Glen Affric in autumn

Autumn is the last time to take in colours before winter comes with its long nights and often it is a time of good weather. This year Ana, Christian and I went to Glen Affric where birches are yellow colour spots among caledonian pines.

We camped on the car park and it was below zero over night. In the morning cobwebs were marked by dew...

... and we walked up loch Affric and then up the hillside through heather & bog to Carn Glas lochdarach (771 m) on the Southern side of Glen Affric. Towards the East it was a bit hazy and so the photos do not bring out the colours. Here is Loch Beinn a' Mheadhoin which is South of Loch Affric...

... and here a more wide angle view.

To the North and West there were deep blue skies and the warm colours of the grass on the Glen Affric (North) and Glen Shiel (West) Munros with Loch Affric and the river Affric below in the Glen.

We took plenty of shots...

... with various objects in the foreground...

... which slowed our descent but the weather was stable and it was warm.

We walked beyond the end of the loch and crossed the river at Athanamulloch and then returned on the north side of the glen in a warm evening light...

... and unfortunately the sun disappeared behind the hills before we could take photos of the birches and other autumn trees lining the various lochs.

Only a 20 s exposure shot of the stream connecting loch Affric with the lower loch.

A long journey back with sheeps on the road, a curry in Elgin and an irritating contact lens.

HW

How to advertise Scotland

I think I could work for the Scottish tourism office because I seem to advertise Scotland a lot. So Oli, with whom I studied, and Sebastian, a friend of Oli, took the bait and came over to a cold and rainy Scotland on Friday. Gales but drier conditions were forecast for Saturday and this is how it looked at Clashrodney...

...where we climbed Chester...

... and then Capitol wall.

Oli, father of three, kept his head down and went fishing instead of climbing but finally our brainwashing worked and he had a go at the Hairline as his first climb and also did Capitol wall afterwards.

Here is us topping out traumatised after a spicy solo.

We followed the coastal route via Dunnotar castle...

... and had our desert storm on Lunan bay.

On Sunday we hit 100 balls each at the driving range at St. Andrews and afterwards I had a wee jog at Clova and spotted these climbers doing ZigZag double direct E2 5c. One of my favourite routes.

Another good weekend. Scotland has a lot going for it and I'll carry on singing hymns of praise!

H