Ben Nevis and Corpach Pier.

We had come to photograph Ben Nevis (1344m) and were not optimistic, given the thick cloud that had enveloped the upper slopes of Scotland's highest mountain during our approach. From November to January the mountain's summit is in the clouds for 80% of the time. So we could not believe our luck when a weather window opened and the summit and magnificent northern corrie were revealed.

The great northern corrie of Ben Nevis provides some of the finest rock and ice climbing in Scotland.

Photo from Library of Congress collection.

A weather observatory was built on the summit of  Ben Nevis in 1883 and hourly observations were made until it closed in 1904. It was designed by the lighthouse engineer Thomas Stevenson. He also invented the Stevenson screen to protect meteorological instruments in exposed places.  The observatory had a wooden tower to allow access when the building was buried in snow.

Corpach Pier was constructed between 1804 and 1806 to service the entrance to the Caledonian Canal, which was finally completed in 1822. A ferry connected Corpach to Fort William, which lies at the foot of Ben Nevis.

In the 1850's steamers began to bring tourists from Glasgow and Corpach developed as a tourist resort.

Better days in Corpach.

Arriving in Loch Linnhe we almost immediately came to a large pier that runs for nearly 500m out to the deep water channel. It was built to service a large wood pulp mill which operated her from the 1960's until it closed in 1980. At its peak 900 people worked there. There is still a paper mill and a saw mill on the site.

Fort William and Corpach have reinvented themselves as the UK's outdoor capital and each year more people are drawn to the area for its skiing, snowboarding, winter and rock climbing, white water and sea kayaking, mountain biking, sailing etc. However it is not just adventure seekers, cruise ships now come and tie up at Corpach pier. This year, 16th May, the cruise liner MV Spirit of Adventure was given a little assistance to manoeuvre to the pier...

..by the diminutive but shipshape local tug, the Fiona.

Other boats were less shipshape, though there was hope for this old fishing boat as she was tied up at the local boat yard pier.

Sadly this old barge had seen better days. Her rusting plates seemed to blend into the russets of the landscape and the sea weed.

Reminiscent of a river: the Loch Eil narrows.

As we approached the tidal narrows at the mouth of Loch Eil...

...the summit of Ben Nevis was still lost in the clouds.

In the narrows, the west going flood starts at -0435 HW Oban (+0220 HW Dover) and the east going ebb starts at  +0130 HW Oban (-0400 HW Dover). The spring rate in both directions is 5 knots. We were in the narrows an hour before the end of the ebb and were surprised to be drifting at 3.2 knots.

This boat had found a sheltered spot to hole up for the winter.

We stopped for a quick break in the middle of the narrows. With the trees coming right down to the shore, above the flowing water, we both thought the scene was reminiscent of a large river like the Tay. Well, apart from the sea weed that is!

On the water again, for the first time there was some sign of the cloud on the Ben lifting. Maybe we would get photographs of  Ben Nevis after all.

We now left the shelter of the narrows and entered the broad sweep of the head of Loch Linnhe. First signs of industry at Corpach and Fort William appeared. We were about to return to civilisation!

A very modest Ben, above Loch Eil.

At first we made rapid progress down Loch Eil.

Every so often the sun would break through the grey blanket of cloud...

...that hugged the Lochaber landscape.

We were averaging about 7-8km/hr...

...with the help of the ebb tide.

Our bows cut through the calm water but all too soon...

...we drifted to a stop. The scenery  just grabbed our attention.

Stop/start was to be the order of the day...

...as photo opportunities kept appearing out of the clouds. However, Ben Nevis (our target of the day) was proving to be very elusive with the summit hiding behind a thick veil of cloud. A 900m cloud ceiling would reveal many Scottish mountains but not Ben Nevis, which is 1343m high.

Glen Sannox, Arran from Portencross, Ayrshire

A 31km day trip from Portencross to Glen Sannox on Arran and back via Brodick and the Arran ferry.

HMS Dragon was on sea trials in the Sound of Bute as we crossed...

...towards the magnificent vista of the Glen Sannox mountains.

There be dragons at the end of rainbows in the Clyde!

Clyde ore, prawns and peninsulas.

Making the most of short winter days.

This dragon does not belch smoke!

Landfall on the golden sands of Sannox.

Guaranteed seal sighting at Corrie, or your money back!

A dream of the otter and the mountain.

Photo album map.

Sea of tranquility in Loch Eil.

Last Sunday Jim and I left Glasgow at 6am. We were bound for the head of Loch Eil which is deep within the mountains of Lochaber. We dropped one car off (as our shuttle) on the shores of Loch Linnhe, just north of the Corran Narrows.

Not a breath of wind disturbed the waters of Loch Eil and to the west, the mountains above Glen Finnan were perfectly reflected on the calm water. From left they are: Beinn an Tuim 810m, Meall an Uillt Chaoil 844m, Stob Coire nan Cearc 887m and on the extreme right, Streap 909m.

There is a long passing place, suitable for parking, on the single track road just above a large rock on the beach. In the distance, Ben Nevis 1344m was lost in thick cloud.

If this old lifeboat is moored offshore and is a pretty unmissable guide that you have arrived at the correct spot.

We soon had the kayaks on the beach ready to go.

The waters of Loch Eil are a long way from the open sea and not a hint of swell reached the upper recesses of the loch. We set off on a tranquil sea.

A hall of mirrors in Loch Goil.

The dying sun shone through...

...gaps in the cloud layers and illuminated  strips of the mountains high above us.

Down below we paddled on in the gathering gloaming.

The reflections on the glassy sea created a bizarre vision of an alternative world, like a fairground hall of mirrors.

Navigation is easy in a long narrow loch like Loch Goil. We could not even paddle past our destination as it was at the head of the loch.

On the way we passed the research barge Maytime. Loch Goil is up to 85m deep and is used to test the sound signatures of submarines.

We arrived at the douce Victorian villas of Lochgoilhead 30 minutes after sunset. They had been built before the mountain road was constructed. Each day, the owners commuted by steamer into the dirty smoke and smog of Glasgow. Just like them, we had come to Lochgoilhead to escape from the city. The darkness gathered round us, pouring down the hillsides and spilling out over the water of the loch like Indian ink. The reflections were blotted out by the night and our adventure in Loch Long and Loch Goil was over. We returned to the lights of the city, reflecting on the sights we had seen.