Stromness, Scotland ? My traveling buddy, Priscilla, and I had gone to Scotland intent on summiting the highest peak in the United Kingdom: Ben Nevis.

At a mere 4,406 feet, some hikers and climbers might sneer at the cautions that natives impart. But the meaning of its name widely believed to be “shrouded in fog” and the quickly changing weather than can swoop in with little notice should be heeded seriously.

Our plan had been to both hike the 4 1/2-mile trail to its summit and back down, starting at sea level, and to do some of the epic rock climbs in the area. But Mother Nature had other ideas.

In the three days we stayed in Fort William, the town at the base of the mountain, we never got a weather-worthy day to summit.

On the one day we attempted, a sign at the trailhead offered this ominous warning: “Not a good weekend for venturing onto the mountain. Do not become another accident statistic! Turn back if unsure.”

We turned back about halfway up after getting reports from other hikers coming back down that gale force winds and blizzardlike conditions had moved in up top.

Although veterans of similar nasty and unpredictable weather encountered in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, we were humbled by conditions beyond our control.

After several days of hanging around in Fort William we grew weary of remaining stationary, and bagged the idea of hiking “The Ben,” as its known.

Instead, we rented a car and headed north past Loch Ness, driving five hours or so up to Thurso on the northern tip of Scotland’s mainland. No, we didn’t see the famed Nessie and we didn’t stop to check on this myth either.

On to the Orkneys

We made two stops along the way: First was the Clava Cairns, a group of cairns and stone circles dating to the Neolithic period (roughly 4000 B.C. to 2000 B.C.). They’re just a short jaunt from Culloden, only a slight detour off Highway 82.

Tourists visit an underground chamber in the Orkney Islands off the northern coast of Scotland. There are more than 1,000 prehistoric sites on the Orkneys, making it the greatest concentration of them in Europe.

The other stop was in North Kessock on the Black Isle, where the North Kessock Hotel offers tantalizing promises of views of dolphins in the water from a seat in the restaurant.

After dinner, well-fed though disappointed at spying no dolphins, we continued north toward Thurso, a small town of about 9,000. We made it there in the early evening, and headed to a campsite on the coast just outside of Scrabster, the town where we planned to take a ferry the next morning to the Orkney Islands.

The P&O Scottish ferry takes close to two hours to get from Scrabster to Stromness, the second-largest town on the southwestern tip of what is called the Mainland island of Orkney.

You get your first look at the Orkneys about halfway there, when you spy the Isle of Hoy the second-largest island in the collection of 67 islands that make up the Orkneys.

Most breathtaking is the Old Man of Hoy, a 449-foot spire of rock that has been seemingly chiseled away from the rest of the island over time by wind and sea.

A party led by famed mountaineer Chris Bonnington first climbed it in 1966. It’s mind-boggling to consider the feat, for not only must the climber struggle mentally with the height, but there are also the elements that threaten to hoist one into the salty drink below.

Only 18 of the Orkney Islands are inhabited by some 20,000 residents known as “Orcadians.” We arrived a few days before the annual folk festival, and thus were still able to score spots in the local, independent hostel Brown’s Hostel, which cost about $13.50 a night. It’s a mere five-minute walk from the ferry dock.

Prehistoric treasure trove

There are more than 1,000 prehistoric sites on the Orkneys, making it the greatest concentration of them in Europe. And because wood is nearly nonexistent on this wind-swept cluster of islands, just about everything is made of stone. Unlike other prehistoric sites in Europe most notably Stonehenge in England the Orkney Islands’ monuments from the past are extremely accessible. There are no ropes, gates or guards to keep one at bay at most of the sites.

Our first stop was Skara Brae, an ancient village built below ground. It is a collection of eight dwellings that are linked by a series of narrow tunnels. Sitting on the Bay o Skaill, this Neolithic “subdivision” is made entirely of stone and is topped with short, nubby grass that makes it look like a golf course.

The floors are covered with sand, and each dwelling has a large room with a fireplace, beds and a dresser all made out of stone. It was inhabited between 3200 B.C. and 2200 B.C., and abandoned at some point when encroaching sand dunes and perhaps a fierce storm threatened the area.

The site was discovered in 1850, when a great storm that year uncovered traces of the structures. Historians believe that Skara Brae was inhabited continually for more than seven generations, and that no more than 50 people lived there at any one time.

Our next stop was to the Ring of Brodgar in nearby Stenness, the site I had read about in several guidebooks and the one that most intrigued me. We arrived about 10:30 at night, and because the Orkneys are so far north, some light remained. It resembled dusk, when the sky is low and the sun casts strange shadows as it inches out of sight.

The Ring of Brodgar resembles Stonehenge. It is a series of stone arranged in a perfect circle. These days, just 27 of Brodgar’s original 60 stones remain standing. Some have been wiped away by weather; others have been taken over the years by farmers who needed them as gateposts or for repairs to other stone structures.

Historians believe it was built between 3000 B.C. and 2000 B.C., and that the ring was probably part of an enormous complex of prehistoric circles in the area.

Brodgar is bordered on one side by the salt water of the Stenness Loch and on the other by the fresh water of Harray Loch. It’s believed to have taken 85,000 to 200,000 hours to build both the Brodgar ring and the Standing Stones of Stenness, another nearby ring of stones.

The stones are massive at Brodgar, ranging in height from 6 1/2 feet to 15 feet, and they’re arranged in a perfect circle that is 340 feet in diameter.

If this is truly a ceremonial or religious site, as historians believe, it seemed more fitting to see it in the quiet of night, without the hordes of tourists clamoring to touch the stones or invade its serenity. We were able to stroll around the site, think our own thoughts and soak in the mystery of it all.

As we scanned the horizon, we spotted the Standing Stones of Stenness a mile away. Though less prominent (only four of the ring’s original 12 stones remain standing), it’s no less moving. It was eerie standing in the middle of one site, watching another, as the sun finally set.

Viking visitors

We saved Maeshowe, a chambered tomb, for our final day on the islands.

From afar, it looks like a large mound of grass amid a flat field of grazing cows.

Maeshowe was built around 2700 B.C. It has a diameter of about 116 feet and is about 25 feet high. One of the unique features, though, is the entrance. The passageway, which is aligned with the sunset in midwinter, requires visitors to crouch until reaching the center chamber. Off the main chamber are three small side-cells carved into the wall.

Although Maeshowe was a burial chamber, when the tomb was originally excavated only fragments of a human skull and some horse bones were found in the smaller side chambers.

Our guide said the speculation is that Vikings who broke into the tomb through the ceiling in the 12th century may have raided its contents. What they left behind is priceless, however: early versions of graffiti.

Carved into the stone wall, using the runic alphabet, are such ditties as: “Thorni bedded Helgi Carved,” “Many a woman has walked stooping in here” and “Haakon alone took the treasure from this mound.” They also left behind some artwork, including a crusader cross, a lion, a walrus and a knotted serpent.

Unlike the Vikings, we left nothing behind but memories.