Just got back from a three-night stay in the Peak District.
It was good in parts.
Other parts were shit.
Literally.
And, just for a change, it wasn't my shit!
Stay tuned for the next mediocre instalment.
Archive for the 'Great Escapes' Category
Skye at Night
Some astro pics taken from the cottage's garden on Skye.
No filters, scopes or mounts, just a Nikon D50 with a 35mm prime lens, a fixed tripod, an IR shutter-release and a bit of processing know-how.
Cassiopeia (the big W) to the upper-left, the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) to the lower-right
The Double Cluster and a fair chunk of Perseus.
OCD dot-to-dotters will have noticed that there are some stars that are common to this image and the first one.
Cygnus flying along the Milky Way
Not Going Out?
We had such grand designs for the coming weekend...
With the improving bad back more-or-less under control due to the effects of Ibuprofen combined with Paracetamol, and the arse tolerable due to the aforementioned drugs and a wonder-cream prescribed by my G.P., we thought we'd risk a weekend away wildcamping in the Northern Lake District to bag four of the six Wainwrights that are still on my to-do list. We've not had a wildie this year, and we have a tent that still needs properly testing for review, so it was a reasonable opportunity, probably the best we would get.
We still weren't daunted when I came home from my Dad's birthday bash with a stonking cold which, as you'd expect for a bloke like me, has been upgraded to the status of Man Flu. Past experiences indicate that I could just about cope with a morning basal body temperature of 37.9C (oral).
But now we find that we'll have to contend with the aftermath of this:
It's not looking good. We won't make a final decision until the eleventh hour but I suspect that we'll be giving it a miss.
FWIW, the pic is a screen-shot of the excellent Rainy Days Android App running in the BlueStacks App Player on Windows XP. BlueStacks is a handy bit of kit for those of us who don't have large-screen Android devices. It's free during beta and there's a Mac version. What's not to like?
Skye 2012 – a final fling
After packing the car and saying our farewells to the cottage we headed south on a mission to find the fabled otters of Kylerhea. It was another fine day so we had a few photo-stops on the way:
Clouds over the Red Cuillin and Broadford Bay
The same view in a temperamental scrolly-thing
Looking down Kylerhea Glen
There were good views from the track between the car-park and the otter-hide:
Kyle Rhea meets Loch Alsh
The Far Side
Down at the hide there was much to see. For starters there was this elaborate seagull-perch:
Minor Light
There were seals and birds in abundance but the otters were nowhere to be seen:
After an hour or so we gave up on the otters and went back up the track to the car. We got more pics:
Speckled Wood
Berries
How wind-power used to be
Another Speckled Wood
Glenelg Bay
As above but wider
Down at the ferry slipway:
This one's for Mr. Sloman
Slipway
Intertidal
A tad nippy
Jellyfish
After the crossing we headed up the Old Military Road along Glen More towards Shiel Bridge, stopping at Bealach Ràtagain to admire the view around the head of Loch Duich:
The view from Bealach Ràtagain
The view of the view from Bealach Ràtagain
The rest of the journey was picture-worthy but we were pressed for time, needing to get to The Real Food Cafe for some sustin. We managed a couple of photo-stops:
The head of Loch Garry - a bit of Scotland that's shaped like Scotland
Anna at the Loch Garry viewpoint
You'll know where this is
After raiding The Real Food Cafe it was a non-stop drag to our overnight stop at the less-than-luxurious Dumbarton Travelodge, but we did appreciate the fine scenery around Loch Lomond.
The next day was a drudge day as expected... motorway > Penrith Little Chef > home.
It had been a great week, it's a shame there was so much time spent in the car.
Skye 2012 – a fair Friday
I was up and awake early on Friday morning - the previous evening the kids said that they wanted me to take them fishing. Ella managed to extract herself from her duvet but Anna was stuck fast to the bed, so it was just the two of us that went down to the rocks at An Laman.
