Ah, who cares, heavy showers and extremely windy conditions forecast; so what? Well it did mean a trip to the hills was off the cards, there comes a point when you have to make an informed sensible choice especially on solo adventures. So, a road trip it was be, even so it was mighty windy and torrential showers were the order of the day.
It had been many years since I’d done a road trip such as this and I was quite looking forward to it, a change to lugging heavy loads of equipment into the hills and being car based means little to no limit to what I could bring with me not to mention a differnt set of logitics to take into account such as fuel for the trip.
As usual it was a later start than planned, hmm, by about four hours, (must work on that :) ), the up side was that I got to experience conditions different to which were originally planned to which I had to adapt. My first destination was the venerable Stac Pollaidh (stac polly), a small hill but with outstanding character.
Stac Pollaidh lit by mid morning sun
I attempted to find a spot I’d stopped at years before, nothing ever looks the same on a revisit and it was a bit further on than I remembered. I knew where I wanted to be for sunrise so no searching for the ideal spot was required. The wind was ferocious and opening the back of the car was a test of strength and endurance. It was clear that I couldn’t keep a stove running so I gathered all I needed for my evening meal and dropped down to the side of the loch where there was a modicum of shelter and could pile some rocks around the stove. Sitting there with the wind howling as dark menacing clouds raced overhead was raw, elemental. It was fantastic, far from the usual bombardment of what often amounts to gibberish we endure in modern life.
It was a tardy start next morning followed by a hasty bail out of the car as I grabbed boots, camera bag and tripod tripping and stumbling in a frantic hurry down the heathery hillside to the beach below.
Stormy morning at first light
With my captures in the can it was time to move on. My next port of call was further north to Ardvreck Castle. Being later on it was crawling with tourists like ants moving over the small promontory. A long exposure took care of the problem.
Ardvreck Castle, Quinag behind
Heading back south I decided to take the scenic route to Lochinver photographing a shot of Suilven as a spotlight of sun broke though the clouds. The wind was so strong I had to brace myself against a fence post to try and steady the hand held shot.
Suilven
I retraced my steps of earlier on driving back past Stac Pollaidh and following the single track road that follows a path around the back of the mountain. I had to stop dodging yet more heavy rain showers and wind as this view appeared.
Heavy rain
Victoria Falls
Suillven from the west
I ran and dived back into the car to continue on the tiny strip of tarmac that twisted and turned with laughable tiny passing places. It was a superb location which begged slow movement to take in the scenery.
The small road almost goes into sea or so it seems.
I passed through Lochinver on my way to Loch Maree my next stop off with the intention of capturing images of the mighty Slioch (The Spear).
I paused at a view point at the top of the pass that leads down the long steep decent into Kinlochewe, I crouched behind the car to get a blurry view of this magnificent scene. I was soon back in the car heater on full.
Glen Docherty and Loch Maree
I found a spot to stop off just off the road and it was time to do battle with the weather as I cooked my evening meal.
Next day was an epic game of cat and mouse dodging heavy showers and sheltering from the wind in pursuit of of Slioch imagery.
Slioch in the clouds
River Grudie
Double rainbow over Loch Maree
I was having a ball and decided to stay another night, this meant sourcing fuel for the car and myself, luckily the garage in Kinlochewe provided both.
Chicken sandwich and a mug of tea for dinner
With the promise of some clearing skies and a moon I had to try for some astro orientated shots across the loch.
The moon hides behind a cloud over Loch Maree
The next day dawned sunny and a complete contrast to the previous days, I decided to make my way back through Torridon on the long twisty roads, it turned out to be quite a long road but with such scenery it was a joy.
Sgurr Dubh
An imposing Liathac from Loch Clair
What an amazing few days with challenging conditions, lots of photography, some timelapse photography but most of all a jolly good time was had.
Rain? Who cares…