(soft music) - [Narrator] What makes a journey complete?

Is it arriving at some destination you've picked on a map?

Or is it being present in every step that is taken along the way?

(soft music) Travel is always more than going somewhere and coming home.

It is a practice of learning more about the world we live in and a chance for horizons to be expanded.

And like dawn warming the chill of a dark night can be a gift of realization that humans, no matter what landscapes we live upon, are all surprisingly the same.

(soft music) The second half of our road trip through the Scottish Highlands continues.

- It's nice when a (indistinct) works out.

- [Narrator] The tools we use to learn and teach focused on new frames of the rugged wild that Scotland has always held.

- [Speaker 1] Hey John, how did you do with those blue jeans?

- [Narrator] We explore the home of a mythical monster and discover the not so scary side of Loch Ness.

- So much time and so much effort has been put into trying to discover the story of Nessie here.

I really feel like, and this could be the day.

- [Narrator] hen the winds and gray of Inverness become a backdrop to a journey into the past, to a place where stones tell stories.

- [Speaker 1] If I touch this and disappear, John, come look for me.

- Some of mystery and speculation.

- What we're looking at is 4,000 year old grave markings, basically.

- [Narrator] Others of Scotland's brutal history on a cold battlefield.

Forever marking centuries of struggle that ended here when Highlander clans united in one final fight for freedom.

(soft music) Scotland finally shows us it knows how to do wild weather too.

- It's not exactly favorable, but hey, we're in Scotland.

- [Narrator] That leads to a discovery of a remote village we still can't believe was here.

- This thing is right down off the cliff on the rocks.

This is bizarre.

- [Narrator] As our adventure comes to an end in the east, a final stop in a small town captures our hearts as an unplanned visit here reminds us there is still so much to see.

- And it just happened to be on this ridge line, sun's back lit, Scottish castle in the background, and it all just sort of happened.

Thank God.

(soft music) - [Narrator] And as the Highlands slip away below us on our return home, we realize a journey to Scotland never truly ends.

(soft music) When you travel, the world becomes a smaller place.

- [Speaker 1] Pretty incredible stuff.

- When you explore with friends like mine that are outdoor cinematographers, destinations definitely come to life.

(thunder rumbling) Okay, that was loud.

- [Narrator] We share our love of travel with our cameras.

Telling the stories of earth's most amazing places in every frame, but on every adventure.

- [Speaker 2] Oh shoot Dave.

- [Narrator] The unplanned moments are the ones we remember the most.

- [Jon] I did bring a bag of raw chicken.

Hang on, I'll be right back up.

- Here we go, Lake Como.

- [Narrator] I'm Jeff Aiello.

- Go bridge.

Ooh.

- [Narrator] And this is Outside: Beyond the Lens.

- It's not always about the obvious big view behind you.

Sometimes the prettiest things are right below your feet.

(upbeat music) - [Presenter] Production funding for Outside: Beyond the Lens provided by visit Fresno County, nature, diversity found in the heart of California Central Valley from Fresno and Clovis.

You can drive to three nearby national parks.

By Hedrick's Chevrolet.

- Hedrick's Chevrolet is proud to support the spirit of travel in each of us.

Every journey has a first step, adventures start here.

- [Presenter] By Advanced Beverage Company.

Serving Bakersfield and Kern County for over 50 years, from our family to yours.

Supporting Valley PBS in the wonders of travel.

Buy The Penstar Group promoting opportunity and growth for collaboration and partnerships for the future.

By Hodges Inc Battery Storage Systems.

Would you rather invest in the power company's infrastructure or your own?

And by Visit Yosemite Madera County, California's gateway to Yosemite National Park.

Explore the outdoor magic of Madera County and be inspired to discover more.

(soft music) - [Narrator] There is a downside to road trip travel, which is usually done to cover a lot of ground fast.

When you find something as special as the town of Portree on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, you don't want to leave.

But still, you must.

With a promise whispered to yourself that you will return to share this place with the love of your life or friends or both.

(soft music) As Zack, Dave, Jon, and I leave our most recent favorite place on earth.

We get to experience a part of sky that was hidden in darkness when we arrived here two days before.

(soft music) The Isle of Skye marks our halfway point on a nine day road trip through Scotland, beginning and ending in Glasgow.

