip (to be seen on Sunday).

This was taken at the bridge in Kyleakin. To the right is the small town!

The bridge.

The mountains in the background are barely visible, but this was a gorgeous sight in the afternoon.

I woke up at 6:00AM to be greeted by this. Also... this was the one day they called for rain. Shows you how predictable the weather is. 

Oban - The gateway to the Scottish islands.

Again, these are hardly the most attractive pictures of Scotland that I took. I was more concerned with a running theme than presentation today, so these are what got posted. 

Off now to 'study' for my last exam.