Fairy Glen: a magical place

I encountered two kinds of fairies/ferries on my tour of the Highlands. We took ferries (boats) to the various islands:  Mull and Iona, Orkney, and Skye. The other fairies were the mystical kind. There are many fairies in Scotland folklore. You never knew where they were lurking!

Me at Fairy Glen

Fairy Glen

Local people gave Fairy Glen its name because its miniature, cone-shaped grassy hills and strange rock formations look like an ideal home for fairies (daoine sith). There is a legend that the fairies who lived in the glen kept the water flowing through the glen clean and available for the villagers. 

Hillside grazing

Castle Ewan

Big grassy mound

Fairy Glen is a surreal landscape with cone-shaped hills, tiny ponds, and strange rock formations. It even has a castle. Science explains that the unique, rolling mounds were actually formed thousands of years ago by post-glacial landslides and erosion. Fairy Glen was made a protected landscape in 2003. The pictures do not do it justice. It's definitely a place you need to see.

Unique landscape

Hillside vegetation

Grazing paths

Castle Ewen is a natural rock outcrop that looks like a crumbling medieval castle (or fortress). Some of the people in my travel group climbed up into the castle and had their picture taken in front of it or between the rocks. My fear of heights kept me from doing it. The picture below had to suffice.

Up at the castle

Path to the castle

Always sheep

Nearby sheep