Neither the tide nor the weather were favourable - high tide was three hours away and the water was almost flat-calm. Nevertheless we got tackled-up and were soon thrashing the water with our lures. As expected, we didn't get many takes and after a few hours our tally was just a single suicidal mackerel. The guys fly-fishing a few yards away were doing better, taking a fair few pollack. When we'd had enough and had packed away we went over for a chat and came away with the kind donation of a 4+ pounder for our evening meal. Thanks, guys!
We returned to the cottage just in time to meet Arthur, the gardener, with whom we had a delightful chat over a cup of tea while watching the birds soaring right above the cottage. One of the birds was bigger, tattier and less flappy than the others which were obviously buzzards, it's been suggested that the odd-one-out was an eagle but I'm not convinced. What say you?
Buzzagle
For all you die-hard bird fans, here's a clickthrough subset of 16 more.
After all that excitement Arthur was on his way and Chris was eager to be out for some fresh air. We went for a short drive down the coast, stopping at a few places for short strolls to the cliffs to see if we could spot any whales. The first stop was at Bàgh nan Gunnaichean where there were fine views of Stacan Gobhlach and the mirror-flat waters northwards:
We didn't see any whales there, so we drove a bit further south to the cliffs above Loch Sheanta. Chris and Ella went down to the loch while I stayed up top with Anna. We still didn't see any whales but we did see about a dozen large shoals of fish at the surface:
Two of the shoals
A couple of opportunist anglers tried their luck over one of the other shoals:
From there we nipped into the garage/shop on the main road at Stenscholl near Staffin, in order to stock up on sweets, cake and other essentials. We almost made it to the beach at Staffin but the heavens opened as we pulled into the car-park so we bailed and headed back northwards. The weather was still fine at Bàgh nan Gunnaichean from where we could see the clouds building up over Harris and Lewis:
A long shot
After a fine meal of filleted donated pollack, served with whatever was left in the cupboard, we spent the rest of the evening packing so that we could be away on time the day after. We really didn't want to leave but we knew that there was interesting stuff to see on the way home.
To be continued...
Skye 2012 – a Thursday around the Quiraing
After Wednesday's recce, an ass-assessment and a back-check we thought we'd see if I was up to carrying a daysack up and around The Quiraing. The day was forecast to be fair until late afternoon so we went for it. As usual, while waiting for the others I managed to get some pics from the front garden:
Here's a snap of the northern end of the Quiraing picking up a bit of morning sunlight:
The last post
Here's the route that we would take:
We were soon installed in the upper car-park and the walk-in to where we reached the day before was straightforward, I didn't take any pics during this stage. Beyond that, however, the scenery just kept getting better and better:
Waterfall
On the approach to the step
It's only when you're beyond the step that you really get a proper sense of the scale and proportions of the place. The further you go the smaller you feel, and without a distant horizon in sight it's hard to tell when you've got the camera level. It's a very disorientating place!
Approaching The Prison
Towers, spikes and buttresses
The Prison
The track to The Prison
Sheltering behind a dyke
Looking up
Here's a thing that'll play with your eyes... mouseover the following pic to see Ella on The Prison... twice:
Hide and seek
Needles
Beyond The Prison, looking across to Staffin
Those three allegedly-wise monkeys again
Camo Girl
Hangover
Eventually the path climbs out of the trough and gains the ridge via some mild zig-zags near Fir Bhreugach. We had a breather here in the fresh breeze. Here's the view from there northwards towards Kilmaluag:
Looking northwards
The path follows the escarpment as it rises to the shoulder of Meall na Suiramach (543m), and the views over the edge are immense:
The view towards Dùn Mòr and Staffin
The Table, viewed from the north
Sròn Vourlinn and Leac nan Fionn
Chris on the edge!
The southern end of The Table
Humps and hollows
The southern end of The Table again
Anna forging on ahead
The final leg was down the steepening grassy slope of Maoladh Mòr to join with the outbound path above the upper car-park. From there it was a short drive back to the cottage.
The rest of the afternoon was spent winding-down. Showers out at sea provided some odd rainbows...
... and the hunting in the fields provided more opportunities for bird-watching:
The back and the butt had held up well to the outing, I felt that I might be on the mend but I knew that I'd need a few more days like that. I certainly slept well that night.
To be continued...
