(plaintive music) (river babbling) - [Jeff] Just trying to get into the moment of where I am.

It's easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of it all, and I think it's important to stop and just like appreciate where you are.

There are places on Earth that speak to us individually in special ways, a whisper to come home to landscapes we've never actually seen, a calling to discover a dream destination that when finally answered, can leave an everlasting touch.

(sea bird squawks) (plaintive music crescendos) After years of wanting to travel here, a long-anticipated road trip begins under the stretched shadows and fall colors of an October sky in the Highlands of Scotland.

(brook babbling) This adventure begins in the rolling green fields just outside Glasgow, where a sprawling national park is rivaled by lesser-known scenic treasures well off the beaten path.

- Colors, man.

- Yeah, we got fall colors.

Look at this.

Landscape photographer's dream going on right here.

Then a transition into the stark landscapes that are the gateway to the Highlands, the lonely beauty hidden in the hills of Glencoe.

It's a rough landscape.

It's tough.

It's got that rugged beauty to it.

We're gonna put the drone up here and try to grab some shots to really capture this place, a place where steady streams, dense forests, and icy lochs lead to historic towns full of Scottish charm.

- I've wanted to come to the Highlands for- - Oh man.

- You know, 20 years, 15 years.

- [Jon] Oh yeah.

- And part one of our Scotland Road trip ends on the Isle of Skye as we venture beyond the popular stops here and explore life in picturesque fishing villages rarely seen.

In America, that would've been 100 bucks.

We got it for 38 bucks.

And face strong winds that blow through medieval ruins along Skye's rugged shores.

This is a tough place to live off the land, and the Highlanders did it effectively.

- This is the older part of the graveyard right here.

These are all mid-1700s right here, and then this is apparently in the 12th century.

- [Jeff] We knew Scotland would move up high on our favorite places to travel but were left amazed at how perfect the Highlands are for this kind of adventure.

Dave, feel free to grab the six hundo if you need it out of my backpack at any time.

A photographic road trip with friends that now share a bond to Scotland we each realize we've always had.

(dreamy plaintive music continues) (insects humming) When you travel, the world becomes a smaller place.

- Pretty incredible stuff.

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

(thunder cracking) Okay, that was loud.

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... (lion growling) Oh, shoot, Dave.

The unplanned moments are the ones we remember the most.

I did bring a bag of raw chicken.

Hang on, I'll be right back.

(observer laughs) - What's up?

- Here we go, Lake Como.

I'm Jeff Aiello.

Low bridge.

(grunts) 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.

- [Announcer] 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 Chevrolet.

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

Every journey has a first step.

Adventures start here.

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

From our family to yours, supporting Valley PBS and the wonders of travel.

By 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.

(gentle music) - Well, we're on the shores of Loch Lomond, early morning, clear skies in Scotland.

That's not gonna happen the rest of this trip, I don't think, but it's beautiful.

It's a little chilly out right now.

There's people swimming out in the lake or the loch right now, getting their morning swim in.

You know, cold water therapy is a thing.

I'm actually just starting to kind of play with it myself with.

Have a ways to go.

On a crisp October morning, we wake before sunrise to capture the beginning of a new day on an adventure we've all been dreaming of for years, a road trip through the Scottish Highlands.

We found a vacation rental home along the shores of Loch Lomond, home to Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, a sprawling landscape at the geographic beginning of the Highlands, and for this morning, a popular spot for locals to take an early morning swim.

- [Jon] The water's so cold.

(laughs) - [Jeff] Is it?

Those guys just out there.

- It doesn't even feel warm.

You know, like when it's like really cold out, and you feel like it's gonna be warmer inside?

No, it feels colder in the water still, and that's insanely cold.

- I feel really lucky 'cause I know how close to disaster it can be coming here to film if you wanted to see sun.

I mean, we are expecting like overcast, gray Scotland weather, but this is a treat right out of the gate.

And we've got fall colors.

You can start to see 'em out there.

