Sunshine and clouds

Heather and Ewan arrived in Ullapool yesterday, and since the weather was fine and sunny, I suggested that we should climb Ullapool Hill after lunch. James was taken aback at my enthusiasm for going up a hill, albeit a small one; my reasoning was that we should make the most of such a lovely afternoon because the weather forecast for the next couple of days is dreich at best. I set off a bit before the others because I knew that my pace would be slow on the uphill, and the timing was good because I was just slogging up the short but steep final ascent when I spotted the other three not far behind me. By the time we arrived at the summit the weather was markedly greyer than when we set off, but we still had pleasant views up and down Loch Broom and over to Loch Achall. We headed back down to the village where we had drinks sitting outside the Arch Inn and we watched the ferry coming in and docking. 

Today the weather was indeed grey with low cloud as forecast. However it was dry and we all fancied a walk so we went to the Stoer Peninsula and walked along it to view the sea stack known as the Old Man of Stoer, a round trip of about 7 km. The good news is that we had a pleasant and companionable walk and saw some sea birds including a great skua and a black-backed gull, and of course the impressive sea stack, which according to legend is the thumb of a giant sticking out of the water! The bad news is that although it didn’t rain, the cloud was so low that sometimes we were enveloped in it, so we couldn’t see the undoubtably beautiful sea views that were hidden by the shifting veils of cloud. We had some coffee and shortbread, then we climbed the small hill in the centre of the peninsula and made our way back across sometimes boggy terrain until finally we could see the lighthouse at the car park through wisps of cloud.  

Off to Lochinver we drove to have more coffee and snacks in the An Cala Café before visiting both the pie shop and Highland Stoneware, where we successfully made various purchases. Back at the cottage we dined royally on James’ Sweet Potato and Spinach Curry.