The northwest coast of Yell is the roughest part of the island — the coast that faces the open Atlantic with nothing between it and Iceland — and the sea stacks and cliff faces here have a scale and severity that the sheltered eastern voes do not. Ern Stack rises from the water off the headland, a pillar of rock that the sea has been working at for longer than Yell has been inhabited, and the birds have claimed what the water has left. Fulmars nest on ledges that look impossible, and in summer the noise and smell of a stack colony is its own argument for the detour.
Getting to the best viewpoints requires walking, and the paths on the northwest are unmade and sometimes wet underfoot — appropriate footwear and a willingness to navigate by landmark rather than signpost. The light in the evening, coming off the Atlantic onto the dark rock and white birds, is the best reason to time it right. This is not a managed attraction or a viewpoint with a car park; it is simply a piece of coast that rewards the effort of reaching it.