Scottish Highlands

First of all, let me admit that I had no idea what to expect from the Highlands. I was really quite shamefully ignorant of the area before booking a tour through them to Loch Ness. This was my first view of what was to come...

Sara and I were, needless to say, pretty excited.

The next few hours left me speechless and in love.

The Scottish Highlands are mostly a region of wilderness--the largest in Europe in fact.

It is peppered with manmade settlements and structures, like this cool rail bridge that was abandoned in the 80s due to recurring rockslides. It's now a hiking trail that I plan to return to hike someday.

That snowfall that prevented us from getting to Inverness is what you see here blanketing the landscape. It was nearly 3 feet deep (1 meter) in some places.

I was stunned by the beauty of the area, snow-muffled and eerie

Most of my photos were taken out the window of the tourbus, so I apologize for the awful pattern in the window reflection. The beauty of the landscape doesn't translate well with my bad photography skills.

Each snowy peak and freshwater loch was more beautiful than the last.

90% of Scotland's population lives in Southern Scotland--the upper 80% of the country is home to less than 10% of its people

It's not hard to see why there are so few people up here. 

The whole upper half of Scotland is split with lochs, deep rifts in the crust filled in with water. Britain gets a significant amount of its drinking water supply from Scotland's rivers and lochs.

Insert obnoxious tourist selfie here

The mountains are actually quite small--the tallest is Ben Nevis, which stands only about 4000 feet above sea level. It is, however, the highest point north of the Alps.

So many obnoxious selfies. #Sorrynotsorry

The photos sort of all blend together, but it definitely didn't feel that way when I was taking them.

The weather stayed perfect for us--very brisk and cold, but no new snow!

Such beauty. Very wow. 

One of these mountains is called Mt. Durin, which Lord of the Rings fans will appreciate. I see what you did there, Tolkein.

The sky was heartbreakingly blue, and most of the snow which had been there for days had yet to be disturbed by a footprint--animal and human alike.

The sun would light up some of the more distant mountains very nicely.

I went to Scotland, see?

Such an unbelievably beautiful area, I want to come back in summer and hike it. Will definitely visit again!

Have a pretty sunrise picture. Because I was awake to see it happen and therefore you should appreciate it.