A long loop drive across the Highlands.

There is a no frills honesty to the landscape here.

A take it or leave it sensibility that embodies the vast expanse of Heather Moore, wind and rock.

(soft music) Crossing the sky bridge, we leave Scotland's largest island behind and continue on our journey north.

On this trip we're staying at vacation rental homes along the way.

So far, they've been a smart alternative to booking hotels since they're usually found away from town, giving us that sense of living in these areas instead of just staying in them.

- [Jon] I like it.

I like that we had Dave's sleeping arrangement, custom sleeping arrangement in the living room set up.

- [Narrator] A farmhouse just outside of Inverness will be our next home for two days.

About a three hour drive from the town we are coming into now.

The village of Dornie on Loch Long.

Home to the iconic Eilean Donan Castle.

(soft music) Originally built in the 12th century as a defensive stronghold to repel attacks by Vikings, Eilean Donan Castle has seen centuries of violence and many versions of repair.

The castle played a major role in the Jacobite Uprising of 1715 and was later completely destroyed by British Naval Cannons in 1719.

In 1919, Eilean Donan was purchased by a private citizen and restored to become today Scotland's third most visited castle.

(soft music) Moving further inland, now the stark moorlands are replaced with wide river valleys and thickets of oak and birch in fall colors.

It is here where a giant rift in the geology of Scotland has formed one of the country's largest lakes, a place well known for another large mystery that has sustained over the years.

It is a place that has captured my imagination since I was a boy and saw my first TV show about the monster of Loch Ness.

- [Dave] You're flying Loch Ness.

- I am.

This is surreal right now.

Ever since I was a little kid, I was probably seven years old and I used to watch a TV show called "In Search Of" hosted by Leonard Nimoy, Spock from TV "Star Trek".

And I was always fascinated with Loch Ness and the idea that there was a creature swimming in these waters.

And now I'm here flying a drone over.

It doesn't even feel real right now.

- [Dave] So the kid in you came out again huh?

- The kid in me is thinking that damn that thing's gonna pop up right now and I'm gonna bag it.

People that know me well know that what I really wanna see is Bigfoot riding on the back of Nessie, but chances of that are slim at best.

- The lore of Nessie aside, Loch Ness is a stunning place for photography.

It's the second largest freshwater lock in the Highlands behind Loch Lomond.

And if you come when the fall colors are exploding, you might catch yourself enjoying the scenery more than scanning the dark waters for a glimpse of the legendary monster that calls this place home.

(soft music) (wind rustling) - [Jeff] Yeah.

Not the best day to shoot.

- Yeah, it's gonna be a whirlwind.

Gonna be a whirlwind.

(Zack chuckling) - [Jeff] We'll figure it out.

- [Dave] Yeah, figure it out.

- [Jeff] I mean, we're having fun shooting from the carport.

- We need one of these days.

- [Jeff] Yeah, we were getting away with murder here.

- No, and today actually ends up being a pretty good day for this to happen so.

- [Jeff] Yeah.

(soft music) - [Narrator] After pushing our luck with weather in Scotland for almost a week now, a large storm we've been tracking for days has finally arrived.

The farmhouse we're staying in is just east of Inverness and only a few miles from one of the most historic sites in all of Scotland.

So we're going to use the gloom and rain and wind as a soggy backdrop to better understand the Jacobite Uprising of 1746 and the bloody battle on the fields of Culloden.

The stories of history tend to be written by the victors of wars, but Culloden does an excellent job of splitting the museum into two sides, telling both viewpoints along a timeline that led to the battle here in April of 1746.

The clans of the Highlands came together a year before in an uprising to support Prince Charles Edward Stewart's claim to the British throne.

The Jacobite Revolt was successful in taking control of much of Scotland, but by the spring of 1746, under the new command of Prince William Duke of Cumberland, British forces had pushed the retreating Jacobite army back to Inverness.

With a naval blockade decimating the Highlander supplies and money, the Jacobite army assembled for battle here at Culloden Park.

A flat, wide open expanse five miles east of Inverness.

Once the battle began, it did not last long.

An invaliant Highlander charge directed into Cumberland's first and second lines.

Jacobite casualties were shocking.

The battle of Culloden lasted less than an hour.

Nearly 2,000 Jacobites laid dead on the moor.

Only 50 British soldiers were lost.

