Wigtwizzle - Norman Smith's Travel Blog.: road to the isles

Showing posts with label road to the isles. Show all posts

A Day Of Contrasting Weather

Morning - a wet and grim Glen Nevis. Some might say the best conditions for photography and I would tend to agree. It is certainly better than clear blue skies.

Afternoon - Blue skies and fluffy white clouds on The Road To The Isles and The Arisaig Coastline.

They do say that if you are in Scotland and don't like the weather, then just hang around a few minutes and it will completely change. Today I felt as though I had had the best of both worlds!

A wet Glen Nevis

Road To The Isles

Lon Laith, Arisaig

Loch Lochy and a Coastal Journey

After breakfast I took the back road out of Banavie to Spean Bridge but turned off it part way along to take me to Clunes on the banks of Loch Lochy. Took some good moody shots of the Loch with the distant Grey Corrie hills as a backdrop before heading along The Mile Dorcha (The Dark Mile) to Eas Chia-aig waterfall at Loch Arkaig.

The dark mile got its name from the fact it is a narrow wooded valley which gets very little sunshine, thus the walls are all thickly covered in mosses. Legend has it that when Bonnie Prince Charlie fled Scotland, he buried a stash of gold in this area, which the French had sent him to finance the 1745 rebellion and, to this day, it has never been found.

I then retraced my tracks and headed to the coast, stopping off at Arisag for a coffee in the harbour tearoom. It is an unlikely place to have a cafe but in my opinion, it serves the best cappuccino I have ever had. I have been there twice now and each time it's been top notch; very strong and very frothy.

There isn't much roadside parking on the Coastal Trail now but I managed to get the last parking spot at Camas Rubha a Mhurain where I did a bit of beach combing and photography but didn't even attempt to get in to the Camusdarach car park as it was crammed full. It was be expected as it was July and the height of the holiday season so it didn't bother me too much as I like my beaches quiet.

I timed my arrival at Mallaig just as The Jacobite steam train was departing so got a good photo of it and also managed to get one of it crossing the distant Allt a' Mhama viaduct as it enters Loch nan Uamh.

Not wanting to waste such a nice day, in the evening I had a drive down Glen Nevis to both the Upper and Lower Falls. A fitting way to end a lovely, if hectic day.

Loch Lochy

The Dorcha Mile

Eas Chia-aig Waterfall

Traigh

Camas Rubha a Mhurain

The Jacobite

Loch nan Uamh

Glen Nevis

Upper Falls, Glen Nevis

Glen Nevis

Lower Falls, Glen Nevis

Ardmamurchan Peninsula

For the second day running, I left my hotel with low cloud hovering over the hills and lochs. Fortunately the weather turned out to be the same as the previous days so, by the time I had travelled the ten or so miles to Loch Eil, the cloud was slowly being burned away by the warm sun. I stopped to take some photos and then headed westwards.

Ardnamurchan is probably the most remote of all West Highland Peninsulas, mainly because the only access route from Salen is a winding single-track road that runs along the shore of Loch Sunart for much of its length. The journey passed thorough ancient oakwoods and around every bend in the road, views of the Loch revealed themselves. The journey also took me past The Natural History Centre, where I stopped for a coffee and a slice of orange cake as per usual.

I then left the oakwoods by the loch shore and begin the climb up and round Ben Hiant which is an ancient volcano, stopping at the Camas Nan Geall viewpoint where I go at magnificent views across the Sound of Mull to the northern tip of Mull and the Isle of Coll beyond. The landscape had changed to open moorland, which continued all the way down to Kilchoan where I turned off for Sanna Bay.

Ardnamurchan’s geology is quite unique and on the drive out to Sanna Bay, you find yourself in the centre of a huge and ancient volcanic crater, whose ring dyke encloses the road for much of the way from Kilchoan. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a spot for a photo which would do it justice, I think the only way to do that would be an areal photo.

The northern coast of Ardnamurchan from Sanna Bay in the west to Kentra Bay in the east is designated as a National Scenic Area, and it's easy to see why. Lots of sandy beaches and rocky coves litter the area, and it is renowned for its large population of eagles and sightings of Dolphin pods is a daily occurrence.

The drive across had been accompanied by beautiful blue skies, but a mile or so from the coast this changed to a sea haar, and it stuck there the whole time. In a way it made a nice change and I was able to get some different photos of the area, but having said that, I did miss the sun and clear skies.

On my way back to Fort William, I made the customary stop at the Glenuig Inn on the shore of Loch Ailort and then finished my day off with a couple of pints sat outside my hotel right next to The Caledonian Canal.

So that was the end of my three-day break. It felt great to get back here again, as I hadn't been up this way since last September. As I write this blog, mine and Sal's week in Gairloch is only a few days away, and I can't wait to get back up there and re-visit some of the places I really love and connect with.