Locomotoring

Spending our time untethering the mind, getting the fidgets out, exploring the in-between ideas, and learning kintsugi.

Obelix’s forgotten menhir, the other famous crag

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What they are calling the The Old Man of Storr, I am calling Obelix’s menhir (link). You tell me if I am wrong!

Asterix and Obelix indeed visit Scotland in the adventures in Asterix and the Picts (link)

The Old man of Storr hike is popular. It is relatively short (2.5 miles) but steep climb (950 ft), half of it on stone stairs. The biggest challenge is parking. We were advised to avoid the 10-5 timeframe so we did. We started soon after 5. The old man itself is at a lower elevation than the Storr summit, so there was a good chance that by the time we got up, the old man would have been in shadows. As luck would have it, that did not happen.

The points of interest – Old Man of Storr and the Needle rock are result of rockslip.
The eastern cliff view of Storr from where the hike starts. All the drama happens near the right edge the photo of the range – the old man and the needle.
Looking up
Bodach an Stoir (Old Man of Storr): We were wondering why the old man. My mum said looks like a pot bellied drunk old man who sat down and can’t get up. In modern Gaelic, bodach means “old man”, often used affectionately (link).
The landscape around the old man
Needle as well as the entire eastern edge of the cliff was already in shadows by the time we were done admiring the old man.
View from the needle, looking east.

Written by locomotoring

July 22, 2026 at 6:35 pm

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