Assynt trip...
04th June 2010
In: Trips...
Just returned from a 7 day trip to Assynt in Wester Ross and Sutherland, plus 3 days in Torridon on the way back. I travelled with my photographic friend Claire Carter and a new friend Herman Cater from Slovenia. We left Glasgow in dark weather and occasional rain, but the journey North up the A9 was uneventful and we all chatted and got used to eachother and discussed a plan for the days ahead.
We arrived about 6 hours later in Lochinver (320 miles) tired and hungry, we only stopped for minutes on the way to stretch our legs awhile, our accomodation was large and spacious, clean and tidy and we were soon settled in and eating. I had brought homemade pasta sauce from Glasgow ( in a great little cool bag from Lakeland, still solid after 6+ hours)so all we had to do was boil the pasta and we had our first meal.
The weather report was for a good day on the Sunday and mixed weather for the beginning of the week, so the plan was early rise and take advantage of the first day's good weather.
The alarm rang at 4.45am and we all stumbled out of bed and watched the kettle boil for that first cup of tea that brings back the life into tired muscles and eyes.
Loch Assynt was the first destination, but a wind blowing down the Loch put paid to that location so off up over the shoulder of Quinag for a look at the waterfall which runs down the bottom of Sail Garbh, the moor was a sodden mess of peat hags laden with snow melt, the occasional deer were spotted well camouflaged against the browns of the land. We retraced our steps to Loch Assynt as the sun came up and found some good light at Ardvreck Castle which stands beside the loch there. Next stop was a trip to the beach at Achmelvich, a bonnie spot with white sand and the water of the Atlantic looking more like the Bahamas than the West coast of Scotland. We returned to our cottage as the sun rose high in the sky, not the best light for landscapes, breakfast at last and coffee.
Later we made the journey along the coast to Stoer Lighthouse a popular place for sunset seekers from far and wide, a Japanese couple were there and some dog walkers, but the sun fell behind a bank of cloud along the horizon out towards Lewis & Harris, so we packed up and that was the end of the first day.
Later in the week we had a walk along the harbour of Lochinver and Herman spotted a road up onto the hill behind where we were staying, it proved a good spot as the next morning 4.30am we drove and walked to the hill, up to the top and over the moor, a grand view of the mountains of Assynt unfolded before us, we awaited the arrival of the sun, which arrived with some wonderful colours in the sky over Canisp and Suilven. A great start to any day.
I decided to take my friends around the area and let them see what's out there to be photographed, we stopped at Loch Assynt and discovered a mirror reflection of Quinag, and some tremendous little clouds,scramble out the car and down to the waters edge, into the water, a grand sight after some dull weather and low light earlier in the week.
Heading North up the side of Quinag towards Scourie, my mind was hoping for some light at Loch Stack and the boat house. As we drove along the side of the Loch my companions had no idea what was in store, the first little croft appeared and we stopped and tumbled onto the lochside, the loch and mountain were dark and in shadow, but the cloud was thinning out and I could see a hole starting to form, we set up and got ready, like a scene from a movie, the sun burst through the cloud and rolled across the cottage, Loch and farther on to Arkle which backdropped the whole scene, it lasted all of two minutes and vanished, I had to herd the other two back to the car to move along the road to the next spot, a bit of grumbling about leaving, which I ignored and we arrived at the path to the Loch just as the light caught up with us, another scramble to find a position and the reeds in the loch lit up as if plugged into the mains. all you could hear was the clicking of three cameras and the birds calling to one another across Loch Stack.
We followed the line of the Lochs south across the moor, Loch More, Merkland & Loch Shin. We passed through some lush parts and some very barren drab moors, but it was a grand day and the high spirits kept us going.
At Lairg we came to the turning west for the return to Lochinver by Rosehall, Oykel Bridge, a stop at Loch Borallan, and on past Ledmore back into the territory we all knew now. A long day but there was more to come later...
***Feel free to comment or ask a question.***
***I'll be adding to this blog, more of our travels and some images too.***
Edit: all the images can be found in the Gallery:Assynt trip.
We arrived about 6 hours later in Lochinver (320 miles) tired and hungry, we only stopped for minutes on the way to stretch our legs awhile, our accomodation was large and spacious, clean and tidy and we were soon settled in and eating. I had brought homemade pasta sauce from Glasgow ( in a great little cool bag from Lakeland, still solid after 6+ hours)so all we had to do was boil the pasta and we had our first meal.
The weather report was for a good day on the Sunday and mixed weather for the beginning of the week, so the plan was early rise and take advantage of the first day's good weather.
The alarm rang at 4.45am and we all stumbled out of bed and watched the kettle boil for that first cup of tea that brings back the life into tired muscles and eyes.
Loch Assynt was the first destination, but a wind blowing down the Loch put paid to that location so off up over the shoulder of Quinag for a look at the waterfall which runs down the bottom of Sail Garbh, the moor was a sodden mess of peat hags laden with snow melt, the occasional deer were spotted well camouflaged against the browns of the land. We retraced our steps to Loch Assynt as the sun came up and found some good light at Ardvreck Castle which stands beside the loch there. Next stop was a trip to the beach at Achmelvich, a bonnie spot with white sand and the water of the Atlantic looking more like the Bahamas than the West coast of Scotland. We returned to our cottage as the sun rose high in the sky, not the best light for landscapes, breakfast at last and coffee.
Later we made the journey along the coast to Stoer Lighthouse a popular place for sunset seekers from far and wide, a Japanese couple were there and some dog walkers, but the sun fell behind a bank of cloud along the horizon out towards Lewis & Harris, so we packed up and that was the end of the first day.
Later in the week we had a walk along the harbour of Lochinver and Herman spotted a road up onto the hill behind where we were staying, it proved a good spot as the next morning 4.30am we drove and walked to the hill, up to the top and over the moor, a grand view of the mountains of Assynt unfolded before us, we awaited the arrival of the sun, which arrived with some wonderful colours in the sky over Canisp and Suilven. A great start to any day.
I decided to take my friends around the area and let them see what's out there to be photographed, we stopped at Loch Assynt and discovered a mirror reflection of Quinag, and some tremendous little clouds,scramble out the car and down to the waters edge, into the water, a grand sight after some dull weather and low light earlier in the week.
Heading North up the side of Quinag towards Scourie, my mind was hoping for some light at Loch Stack and the boat house. As we drove along the side of the Loch my companions had no idea what was in store, the first little croft appeared and we stopped and tumbled onto the lochside, the loch and mountain were dark and in shadow, but the cloud was thinning out and I could see a hole starting to form, we set up and got ready, like a scene from a movie, the sun burst through the cloud and rolled across the cottage, Loch and farther on to Arkle which backdropped the whole scene, it lasted all of two minutes and vanished, I had to herd the other two back to the car to move along the road to the next spot, a bit of grumbling about leaving, which I ignored and we arrived at the path to the Loch just as the light caught up with us, another scramble to find a position and the reeds in the loch lit up as if plugged into the mains. all you could hear was the clicking of three cameras and the birds calling to one another across Loch Stack.
We followed the line of the Lochs south across the moor, Loch More, Merkland & Loch Shin. We passed through some lush parts and some very barren drab moors, but it was a grand day and the high spirits kept us going.
At Lairg we came to the turning west for the return to Lochinver by Rosehall, Oykel Bridge, a stop at Loch Borallan, and on past Ledmore back into the territory we all knew now. A long day but there was more to come later...
***Feel free to comment or ask a question.***
***I'll be adding to this blog, more of our travels and some images too.***
Edit: all the images can be found in the Gallery:Assynt trip.
