Mountain forecast said strong winds on the tops; 50mph this afternoon, so we decided to stay in the shelter of the Bone Caves valley.

Except, it became obvious very quickly that there was hardly a breeze as we drove over.

So the plan got adjusted slightly, and we left the car park and headed up a hill called Beinn nan Cnaimhseag (570m ish) to the north of the valley itself.

And until we approached, maybe, 450m, there really wasn’t much wind at all. Good call.

The view of the Bone Caves themselves is rather good from here, and puts them in context with the surrounding landscape.

Amongst lots of other bones found here, giving the caves their name, there were the remains of three bears, all separated by lots of years.

Including the only Polar Bear found in Scotland.

Pretty amazing.

But just look at the landscape!

It takes you right back; it looks primeval. And it feels it too.

After the cairn on our only peak today, we dropped back down to the burn, to a waterfall that I’ve never seen before, and had lunch.

Its not marked on the map, and we wondered why. 

Possibly because its not as vertical as it appeared; maybe about 45 degrees. (Angle, not centigrade)

Tracking down the watercourse, we came to a familiar fall next, with interesting limestone buttresses in the rock alongside.

I know that there’s a fall at the car park too, so its a “3 fall day” for me.

Almost there, and there’s a large pool with clear, freezing cold water just erupting from the ground in enormous quantities.

We speculate where it might have come from: further up the limestone valley is the obvious answer, but other explanations might be available.

Back at the van, our walk through ancient history was over.

No bears today.