Assynt

Assynt, A beautiful part of Scotland, a place I’d admired other people’s photographs from and longed to visit. Well, I finally did exactly that.

The catalyst for finally organising a trip was that my brother had one of those birthdays that end in a zero and his wife wanted to sort out a photography trip away as a present. It would be just my brother and I. His wife would stay in the relative warmth of Yorkshire but little did she know, that Assynt would be warmer and considerably drier the chosen week than Yorkshire. Id like to say it was planned but I just picked a week, where my work would be slightly quieter, as my brother is retired and can go anytime. It was just luck, or as my late uncle would say, ‘Sun shines upon the righteous!’.

So early February, a long drive awaits. My brother picks me up after work and we drive to Perth for an overnight stop. We called into the Kelpies on the way and enjoy/photograph them being lit up as the daylight faded. We also got some free cake and sandwiches, as they were destined for the bin.

It’s about four hours from Perth to Inverkirkkaig and we’ve got all day, so a steady drive, stopping at spots for photographs. First stop is twenty mins from Perth and I know my brother has been wanting to go to the Hermitage. It’s a bit of a damp day but the extra water adds makes the Falls of Braan even more impressive.

A lot of rain had swollen the river Braan

Next stop was for a bite to eat at the very tasty Harry Gow bakery, just off the A9 after Inverness. Then a leisurely drive, taking in the scenery until we reach Ullapool, where we pick up supplies for the week from the supermarket.

A well loved fishing boat moored in the Loch

From Ullapool its only an hour to the cottage, that will form the base of the next week. The ‘wee mad road’ is an excellent road to drive down, largely single track with superb views, something to look forward calling back to. For now, its get the kettle on and have a bit of food. The nights are long, even in February. One eye was kept on the northern lights data, just in case.

Day1:

A drive up to Clachtoll. I’ve seen pictures taking from here of fierce winds and big waves. I was greeted with flat sea’s and a gentle breeze. The wind was from the east, which was keeping the sea calm. Tide state was going out, so clambering around the rock pools and long exposures was the approach.

Long exposure of split tock and some foreground shore at low tide

Some lovely rays over the Strathnasheallag Forest, an indicater that we were quite fortunate to be basking in glorious sunshine.

From Clachtoll, headed up the coast to Stoer Lighthouse. A lovely scenic drive, went past a few closed schools, which shows how the population has altered over the years. Stoer Lighthouse in its dramatic setting was lovely, though the sunlight was strong and contrasty. With these conditions, topped with low tide, there wasn’t compositions that were worth capturing but certainly a place to call back to oneday. From here, its was time to choose a sunset location and it was decided that the viewpoint over the Summer Isles would be good.

The Summer Isles are a group of twenty of so islands that sit at the mouth of Loch Broom. We didn’t stop at the main viewpoint but rather a layby above Polbain and walked over the to the area with the best view. The light was rather lovely, especially looking over to Benn Mor Coigach, which held onto a lovely bank of cloud at the summit.

Watching the ferry sail into Ullapool whilst enjoying the watching the sun drop down highlighting the flanks of the snow covered AnTeallach. Such a great start to the trip.

Sunset over the summer isles, in winter.

Day 2

My brother was very keen to show me the sea stacks at Durness beach. It’s still a bit of a drive from Inverkerkaig but such is the beauty of this part of Scotland, its passes quickly. Its raining when we arrive, the tide beginning to recede. The stacks are impressive and are across the whole beach. With water lapping around them it makes sense to try longer exposures.

Having a short explore around the beach draws a couple more compositions. We did consider calling into Smoo Cave but the burn that flows into it looked very dry, so wasn’t sure if the waterfall would be a dribble. Anyway, more pressing was curing the hunger pangs. Google says they are a few places to eat nearby but all of them are closed in winter. The Spa does have an alright selection of sandwiches and cakes, so its eating in the car it is. Drive round to Balnakeil bay and enjoy the view as eating lunch. There is an abandoned church at Balnakeil and an information board which gives details of the local wildlife that can be found. It also mentions that this area was one of John Lennons favourite places and often came on holiday to the location to visit family. His aunty is buried in the graveyard. I never knew!

With the winter days being short, its soon time to head back.

On the way back, we take a short detour to call into the very popular spot of the fishing bothy that sits aside Loch Stack. Its probably not the best time of year to photograph it, as the sun generally sits behind the mountains. It’s a lovely location and easy to see why its popular with photographers.

We also have to drive over the modern bridge at Kylesku. Its quite the contrasting scene, with modern infrastructure and ancient landscape. There is a chilly windy blowing down the glen, which isn’t particular inviting to spend too much time time out in. Climbed to the vantage spot and grabbed a view shots.

Kylesku Bridge, negating having to use a ferry

As the day draws to a close, we call back into Clachtoll, to see if we can catch a nice sunset. The tide is out, which is a shame and the light never really falls in the right place but that’s photography!

The salmon bothy by the beach at Clachtoll

Day 3.

We woke up to strong winds, infact it had been windy all the time, a strong eastern breeze bring chilling temps but little precipitation. This day, was much the same, clear at the coast, cloudy inland. Unsure where to go this day, we ventured inland. There is a abandoned kennel in the hamlet of Elphin. It has a romantic dilapidated look to it. It also over looks both Canisp and Suliven. It does make a lovely subject.

Elphin has quite a few lovely spots to photograph but we feel the chill and crack on to make the most of the current gap in the clouds. We soon come to Ardveck Castle. Which to my surprise is the only castle in Assynt, I find this very odd. You are normally tripping over ruined castles in Scotland. Approaching Ardveck, as a snow squall whips through. It’s lit by the low sun and has everything a photography wants, rainbows and drama, we’re, unfortunately for us, also actually driving at this point, so no images. The main parking area is shut. No idea what they’re doing, likely putting in a proper carpark with machines to release you from your funds. The roadside layby is very handy and from here we get some wide view shots of the castle, hoping for another snow squall to pass through, which never happened (well it did but more on that later).

A few closer shots of the castle and we’re joined by a Rabbies tour and knowing there is limited eating places currently open, we decide to beat the rush and grab lunch in Lochinver. Once the cameras are in the car and we set off, I make that mistake of looking back and see another lovely snow squall push through. Typical!

Castles, rainbows and snow, could you want more..

From Lochinver, a jaunt down the wee mad road, stopping at a few parking spots to look for compostions. We also found a small group of deer.

One of the group checking out what im up to

The sky is clearing now and we had not thought about a sunset location, as it looked like there wouldn’t be one viewable! Pondering through maps and books, Brae of Achnahaird is chosen, it has some lovely views. The viewpoint looks over towards Stac Polly and the high ground. The high ground Is heavily clouded out and its hoped the sun will light up the cloud once its low in the sky. As its very cold, we sit in the car for a while and are joined by a intrepid band of togs on a tour. So, we quickly disembark, so the best spots are not bagged! Some lovely views over to Quinag to be had with a long lens

The sun, never did cast golden light under the clouds and out of the seven photographers around, only myself seem to look towards the sunset, which resulted in the fortuitous composition below, which I think is one of my favourite shots from the week. If only this light had been present in the mountains!

Thanks for reading. Days 4-6 coming soon, hopefully not as long a wait as its taken to write up the blog!

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