A period of good weather combined with some days leave isn't to be passed up! A couple of calls later and Allan, Lorna and I had an outline plan for a sea kayaking trip in the north west. Camping in August on the west coast brings the near inevitability of midges - but it would be worth suffering them. Then, some terrific news - Allan and Lorna had been offered the use of a family connection's croft house above Loch Ewe - which was a huge bonus.
We left a very overcast and humid north east of Scotland, emerged into bright sunshine north of Inverness and then drove back into thick haar (sea mist) at Gairloch. Over at Poolewe it wasn't so thick, but kept rolling in periodically through the afternoon. We decided not to get on the water straight away and spent a leisurely afternoon sorting out kit which had been hastily packed the previous evening - we wouldn't need any camping gear after all!
Gradually the mist began to clear as late afternoon turned to evening, the outlines of the Fisherfield Munros became clearer in a pale blue sky.
Evening brought the most beautiful view over Ewe....our base faced east and the sunset light was washing the hills with warm light and showing ridges and corries in sharp relief. The forecast was for great weather the following day, and we were raring to go....
I've heard from various hill-walkers the midges are really bad this summer up there, probably because tourists have been scare for several months. One big advantage of kayaking in late summer, in still conditions,... as soon as you get out on the water you leave them behind. Always enjoyed that part.
ReplyDeleteOh, they're pretty bad Bob. The week after this trip we were camping from the boats near Arisaig....the one calm morning was a bit special for midges, and ticks :o(
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