(soft music) Prince Charles Edward Stewart eventually escaped to France, but the pursuit of the Stewart cause was ruined forever.

In the misty rains of the battlefield today, Clan (indistinct) where the brutal hand-to-hand combat took place.

The weather adding to the solemn realization of the hallowed ground we now walk on.

(soft music) - [Jeff] Hey John, how did you do with those blue jeans?

Nice call.

- Really good, yeah no.

I'm super stoked on my situation currently - [Narrator] With a lot of the day left to explore, we decide to embrace the storm with open arms and see just how bad it can get.

After looking at the latest weather reports and realizing that the storm is raging in from the North Sea, it becomes pretty clear what must happen next.

A drive to the rugged coast north of Inverness, about an hour away to the Tarbat Peninsula.

To see the fury of this storm firsthand, to feel its winds in our faces and to possibly ruin some expensive camera gear.

A quick look at Google Earth and with no researcher planning, we see a castle indicated on the map and punch it into the GPS.

A few right turns on some secluded farm roads takes us to a cliff where an angry North Sea growls at our arrival.

- Well, it's blowing hard out here.

It was a long drive out.

What did we do?

About an hour out here from Inverness and we came to this castle.

It's listed on the map, but we drove up.

It's a private residence, but really the reason why we came out here is we wanted to get on an eastern facing shore to this big storm that's coming in.

Come walk with me, let's go check this out.

It's blowing pretty hard.

Jon what would you say?

20 miles an hour?

- [Jon] 20 knot sustained.

30 knot gusts.

- 30 knot gusts, 20 miles sustained.

And the ocean is just nasty, pissed off.

Big swells, tides way out.

So it looks really cool.

The guys are getting some cool shots of the castle, but here's what I'm looking forward to investigating when we get back in the car, I wanna look this up.

There is this town, there's like this village, I've never seen a village right on the rocks of the ocean like this.

And that place has gotta be nervous when that tide comes in with these squalls that are out here.

You know, what else are you gonna do today except try to capture as John gets blown around.

What else are we gonna do in Northern Scotland on a day where there's a huge storm?

I mean, I guess you could sit inside and watch "Braveheart", which we did this morning.

But now it's time to get out here and we're digging in.

It's cool because this is kind of what it is out here.

- [Narrator] The town we spotted on the cliff requires a deeper dive, literally down to the rocks where the scant ensemble of cottages and cabins sits.

- So we're gonna, we found the little road going down.

I feel like we shouldn't be going down here, but there's also a part of me that's super curious about this.

But man, oh man, there's people living, literally on the ocean here.

The road takes us down to sea level where we are delivered to the ocean side hamlet of Rockfield, Scotland.

- Are you guys blown away right now?

Like I'm- - [Zack] Wild at high tide.

- [Dave] Oh man.

At high- - [Zack] Rock did that.

- [Dave] Yeah.

- [Zack] Straight front it's getting some good ones.

- At high tide this would be crazy but we're- - [Zack] See that one right there?

It's getting- - [Dave] How- - [Zack] Look that.

- [Dave] How is this.

- [Zack] Alright, I need to step out.

- Okay Zack's gonna get out and you grab a couple shots real quick.

I'll put it in park.

It doesn't look like anybody's here at this one home.

I'm nowhere being looked at right now by the villagers.

I see people peering through windows.

- [Jon] A lot of telescopes in people's windows.

- [Dave] Yeah.

- [Narrator] We have never seen anything like this before.

An entire village built right on the tidal pool rocks of the sea.

After visiting with some curious locals who came to see what we were up to, we learned that the weather almost always blows in from the cliff side of town.

This particular storm beating us up today is actually very rare blowing in from the north and east.

We decide to not stay here long, partly because the storm is forecast to get worse and because we are legitimately creeped out by the feeling that we're being watched in not a good way.

(soft music) - [Dave] All right Zack, we're getting up here early in the morning to get back to Inverness now that the skies are clearing up a little bit and Zach is using this program that shows us where the sun's gonna rise, right Zack?

- [Zack] Yeah.

- [Narrator] With the storm now passed we rise early on our last day in Inverness to capture a few shots of this historic highland city.

We spot a bridge near downtown that looks like a good place to film from and we all split up to find our own way to tell the visual story of this place.

