Mellon Udrigle and The Coigach Peninsula

And so on to the second day of my Wester Ross visit. Today was a long drive which followed the new n500 Coast Route up to Ullapool and then northwards again to the Coigach Peninsula. On the way I had a stop off to take some photos of the beach at Mellon Udrigle which is not far from Poolewe. Getting there early was a real bonus as I had the entire place just about to myself. If the truth be known, I picked the wrong time of day to visit as the sun was directly in front of me but I hadn't really fancied calling there on my way back down. Plus I couldn't have guaranteed what the weather would have been like later in the day.

Wester Ross has everything; the high and inhospitable mountains of Torridon, the mighty ridges of An Teallach, the stunning Loch Maree with it's guardian Slioch plus the sheer beauty of The Coigach Peninsula. Even Coigach has two different faces. Its has its own mountainous area and this is then contrasted by its hidden coastal settlements and impressive bays. All have such romantic names like Achnahaird, Altandhu, Polbain and Achiltibuie.

The views everywhere, whether its to the mountains or to the coast are stunning. The jewel in the crown though is the view you get of the Summer Isles as you approach Altandu. You round a corner and there they sit, directly in front of you and set out as near to perfection as you could imagine. I remember the very first time I saw this view; it literally took my breath away. So much so that I just had to pull my car in to a passing place and sit and take it all in.

This year I discovered a cracking viewpoint for looking inland to the hills of Coigach as well. It was again just out of Altandhu and, as an added bonus, there wasn't much effort involved in reaching it. Fortunately there was a large pull off area as near as makes no difference to it as well and then it was only a short walk with about a hundred foot of climbing. The next to the last photo on the blog was taken from it.

Earlier in the day I had been treated to a low flying display by two RAF planes near the peaks of Ben Mor Coigach and Sgurr an Fhidhleir. As luck would have it I was out of the car anyway taking photos so I managed to get one of the planes as it whizzed by. The hills really amplified the sound of the engines which deafened me as they passed overhead and I could still hear them roaring away long after they had disappeared from view.

I soon left the hills behind me and arrived at the coast. The first bay you see is the most impressive of all, namely Achnahaird Bay. Even with the tide in as it was today, there is still a wide expanse of accessible golden sands which are interspersed with small rocky coves; a photographer's dream!

Depending on the shift of the sands in the bay, the remains of the keel and a few ribs of the hull of a shipwreck can be visible from time to time. The wreck was the remains of the Mathilde - built in 1850. The ship was sailing from Norway to Liverpool with a cargo of pit props when on, 24 March 1881, it was caught in a Force 10 gale and driven aground in the bay. Fortunately the crew escaped and no-one was lost. Today there was no wreck to be seen, whether or not it appeared when the tide was fully out I do not know.

Roads in the area were very few and far between so I just did a circuit of the peninsula, stopping once to climb up to the viewpoint to take some photos of the Coigach hills and then again at Bardentarbet Bay near Achiltibuie where I just had a break to admire the view across the sound to the distant hills I had passed on my journey up that morning. In a straight line I should imagine they were no more than fifteen miles away but by road they were between fifty and sixty. You can see as far as the Torridon Hills which, by road, are 90 miles away!

I didn't have the time or the inclination to carry on up the coast to Lochinver as the road is single track and never-ending plus I was starting to feel a bit peckish. Consequently by the time I had arrived in Ullapool I was feeling darn right ravenous so immediately headed for The Seaforth Chippy. The haddock and chips really touched the spot and revitalised me for my journey back down to Loch Maree.

Driving is never a chore in these parts as the roads are never busy. The views are also fantastic from start to finish. Coigach never lets me down and I simply adore the place, today was no exception!