Trees are just starting to pop, and the sun obviously helps those things pop a little bit more than the dew.

But so far, we're off to a great start.

Loch Lomond is only a 30-minute drive from the airport in Glasgow, so getting here was quick.

This kind of easy first stop for us lets us get our gear up and working, and serves as a kind of warmup to shooting for the day.

It's also fun to see a slice of everyday life here in Scotland for those hardy dawn-patrol paddlers as they start their day in the frigid waters of the loch.

We planned our first day here very loosely, something we call freelance mode.

We'd like to take that first full day in a new place to recover from the travel before hitting the road.

So as we drive around the southern shores of Loch Lomond, now exploring into the farmlands and countryside not far from the town of Alexandria, we search out a place Zack has discovered online that sounds right up our alley, a hidden attraction where a stream's deep cut in the rolling hills has left a mysterious grotto carved from ancient red sandstone.

(vehicle humming) Well, we're trying to find Glinnich, Finnich Glen, Finnich Glen.

- [Zack] Finnich, Finnich.

- Finnich.

- It's Finnich.

- Finnich.

- Yeah.

- Finnich, Finnich.

Anyway, we're trying to find this glen.

(adventurous music) After Zack figured out how to read the map, we found a small parking area at a random intersection and followed the signs and trail into an open field.

The trail drops towards a thicket of trees, where the sounds of rushing water echo in the cool morning air.

And seemingly out of nowhere, a truly remarkable scene unfolds.

So we're sitting here at the top of this glen.

Yeah, it is way down, way big cut bank here.

Jon's getting some cool shots.

- [Jon] Color.

- [Jeff] Yeah, we got fall colors.

Look at this.

- Spectacular.

- [Jeff] I mean, it is- - [Jon] Spectacular.

- [Jeff] Awesome, you guys.

- Oh yeah, stay right there, Zack.

Oh my God.

(Jeff laughs) - [Jeff] We're pretty excited right now as you can tell.

Finnich Glen is near the town of Stirlingshire, Scotland and one of the area's most mysterious hikes.

The Carnock Burn has cut a 70-foot deep slot canyon from the sandstone that is now covered in moss and protected by a glen of oak and birch.

(adventurous music continues) The fall colors beginning to emerge here frame Finnich Glen into a magical early stop on what will be a nine-day road trip into the Scottish Highlands.

(adventurous music continues) The rest of our first day in Scotland is spent touring the small towns along Loch Lomond's winding shores.

A stop for lunch in Balmaha is another perfect place to stroll with cameras, capturing scenes of life in the countryside, the ever-changing weather shaping the moods and beauty of an afternoon in Scotland.

(adventurous music continues) (wind howling) (gentle enchanting music) As day slips into evening, we are now pulling over in every small town and stop that lures us in.

For landscape photography, we knew Scotland would be rich with setups, but it's the nondescript everyday life moments that we're each engaged with now.

(enchanting music continues) Our final stop for the day is back on the western banks of Loch Lomond near the place we're staying for the night, a picturesque and historic village called Luss.

(enchanting music continues) Luss is a popular stop along the A-82 highway that leads into the Highlands.

Early settlement in Luss dates back to the late 5th century, its position on Loch Lomond making it a strategic foothold between the lowlands and major cities to later flourish like Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Today, a stroll around relatively empty village late in the day with light rain moving over the loch, the yard at Luss Parish Church draws us in to walk and gaze at the kind of history imaginations add to the clues of random lives carved on stone.

So, on the other side, I was just seeing kind of like early to mid-1800s.

- This is the older part of the graveyard right here.

These are all mid-1700s right here, and then this is apparently in the 12th century, yeah.

- [Jeff] Easy for you to say.

- (babbles) Yeah.

It's pretty amazing, a Viking grave.

(enchanting music continues) (gentle plaintive music) - [Jeff] Day two in Scotland, and now the road trip begins.

We're headed north where the transition from lowland foothills to the Highlands is complete.

