Rannoch Moor, Scottish Highlands.Rannoch Moor. Craggy snow topped mountains, treacherous peat-black bodies of water, raging waterfalls and Golden Eagles. Truly a dramatic wilderness, Rannoch Moor is home to the Black Mount, Glen Coe, Buachaille Etive Mòr, Formica Exsecta (narrow-headed ant), Corrour railway station (Trainspotting) and of course Castle McDuck, the ancestral home of Scrooge McDuck's family, the Clan McDuck.
I haven’t managed to find Castle McDuck and the narrow headed ant hasn’t been seen since the early part of the 20th century. Nonetheless, I just keep coming back.
But wait! I’m still on Harris! I haven’t left yet!
I awoke on my final morning on Harris to find more snow. In fact, the mountains of Lewis were wearing a good covering, so it was up and off to Horgabost beach to grab a few last images before I made my way up over the mountains of Lewis to Stornaway. After last night’s snow, the skies had cleared and I was met with warm sunshine and freshly washed sand. Whilst I set my camera up, I talked to a couple who were waiting to be picked up on the beach and taken over to Taransay for the day. Thinking I would be tackling days of bad weather, I hadn’t factored in a boat trip to Taransay, but judging by their description I was already regretting that. Next time! I set up on the dunes in the same spot I had been a few nights earlier when I tried but failed to get some shots of the Northern Lights. I could still see the three indentations from my tripod.
View from the dunes of Horgabost
The mountains looked crisp and inviting with their jacket of fresh snow. My journey over to Stornaway would not take me this high but maybe I would find some snow.
Leaving my last footprints on a Harris beach.
Within a few minutes of taking this image, the mountains disappeared into thick low cloud and I watched it cross the bay obliterating the scene. Time to go. I have a ferry to catch back to the mainland of Scotland, so I reluctantly tore myself away, packed my camera in the van and hit the mountain road to Stornaway. It seemed like months not days since I first scampered along the single-track roads of Harris, walked along deserted white sand beaches, marvelled at the beauty of the turquoise waters, and felt completely at one with nature. I feel I have found my very own slice of heaven that I will return to soon. Arriving in Stornaway a few hours later was a shock to the system as I encountered a traffic light and a roundabout. All aboard for the ferry through the Summer Isles and into Ullapool.
Approaching the Summer Isles
The weather was a little more “Fresh” on my return journey, so for most of the voyage I hugged a table in the café as the ferry lurched around. As we entered the calmer waters off the Summer Isles, I ventured up on deck to take in the great views. . . . . . My plan upon arriving back on the mainland was to stay over at a small remote beach at Mellon Udrigle and get some early morning shots across the bay to Beinn Ghobhlach, a prominent saddle shaped hill on the horizon. However, a minor miscalculation in my itinerary had me landing back in Scotland on the last day of March when the campsite actually opened from the 1st April. Lucky for me, Scotland is very accommodating to camper vans, and as long as you are respectful and stay no longer than the one night, you can virtually stop anywhere. So, I headed off in Mr T towards a spot I had seen a few years earlier. In 2011/12 an independent Scottish drama “Shell” was filmed in a temporarily built garage upon a viewpoint overlooking Little Loch Broom. An odd film with rather an equally odd plot, but it was nominated for 3 awards at the London film festival. Anyway, it was the location of the garage I was heading for. Well, not the garage as that has long since been removed, it was the viewpoint over Little Loch Broom I was aiming for.
On the set of “Shell”
The skies had cleared once again and I was in for a cracking sunset, so after some food and a nice cup of tea I got the camera gear out and set up alongside the van. As I have mentioned before, Beinn Ghobhlach has a very distinct shape and can be seen from many miles away. Looking at it from the side it takes on the appearance of a saddle, a little like Blencathra in the Lake District. Viewed from above it looks more like a small volcano where one side has been worn away from glacial erosion, however, I’m no geologist. Apparently its name is Scottish Gaelic for “Forked Mountain”, so I will leave you to form your own opinions from this next couple of images taken just before sunset.
Little Loch Broom and Beinn Ghobhlach
A ship shelters in the lee of Beinn Ghobhlach
What an amazing location and super sunset to round off a day started on the islands and now back on the mainland. I still had another couple of days exploring so I set about a little editing of images before getting an early night before a long drive tomorrow.
Great views from the van again tonight.
“It looked like the fire extinguisher had gone off”
It took me a while to get to sleep, as although I am used to being parked up overnight in remote locations, it still can be quite eery. Not having big old Max with me in the van means I am a man down. Especially one with a ferocious bark and big teeth like Max. I stuck the heater on as the temperature was dropping and climbed into my sleeping bag with the duvet over. After a while no more cars came past, and I fell asleep. . . . . . I was in no hurry to emerge from my cocoon in the morning keeping the duvet pulled up to my chin till well after 9. The temperature in the van had taken a huge dip overnight so eventually I sat up to reach over and put the heater back on. That way I could snuggle back down for 15 minutes whilst the van warmed up. Max normally sticks his head in front of the heater vent until his eyeballs dry up. Something wasn’t quite right. I opened the blind toward Little Loch Broom and all I could see was white. Not just misty white, but it finally dawned on me, “Snow White”. Where there had been warm glowing orange heather during last night’s beautiful sunset, was now snow covered as far as the eye could see. Beinn Ghobhlach had all but disappeared. I threw the heater on and got dressed quickly to get out and have a look around. The snow had been coming in from the South and coated the front corner of the van. It looked like the fire extinguisher had gone off.
