30th May

This is a view of Foinaven and Arkle (two of the greatest racehorses - now you know where they got their names from!) from the A838 road that leads to Durness on the north coast of Scotland. Nice light and a nice moody day at this point - perfect for photography. Later on the clouds largely disappeared. Can't trust the Scottish weather.

As you read this (or don't as the case may be) I have just loaded the last B/W film into the canister. This is the one that got dunked at Sandwood Bay. It released from its backing paper with an audible clack clack clack as it pried itself free. While this does not bode well (I expect nothing from this roll so that's the good news) one never knows. Maybe some shots will come out like the plastic bag series on steroids. I'll keep you informed.

29th May

From Stoer Point I beat a retreat to the "main" road (ha! main road my foot). Once there I turned left or north and eventually east and followed the little B869 along the coast past Clashnessie (which has a lovely beach so I am told) and thence to Drumbeg which supposedly has one of the finest village stores in Scotland. Alas, the stores were closed for some reason - maybe because it was still considered 'out of season'. Amongst other places I reached Loch Nedd where there were several of my favorite subjects strewn along the rocky little beach - boats. From a single boat one can, if luck is with one, make a number of interesting shots. I managed to collar a small group of abstract images from the peeling paint along the sides of an old and decaying boat. Here they are (the actual boat is the first image naturally):

Continuing along this road one gets some great views of snow capped Quinag with various foregrounds:

While turning seaward there are nice views of a lovely and ever changing coast line, like this one near Drumbeg:

Eventually this road joins with the main Ullapool-Durness road just south of Kylesku. At this point I turned for home and pretty much called it a day.

27th May

For all my thousands of faithful blog afficionados out there (ha ha) I suppose you've been wondering what has happened to the blog recently. The answer, in short was WINE! Yes, Carol and I took time to go out to Sonoma and Napa Valleys in California to taste wine. That is a strange thing because I am currently on a type of medication (nothing serious, honest) that forces me to drastically cut down on my normally prodigious alcohol consumption. So, the wine region did not get its true due from me although we both still had a very fine time. In the meantime, of course, there were no blog posts. But I didn't desert you. Just think of it as an enforced rest break from all the photo prepping.

Just to get things going again, albeit slowly, here are a few shots from the gentle but cold and fairly muddy walk along the cliff tops to the Old Man of Stoer, and also from the road trip leading to Stoer:

Church Ruin, Stoer

Passing Place

The Old Man of Stoer and coast

The Old Man of Stoer

Crashing Waves near the old man

The Old man of Stoer

20th May

Remember that nice little boat at Rhiconich (the place that sounds like a Swiss throat lozenge), well, here it is in original color and here is a version taken with black and white medium format film.

18th May

After the eventful and scenic journey along the unnamed ‘F’ road that leads from Lochinver to the south through Inverkirkaig, one meets up with the road that leads east-west to Achiltbuie, jump off point for the Summer Isles. Turn left (east) at this junction and after approximately 3.5 miles one arrives at a car park on the shores of Loch Lurgainn. This is the start point for the walk up Stac Pollaidh.

In my original blog on the day I did this walk I expounded on getting old. Suffice to say that this walk had me worried. I had still not fully recovered from my day at Sandwood Bay (physically and emotionally) and, despite my easy exertions of the previous day, I fretted over the 1700 feet elevation gain up the Stac. I need not have worried. Chugging away at my usual Rocky Mountain hiking pace of ‘glacially slow but erosionally steady’, I ascended without real hardship.

From the parking lot, cross the road and soon pass through a kissing gate from where the rocky path rises steeply. This first section can be muddy. After 10 minutes or so pass through another gate and continue up the remorseless incline noting the ever improving views of Cul Beag and Loch Lurgainn and later, Cul Mor.

 There are some beautifully cross bedded boulders of Torridonian Sandstone spread all across these hillsides. 

Rounding the right side of the Stac keep an eye out for the split where one pathway (the left one) continues its ascent to the ridge and the main path continues to circle the mountain, hugging the contours more closely.

The day was fine, the clouds were scudding across the sky and the wind was modest to downright blowy and cold at times. There was even a half hearted attempt at snow when I got closer to the ridge line but it downgraded itself to an all too brief hail shower and then faded altogether. At various times I had my Rab outer shell all zipped up over my microlight down jacket and at other times it just had to come off only for the wind to start up again and force me to put it back on again. That’s the way the day went. It took me less than 2 hours to reach the summit ridge and that included copious stops for photography.

The ridge was sparsely populated and the near solitude was wonderful. The highlight of the walk is to arrive at the ridge and then wander along the rugged and fantastic outcrops of eerie rock formations searching for a way up to the summit. I didn’t attempt the real summit due to the need to scramble over some sections and my back just was not up to it on that particular day. I don’t think there is any scrambling that a reasonably fit person could not manage comfortably. 

The summit ridge with rock cairn and outcrops

Looking down from the summit ridge to the valley and Loch Lurgainn

People scrambling over a boulder that bars the way to the real summit

The views are tremendous of course and one can see all the way to the Summer Isles in good weather (which I had that day!). I had a pleasant lunch of left over breakfast croissants and water and then made my way slowly back down to the contour path. I then followed the path all the way around until it met the upward path just beyond a gate. From the north side of the Stac there are grand views of Suilven and Cul Mor.