The climb out of Loch Lomond is a white-knuckle ride, but soon the A82 begins to widen out to resemble a somewhat normal-looking modern highway.

And with that change, blood pressure points begin to drop.

(epic haunting music) As we climb farther north on the western side of the Highlands, the forests give way to the iconic landscapes we've dreamed of.

And in our dreams, the skies looked just like this.

(epic haunting music continues) The moorlands of Western Scotland become a place of rugged balance.

Hills of Scottish heather and crowberry ascend into the mist.

Waterfalls cascade from the clouds, filling streams and brooks year round.

A chill from October winds provide a challenge for those who seek to touch this beauty beyond the comfort of their cars or touring coaches.

We got a tip from a local to take a side road up ahead for a short detour along the River Etive just east of the town of Glencoe and Loch Leven.

The narrow one-lane road has turnouts every 500 feet or so to allow traffic in both directions to access this deep river valley.

Right away we see why this drive was suggested and why this place was used as the ancestral home to the legendary spy 007 in those memorable scenes from the James Bond film "Skyfall."

(epic haunting music continues) (gentle dreamy music) (singer singing in foreign language) On road trips like this, lots of short stops and time out of the car does the trick for not only documenting the journey as we pass through different landscapes, but it gives us each an opportunity to have a personal interaction with these settings beyond windshield glass.

(river roaring) In fact, between Glen Etive and finally reaching Glencoe, we stopped several more times to capture these classic Scottish frames in camera.

But once reaching Glencoe, Zack has picked out a spot for an extended stop where we can get out and really stretch our legs walking along the Glencoe Lochan Trail.

- We're gonna see what it's all about.

There are a lot of people with cameras here, so it must be pretty.

And Zack pulled it out, so it is gonna be pretty.

- [Jeff] He's been in charge of excursions on this leg of the trip.

- It's like he does this for a living or something, yeah, I know.

- [Jeff] To maximize time, we make a plan to split up and enjoy a different part of the hiking trail system here before meeting back at the car.

- This whole thing is just under three miles, do the whole loop, so I'm just thinking- - How about this?

How about you do that?

And I'll do this.

And we should be able to get some cross-shooting there that way.

- Yeah.

- We all take off in a different direction but almost immediately find ourselves together again.

All right, so we're back together now after splitting up for 17 feet.

- Why are we in the yellow now?

(David laughs) - What?

No, we're... - Good TV, I think.

- This is gonna give us a nice woodland hike through a preserved area and a chance for us to get out of the car and actually get our resting heart rate above 50.

(birds chirping) The Glencoe Lochan Trail gets you back into a mix of dense woodland and lower moors ecosystems, with a variety of trails built for different levels of fitness.

The small lake makes for a picturesque backdrop.

And trees in the surrounding forests are so thick, you almost need a flashlight in the middle of the day to navigate this fairy-book setting.

(birds chirping) All right, so I'm doing the walk here around the lake, and you gotta see this.

The forest, these trees are so dense.

Look at that.

Let's go take a look.

Okay, the ground is like a carpet.

It's so soft with just years of duff and pine needle falling down.

But I mean, when you're in here, this is completely, almost completely blocking all of the sunlight or light from above from getting into this super dense forest here.

And then you can see, I'll pan back around, see the lake's not far away, but, wow, beautiful in here.

(wistful music) Morning over the town of Portree on the Isle of Skye is perfect.

I've long wanted to visit this fishing village on the legendary Scottish island, and I couldn't have asked for a better sunrise as we prepare to spend the day driving the well-known Trotternish Loop around Skye's northwestern peninsula.

Portree is considered one of the most beautiful villages in the UK by "Conde Nast Traveler" and is a popular destination for tourists exploring the Isle of Sky in the inner Hebrides of Scotland.

It sits atop cliffs above the harbor and is the perfect base camp for any Isle of Skye adventure.

Without a doubt, the most popular attraction on Skye is only a 20-minute drive north of Portree on the Trotternish Loop drive.

Far off in the distance, we get our first look at a formation of rock spires called the Old Man of Storr.