(soft music) The morning sun begins to break through a stubborn marine layer.

The muted tones of gray and white paint perfectly the ancient skyline of the Highlands cultural capital.

(soft music) On our way out of town, we make one last stop to a place that is shrouded in mystery and was inspirational to the book and popular TV series based on enchanted stones and time travel.

(soft music) The Nairn viaduct is a picture perfect feature that welcomes us to a stretch of the river Nairn, where a truly remarkable place is found.

The Clava Cairns is a 4,000 year old ritual and burial site built on a terrace above the river.

Three large tombs are surrounded by rings of standing rocks, signifying the importance of this place for over a millennia.

This has become a bucket list destination for fans of the TV series "Outlander" and the Craigh Na Dun stones that transport those who touch the rocks back in time.

- [Dave] If I touch this and disappear, John come look for me.

Nothing.

Thank God.

- [Narrator] This prehistoric site gives clues to the life lived in the Bronze Age and gives us an incredible photographic opportunity as our road trip winds on.

(soft music) With one full day left before heading home we have set the GPS in the car for our next vacation rental home near the town of Pitlochry, about three hours south of Inverness.

Along the way, quick stops for food and flight.

Not a lot of towns on this journey.

So we had, as you can see, plenty of stuff we got here at the Aldi and we're trying to knock it down a little bit.

- [Narrator] Drones launched from roadside pull offs giving us remarkable views of the southern reaches of Cairngorms National Park.

The A9 highway headed south also reveals roadside treasures we simply didn't know about, like the Ruthven Barracks.

- Alright, we stopped at Ruthven, which are the ruins of a barracks that was built here by the British as the fight against the Jacobite Uprising in 1715 was happening.

This was one of the places built, and then in 1745 when the Jacobites started to really make hay in this area, they attacked this place with 200 men.

At the time, there were only about 12 red coats in here and they were able to repel the Jacobite army.

(soft music) - [Narrator] Another full day comes to an end on our road trip through Scotland as we pull into the welcoming town of Pitlochry.

Our rental home is about 30 minutes away in the rolling hills beyond town.

The agricultural fields and stands of timber sing their own song of the Highlands as the sun sets.

(soft music) A brisk morning along the Black River as a blanket of frost signals the coming of a new season and the end of what has been a perfect road trip with friends in Scotland.

We take our time on the drive back to Pitlochry, slowing down perhaps more than we have the entire trip because we know tomorrow we'll leave this place.

Every setup is a gift, at least that's how photographers see the world.

Finding the beauty in compositions that are otherwise unremarkable.

And now close to town on a hillside overlook, a perfect Scottish scene unfolds below us.

A herder working sheep with his dogs, fall colors and a castle in the background.

A great way to end this part of the shoot and begin to run back to Glasgow.

Photography can be an inspiration to travel and it can be a method of documenting the world we see.

It is, in many ways the language of exploration we all know and use.

A form of communication that brings people closer together and our experiences more widely shared.

- 20 years, 15 years.

- [Narrator] Scotland has an appeal that speaks to the side of us that is drawn to the wilds, the outdoors, to open spaces.

It's in the spirit of the people that live here in its vibrant history and can be felt in places that will forever call you back.

So maybe what makes a journey complete is first understanding that they never truly end.

If life is the journey, then let the world be your classroom and your greatest adventure.

Embrace the unknown, cherish the diversity, and may your travels always inspire and enlighten your soul.

(soft music) (thunder rumbling) (soft music) (soft music continues) - [Presenter] Production funding for Outside: Beyond the Lens provided by Visit Fresno County, nature, diversity found in the heart of California's Central Valley from Fresno and Clovis.

You can drive to three nearby national parks.

By Hedrick's Chevrolet.

- Hedrick's Chevrolet is proud to support the spirit of travel in each of us.

Every journey has a first step, adventures start here.

- [Presenter] By Advanced Beverage Company, serving Bakersfield and Kern County for over 50 years.

Supporting Valley PBS in the wonders of travel.

By The Penstar Group.

Promoting opportunity and growth through business, for collaborations and partnerships for the future.

By Hodges Inc. Providing backup power for your most needed lights and appliances during power outages.

And by Visit Yosemite Madera County, California's gateway to Yosemite National Park, outdoor adventures and much more.

(bright music)