June 25, 2024
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| Buried here: The Old Man Storr. The giant's thumb sticks up from his grave. |
The grandeur of legend is rich in Scotland. The Norse giant, The Old Man of Storr was buried at this place, but he was not buried well, and to this day one can see that his thumb protrudes from his grave.
Others, like the geologists among us, believe differently, but never-the-less, find the sight of Storr's thumb still impressive. Choosing to believe that a 60 million year-old basalt flow initiated by the opening of the Atlantic Ocean flowed and formed this volcanic deposit at the separating of the European and North American landmasses. Erosion and landslides over the ages separated the thumb from the mother deposit, giving us this legendary pinnacle.
The time has come,
To Climb under Storr's Thumb!
It's down to me.
The change has come to get under Storr's thumb.
Naturally, as a geologist, I wanted to hitch a visitation to see this thumb of Storr's. This hike was steep, and we opted not to spend the time and lung power to get all the way to the base of the thumb, close enough and good enough for a great view out across the Inner Sea of the Western Isles.
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| Our hiking objective, Storr's Thumb (skyline on right) |
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| Our Gaelic guide to the pinnacle of Storr's Thumb |
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| A small loch at the base of Storr's Thumb |
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| Mark scans the geology and geography from an elevated position on the Isle of Skye |
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| The Sunesons at Storr's Thumb |
The midges, tiny black biting insects the size of pepper grains from a table shaker, plagued and bit us as we ascended the slope to get near Storr's Thumb. Usually in Scotland, one can count on a good Scottish hoolie [strong gusty weather] to keep the midges at bay. Our luck was to have very calm weather and hence, to have a swarm of midges leaving their marks on our exposed skin.
Other places that day were equally calm, but thankfully no pestering midges.
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| The view of the coastline on the Isle of Skye from Storr's Thumb |
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| Kaileen and Grant leading up the trail |
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| Inga at the apex of our Thumb hike |
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| Sue and Mark rest upon a rock above the Isle of Skye |
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| Foxglove on the slope of Storr's Thumb |
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| Brother & sister reunite in Scotland Under Storr's Thumb |
Like a Rolling Stone, Under My thumb:
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