Whoa, first of all, Johnny, thank you for saving my life and my head today.

I underestimated the cold.

I brought the wrong hat, so I've got... And Jon's only a guy that has a head almost as big as mine.

Thank you so much.

- Figuratively and literally.

- Yeah (Jon and Jeff laugh) - Blue is more- - Strenuous and moderate.

- [David] Yeah.

- Well, I'll go one way.

You guys go the other.

- I'll hit the blue.

- All right, I'll hit yellow.

- [David] I'm gonna go blue, I think.

- Meet you somewhere in there.

- [Jeff] Which way am I going?

- [David] I don't know.

- You want moderate or strenuous?

- [Jeff] I'm feeling moderate.

- Strenuous or less strenuous?

- All right, Jeff and I will go left.

You guys go right.

- Everything is just how it should be.

The steep climb forcing me to stop and catch my breath gives me a chance to scan distant horizons and take in all of what makes the Highlands special and brings clarity to live fully in this moment.

Okay, halfway up the quote-unquote "moderate route."

(laughs) Ah, the Scottish have a different interpretation of moderate and extreme, but it's still pretty doable.

I'm not in the best shape of my life right now, but this is a good way to get back.

And Jon's down there behind me working his way up, and Zack and Dave took the hard route straight up toward the Old Man of Storr.

And it's a beautiful hike so far, and it feels good to get out of the car and get the blood pumping, get a little sweat, get a little leg burn.

(wistful music continues) (haunting music) This group of pinnacles is all that remains of a 28 million-year-old volcanic plug that has eroded away over time.

It's a striking sight to stand below these rugged features and provide one of the best landscape photographic opportunities on all of Scotland.

The Trotternish Loop is a drive full of breathtaking features, but surprisingly, most visitors mark this as their turnaround point back to Portree.

The popular Kilt Rock and Mealt Falls are worthy of a stop, even today when frigid winds off the sound are slamming into the cliffs, forcing the spray of the falls straight up, a frozen mist making photography and just standing here a challenge.

- Whoo.

It's scary.

- Life on the extreme northern point of Skye is seen and felt in the seaside towns like Stenscholl and Brogaig.

Random side roads and gravel drives take us into the heart of ancient agricultural lands that have sustained people here for centuries, thriving in tough conditions for generations.

Now on the extreme northwestern tip of the Trotternish Peninsula on the Isle of Skye, with strong winds pounding this side of the drive, we've pulled off to make the short hike to photograph the ruins of Dunhill Castle.

What's great about coming here in October, and we're so high up on the on the globe, is that the angle of the sun this time of the year in late October is really low.

It never really gets up high, so it just kind of arcs low.

So you sort of have that beautiful golden-hour light almost all day long, which is really fun for photography.

But we're just loving this drive.

It's so mellow out here.

There's not a lot of services if you wanna pack your car up in Portree with water and snacks and stuff like that.

But just cruising around, the road's in good shape, lots of places to turn out, not a lot of traffic, and a beautiful time with good friends grabbing pictures.

That's what we do.

Our last stop on the Trotternish Loop before heading back for the night is high above the harborside hamlet of Uig.

Mixing skies and a slowly setting sun cooperate in giving us a gorgeous backdrop to end our day.

Uig is a fishing village home to nearly 500 people scattered across the nearby farmlands and living in coastal cottages.

(haunting majestic music) This has been a day we will long remember.

The scenic treasures of Scotland are any photographer's dream.

There is an ease in traveling here that welcomes and a glow from within every landscape that pulls you deeper into the magic that is Scotland.

But our road trip is only halfway done.

There is more to see, to experience, and to capture.

So on we travel to points unknown but dancing in our minds, all of us now forever touched by the song of the Highlands.

(haunting majestic music continues) (monotone bagpipe music) (upbeat flittering bagpipe music) - [Announcer] 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 Chevrolet.

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

Every journey has a first step.

Adventures start here.

- [Announcer] 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.

(upbeat music)