A long journey north.

The Scottish winter has been pretty tough so far but at last a break in the weather caused Mike and I to meet up with Ian on the west coast. For various reasons revolving round orthopaedic surgery, I had not been far north of Glasgow since early 2013, so I was rather looking forward to this trip.

We had a much easier drive than Ian who was travelling over from the north east.Our route over Rannoch Moor and...

 ...through Glen Coe was thankfully clear of snow. Mike took these photos as I was keeping my eye on the road.

 The mountains were looking in great condition.

 I took up sea kayaking because I was finding mountaineering increasingly difficult due to painful dislocations of my knees. I had last been high in these hills in early 2001 when I climbed one of the gullies high in the summit cliffs at the head of the corrie in the middle of this photo.

Unfortunately my knee dislocated twice during the climb of SC Gully and so it became my last winter climb. It had also been one of my first winter climbs in 1973. I have missed getting into the winter hills. I spent last winter...

  ...learning how to climb stairs...

...after my second knee operation.

 Anyway it was too late to go out on the water so after we met Ian, we decided  to nip up a little hill...

 ...called Ardsheal Hill. It is only 263m high but I was really quite pleased to get up (and down) it.

 Being on the shores of Loch Linnhe it had wonderfull views to the NE and...

 ...the SW.  The islands of Eilean Balnagowan,...

 ...Shuna and Lismore looked very inviting. We made plans while we descended in the winter gloaming.

You can follow our winter adventures in stereovision by also following Ian's blog.

Solar pyrotechnics at Loch Ailort

Back in March, my joints were doing better than now so I took a long drive from Glasgow on the Road to the Isles. I was due to meet Ian for a sea kayaking trip in a brief weather window before the worst snows of the year arrived. When I reached Loch Ailort, the sun dropped beneath the veil of cloud that had hid it from sight on the long road north. I could not help...

 ...but stop the car beneath the steep slopes of Rois-Beinn and get the camera out.

I had only just restarted the car when I had to stop again. This time it was the unmistakable silhouette of Eigg and Rum over the Sound of Arisaig.

To the east the lower slopes of Rois-Beinn were illuminated by the low sun but the upper slopes were in the shadow of the low clouds.

 The sunset was really building up...

 ...beyond the Small Isles.

 The dying sun put up an incredible display and I had to force myself to turn round...

 ...to appreciate the golden light that was illuminating the far shore of...

 ...Loch Ailort.

At last the sun went down and I continued to the welcoming lights of the Glenuig Inn where I arrived just a few minutes before Ian. We were already looking forward to large plates of Mallaig prawns.0

Return to the north west.

Due to worsening knee problems, I have not been driving far recently. So it was great news when Mike offered to drive me up to Glenuig Bay where we planned to meet Ian for some paddling in the Sound of Arisaig area.

 We decided to stay at the Glenuig Inn which is...

 ...well set up to cater for sea kayakers. There is an excellent drying room round the back and you can even launch from the hotel.

We were soon tucking in to excellent local prawn tails and Cairngorm Wildcat real ale by the fire.