Snowy surprise I dove back inside and got the kettle on whilst I watched the mist clear over the loch. Warmed up and full of tea and porridge, I ventured out to get a nice snowy shot of Beinn Ghobhlach. Oh, how this would have looked from Mellon Udrigle, but it was not meant to be this time around.
Snowy Beinn Ghobhlach
No time to hang around as more snow was threatening and I was in quite a remote spot with a few hills to cross. Another miscalculation of mine was how long it can take to travel along the west coast road (NC500 as it is popularly known these days) of Scotland. I had decided to take the most scenic route passing through the picturesque Torridon ranges, alongside Loch Garry, past Ben Nevis, and onto the highlands of Glen Coe stopping at Buachaille Etive Mòr for my first image of the day. 185 miles, whilst lovely and scenic, took the best part of 5 hours. Highlight of the journey was overtaking a Lamborghini bottoming out through a series of potholes. Jeremy Clarkson has a lot to answer for. Thankfully as I arrived at Altnafeadh, there was better light, and the mountains still had their fresh sprinkling of snow. This is a classic picture postcard viewpoint, but for me, despite the beauty of Buachaille Etive Mòr overlooking the small white cottage, this is where a pair of Golden Eagles swooped low in front of the van when returning from a snow packed winter trip to Skye with Donna a few years earlier.
Buachaille Etive Mòr
Take a right a little further along the road and you will find a small set of waterfalls visited by many photographers. The weather was moving fast from dark ominous clouds through to mist and into blue patches of sky here and there. Classic highland weather that gets you excited one minute and soaked the other.
A quick stop as always at the waterfall near Buachaille Etive Mòr
If you carry on further past the waterfall you enter Glen Etive, and you will soon find yourself on the film set of James Bond “Skyfall”. But I don’t have time for messing around pretending I’m driving a DB5, I need to get to the other side of Rannoch Moor before sunset. High on the moor you will find Loch Ba. This sits in the middle of the peaty, boggy plain left by the retreating ice during the last ice age. Apparently, with the removal of the weight of the ice, the land continues to rise a few millimetres each year. Now that is bonkers! Loch Ba was to be my overnight spot with a view to capturing a sunrise shot of either the Black Mount or the Grampian Mountains. Just next to the loch is a small car park with a hillock ideal for getting a view across the moor. I arrived a little after five and set about grabbing a few test shots ready for the morning. It had now clouded over once again but the sun was doing its best to fight through.
Black Mount hiding in the mist
Another cold water dip for me
After the long drive I was tired and hungry, so I retired to the van, got the heater on and warmed up some food and a hot cup of tea. Another quiet night in a remote part of Scotland before heading home tomorrow.
“they stood silent like a pride of lions waiting for a passing gazelle”
I woke up to a very chilly morning and made myself a brew about an hour before sunrise. Whilst enjoying said cuppa, a minibus pulled up alongside and out jumped a "snapshot" of photographers. I've just decided "snapshot" is the best collective noun for fellow enthusiasts. Especially those that travel round in a minibus whizzing from point to point under the instruction of an over-enthusiastic guide. Anyway, having scoped out the location the night before I had decided I would take an image over Black Mount and hopefully the sunrise behind would light the mountains up. I’d found another small lochen before heading back to the van last night and it would make a great foreground. Back to the "snapshot", and they had quickly dismounted their vehicle and shot up the small hill behind me and all lined up with their cameras pointing South. Much swapping of settings and filters and they stood silent like a pride of lions waiting for a passing gazelle. "hmmmm" I thought, do they know something I don't? I could see their leader pointing enthusiastically toward the Grampians in the South, so I headed out of my van, got my parka on and grabbed my gear about 10 minutes before the sun came up. "Stick to your guns" I said and headed across the road and set up in the same position I had tested the night before, my tripod poles sitting in the same indentations. After a few minutes, the sun broke the horizon behind me and the show in front began. The colours were amazing and yet again one of those moments you don't forget for a long time.
The first of the sunrise light catches the tops of the mountains
The light was sliding down the mountains and the clouds were turning orange. After a few minutes I glanced over my shoulder to see the line of lenses had rotated 90 degrees and my "snapshot" were jostling for a new view over my head. However, there were trees behind my van blocking the view so after hurried packing, the herd descended the hill, tripods flapping and bags spilling their contents. Just as the last tripod snapped into place next to me and focus was being gathered, I cracked my tripod shut, turned, said "morning!" and headed back to my van to finish my cuppa all smug like. The light was gone as quick as it came and this was the very last shot of my trip before heading home.
Black Mount sunrise
It had been the most amazing two week adventure, and my closing memory was the near perfect sunrise light, mirror still waters, snow-capped mountains and that I had been there to witness it all. Well not entirely alone, the “snapshot” of togs was also there but looking in the wrong direction.
I laughed all the way home.
Keywords:
Harris and Lewis,
Isle of Harris,
Isle of Lewis,
Landscape Photography,
Outer Hebrides,
Scotland
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