For tomorrow may rain, so I'll follow the sun (from sunset to sunrise)

As Elizabeth so aptly covered already, the sun does exist in Scotland. So on my two days on the Isle of Skye, I set out to do some sun-seeing and capture both a dusk and dawn near the top of the world.

SUNSET

My initial plan was to drive to the Neist lighthouse on the western part of the island for the sunset around 9:15 p.m. Thursday. I finished my third hike of the day at 5:30 p.m., so I figured I had plenty of time to find a tavern for dinner and make it over there. But I miscalculated how much time it would take to drive there and didn't anticipate having as much trouble finding a tavern that wasn't completely booked for dinner. By the time I finished eating, I knew I didn't have enough time to reach Neist. (This proved to be a sound decision because I made that drive the next day, and it took FOREVER.)

Instead, I chose the western side of the middle peninsula just past the Dunvegan Castle toward Glen Claigan. And I made it in plenty of time to capture the soft pastels of the setting sun.

That's the Inner Sea between Skye and the Outer Hebrides. (I think that's Lewis and Harris Isles in the distance.)

SUNRISE

Capturing the sunrise wasn't my idea. The inspiration came from two British guys who were staying at the same place as I was. At breakfast Thursday, they told me they had gotten up at 4 a.m. to get pictures of dawn from the Portree harbor and suggested I try it.

I must admit, when my alarm went off at 4:06 a.m. Friday, there were a few minutes of internal debate about whether getting up that early was worth it. Or worth anything. I'm not sure what the final persuasive argument was, but I ultimately got up, got dressed and collected my camera. And as soon as I walked outside and looked over the ridge, I could see the early light coloring the clouds.

The crack of dawn -- roughly around 4:30 a.m. -- behind the B&B where I was staying. 

After snapping a few pictures, I drove to downtown Portree. But I couldn't really find a clear place to see the sunrise, even over the harbor. So I decided to head up the coast hoping there was enough time to make it to the Old Man of Storr, which I had hiked the previous day.

As the rocks from the Old Man of Storr came in view, I could see the sun was close to breaking through and realized I wouldn't make it. So I sped down the hill, found a pull-off near a little waterfall, grabbed my camera, hopped over a boggy area and started running up a small hill. I got there in time to start snapping shots of the sun cresting over the Isle of Raasay in the far distance and a small lake in the foreground.

I just kept shooting. The photo below, which was just a few seconds later than the one above, shows the rock formation known as the Old Man of Storr, which is the thin rock sticking up. While it looks tiny there, I can tell you that is a huge rock (at least three stories high).

NOTE: I did some cropping on this photo but no color alterations. That's the raw color. 

It was all over by 5:12 a.m. After that rush, I decided to do a quick morning hike around Portree, then went back to the B&B for a nap before breakfast.