I've tried hard to narrow it down to the very best pictures we got during our 24 hours in the highlands, but I still feel like there's so much missing! I definitely prioritized variety.
These outings were definitely at the top of the list of things we enjoyed in Scotland. I don't think we've ever been anywhere before where the photos (as much as we love them) don't do justice to what it looks and feels like to be there. The scope of all you could see, the layers of mountains, the play of the light over the landscape, the scale of the peaks packed close together—the images just don't do them justice. Alas.
First real glimpse of the mountains of the Highlands the afternoon after we left Edinburgh (we weren't driving down dirt roads, we were on a paved road that was going perpendicular to it):
Many mountains with moody skies (the mountains at this point are pretty striking when compared to the relatively flat and rolling hills around Edinburgh):
Soon after entering Glencoe we met this handsome fellow:
Pictures don't quite capture just how startling driving into Glencoe was:
I love the varied light on the rocks:
Starting our 5 mile hike up to Buachaille Etive Beag (this is Amanda):
This is the last photo of this hat... details later:
Adjusting layers (we only had a little rain this first day). We had expected a lot of rain, so the very small amount we dealt with was a welcome gift. Temperatures were in mid-to-high 50s. The ground (here and everywhere else in the Highlands and the Isles) was mostly squishy and wet, so the waterproof boots were a necessity:
Little streams like this were cutting their way down multiple tracks in every mountainside. SO MUCH WATER. The ground was literally seeping with it everywhere we looked:
Large cairn upon gaining the ridge:
View to the neighboring mountain. This is the other side of the one behind the deer from earlier:
View over to one of the summits we could've done, Stob Coire Raineach. The summits over 3,000 feet in Scotland are called "Munros" after Sir Hugh Munro, an avid mountaineer who catalogued and attempted to climb every peak reaching beyond that height:
Getting to be up here was one of the best birthday presents ever!
The other munro we were in position to summit, Stob Dubh. I got about halfway down the ridge before the wind became too intense for me to feel safe continuing. Losing my hat was the final straw in deciding to turn around (Amanda chose to wait by the cairn). Off of the ridge, the wind wasn't too bad—in fact it was very appreciated! When there's wind, Scotland's famous biting midges/gnats are grounded:
Stunning views coming down:
Amanda in the center taking pictures:
Spot Amanda on the bottom right?
The varied evening lighting made it even more striking, I thought. The extra long days extended the "golden hour" sunset lighting far beyond what we're used to (a photographers' dream!). Sunset was 10:15pm that day:
Stob Coire Raineach again:
You can hear/see what the wind was like in this video. Maybe this helps capture the scope? Even if my iPhone camera renders it all rather bland:
Almost back to the car:
Sunset over Loch Linnhe (one of Scotland's longest sea lochs) on the way to our AirBnB in Fort William:
The next morning at the Ballachulish slate quarry. This is where we were when I learned about the air conditioner in our house failing while Eric and Lindsie were watching our kids 😬:
Back into Glencoe for another hike:
Waterfall by the highway:
View from the side:
The Three Sisters. We parked across from this view to begin our hike ("hillwalk," as they call it there) to the Lost Valley:
Pausing for a photo:
On the trail:
Warm and sunny to start, but we did get a good deal more rain this morning (we dried off by the time we got back to the car, though, so nothing too crazy):
Even more fun waterfalls (so many!) and rivers:
Two of the shots I got while in that position (this spot looked so cool—the little islands of green with the trees in the middle of the streams were pretty striking, but the hillside behind it makes it less remarkable on camera):
This was a great variety on our hike from the previous day—waterfalls and forests in contrast to the open, grassy slopes of Buachaille Etive Beag:
It's hard to see the water flowing freely down this rock face:
Arriving at the Lost Valley (this was a grazing area for Clan MacDonald's horses):
So green!
Almost back to the car:
A stalk of purple foxglove (we saw a lot of this and other wildflowers, too):
This was actually one of our favorite meals from the trip (you'll notice there weren't any other food pictures because we were just eating pastries, trail mix, fruit, and granola bars over the previous day being out on the trail and such). This fish and chips place (Sammy's) had a long line of locals all queued up greeting each other a good thirty minutes before opening. It was delicious! They had a dedicated gluten-free fryer and everything, which made the stop a must for us (the UK was GREAT at accommodating celiac pretty much everywhere we went, even in small towns like Fort William):
Here's one of the other places we were looking forward to seeing for basically the whole trip, Eilean Donan castle. We saw it for the first time in this video from the Piano Guys:
When we got there, it was threatening to rain, so we were scrambling around trying to find the most ideal view of the castle before we got drenched. Tide was out (Eilean Donan is situated at the meeting point of three sea lochs: Alsh, Duich, and Long):
Starting to rain:
By the time I found a vantage I liked, the rain was coming down hard. We decided to move on, knowing we'd maybe get a chance for another shot a few days later when we drove past on our way to Inverness:
We'd only gone down the road half a mile when the rain stopped and everything cleared. We turned around and found an even better vantage than the one I'd considered earlier. Love that Scottish flag flying on the grounds. All told, I was pretty pleased with what we got:
88 megapixel landscape shot 😎:
Another hour down the road and we were on the Isle of Skye! Stay tuned for that!
Comentários