Suilven from the north side of Stac Pollaidh

Cul Mor from the same place

The 'Stac' from the contour path at south-west

The total length of this walk was in the order of 4 miles and it took me about 4 hours but with lots of stops. If I was a fitness fanatic I could probably do it in less than 2 hours but who would not want to ‘stop and smell the roses’ just a little?

Stac Pollaidh and Fence

16th May

As promised, here are a few shots taken along the road from Lochinver to Stac Pollaidh:

Canisp at evening time

Rain over Cul Beag

Cul Mor from Stac Pollaidh (OK, not quite taken from the road)

Stac Pollaidh

Stac Pollaidh (right) and Cul Mor (left)

Suilven from Stac Pollaidh (also not from the road but at least these are all mountain shots!)

and to finish off .... as Monty Python would say "and now for something completely different" but taken from the road or from pretty close to it:

The remains of Inverkirkaig Beach

15th May

In a previous post (sometime way back in April!) I discussed the twisty little thread of a road that leads south from Lochinver to meet up with the Achiltbuie and Summer Isles road about 15 miles to the south. This road is so small that it does not even warrant a B road designation of Google Earth. I drove along this road on my way to Stac Pollaidh thinking that it would be a 30 minute jaunt. It actually took me about 1.5 hours and that was not even counting the stops for photographs!

The photo stops were well worth it however leading me to wonder what else is to be found along some of these tiny roads that criss-cross all parts of Scotland. For the next few posts I will assail you with some images taken while travelling along this road but tonight I will start off by showing some images of what I call the 'Forest Grotto' which is located a few miles before reaching the parking lot that marks the start of the Stac Pollaidh walk. This is a beautiful and atmospheric little depression at the side of the road that caught my eye as I drove past because of its fairy tale like quality. It looks like it could have come straight out of a Tolkien book and I can imagine elves dancing here in the dead of night (this is what happens when one spends too much time alone). See if you agree with me. The photos I took, interestingly enough, show me getting more and more 'into' the grotto, starting from the outside then homing in on more detailed views. It's certainly one way to get to know a place. From outside to inside, these are the images:

14th May

Phew, what can I say. The last 2 days have been hectic around here and the postings have been thin on the ground. In terms of the trip, I am still processing images from Day 2!!! That's right, I'm not even at Stac Pollaidh yet. Last time I posted some plastic bag images. Tonight I repeat a posting of a plastic bag image from Ardvreck and the equivalent straight image now fully prepared (just so you know what you are looking at through the plastic). Sorry that's all there is this evening but house guests are calling me away. Life is hard!

12th May

Today I offer my two remaining images taken with a plastic bag over the lens. I am actually enjoying this rather weird, impressionistic take on the normally sharp images of landscapes. The first image shows Ardvreck castle on the right side with the sun glinting through the plastic at upper centre. The second image shows how this image looked without the plastic bag (and without any retouching - I haven't gotten around to it yet). The final image is a view looking north-west from Ardvreck along the length of Loch Assynt. If my camera had not had its now celebrated accident I would have enjoyed using the plastic bag more. One of the exciting things about it is that one never knows how the image will turn out. It's rather like using a Holga camera and plastic lens but on steroids. I know that when I get my new, used replacement Bronica street ready I will be taking some plastic bag images in England in June. What fun!

Ardvreck Castle (with plastic bag)

Ardvreck Castle (straight shot)

Loch Assynt from Ardvreck (with plastic bag)

11th May

Here is the complete yet short walk description for my trip to Clachtoll as posted on the website walkhighlands.co.uk:

After leaving Achmelvich I drove north a few miles to Clachtoll to spend a quiet afternoon. The Clachtoll walk starts in the car park and, after passing the toilet block and following the gravel road, it quickly veers off to the right and through a gate to a house. The gate is clearly marked “walkers welcome”. From this point you can follow the directions posted on this website, but for me, it marked the end of that particular stretch because I inexplicably decided to do an about face and head down to the beach. To do this, walk along the wooden slatted walkway that brings you almost to the beach. While I do not believe that the bay is quite a match for Achmelvich, it is a beautiful little stretch of sand in its own right and has nothing to apologise for. 

Clachtoll Beach

Clachtoll Beach 2

On this warm sunny day in mid April the beach was crowded – I saw at least 8 people engaged in various activities including hauling an inflatable dinghy across the sand and building an elaborate set of sand castles joined by a cunning ditch that would later be flooded. Ah, the thrill of being a child again.

I walked to the far end of the beach, attracted by the sight of cattle thronging a nearby inlet. I decide to find out more. I scaled the gently dipping sandstone outcrops, quickly reaching a fence which I followed a short distance before coming across a stile. Crossing the fence (and keeping right of the house) I wandered across this hillside towards a bay on the far side – a walk of just a few minutes. From this point there are superb views across the bay to the Assynt mountains beyond.

Assynt mountains from Clachtoll

Turning right I ambled across toward the infamous “Split Rock” composed of seaward dipping sandstone. It appeared to be quite easy to walk up onto the rock since there was a small group of people there but I did not wish to spoil their hard worked for solitude so I returned the way I had come to the car park. A stroll around the salmon bothy that describes the traditional methods of catching fish completed by visit. 

Salmon Bothy

Looking south from the salmon bothy showing the sandy inlet where the cows were seen, the house on the hill, the fence I crossed (faintly seen at mid left) and the hill I walked across (at mid right)

Split Rock

The whole distance could barely have been 1.5 miles and, if I had not been taking photographs, I could have completed this short route in less than 1 hour. However, this, coupled with a short walk around Achmelvich completed a relaxing and memorable spring day in Assynt.