This morning James went off to climb a Corbett that he hasn’t yet climbed, near Scourie; called Meallan Liath Coire Mhic Dhughaill. What a long name! Apparently it means “the small grey rounded hill of MacDougall’s corrie.” He went with the Ullapool Hill-walking club, his first outing with them.
It really was a very beautiful day and I decided that I would walk up Ullapool Hill. I made myself a wee flask of coffee and headed for the hill. The first thing that I noticed was how lush and leafy it was; the paths were narrowed and almost overgrown with flourishing grasses and ferns. The bright red berries are out on the rowan trees. August is such a voluptuous month. I took my time on the way up, enjoying the unfolding scenery of mountains and lochs. There was a lot of bird and insect activity going on; little birds were swooping low over the heather, I think that they might have been pied wagtails. The heather, vibrant purple in the sunshine, was buzzing with insects, I saw bees and huge blue dragonflies. There were lots of Mountain Ringlet butterflies; they looked dark as they flitted about but when one landed on a bush next to me and spread its wings in the sunshine, it had beautiful reddish orange markings like delicate embroidery on the outer edges of its dark brown wings. Gorgeous.
Less welcome were the aggressive flies and millions of midges; the hill was alive with them, even right up at the summit where there was a slight breeze, and they were horribly persistent, no matter how much I waved madly and brushed them away.
Eventually I arrived at the top of the hill where I had a chat with a very pleasant couple from New Zealand, and I drank my coffee while admiring the view of the village and the loch spread out below me. The sky was bright summer blue with wisps of cloud to the west, but when I looked north, I could see big grey rain clouds approaching. This didn’t surprise me because I had just received a message from James to say that it was raining on his mountain! I was on my way down the hill and was just taking a photo of some bog cotton that looked breathtakingly bright white in the sunshine, when the first large drops of rain started falling. It was so refreshing that I didn’t even bother putting on my waterproof jacket. As the path turned towards Loch Achall I suddenly caught sight of an amazing rainbow arching behind a rowan tree with dark cloud above it, what a stunning sight it was, and so ephemeral - it was gone a minute later. I was so lucky to see it. The rain only lasted about 20 minutes and a while later, after spotting a deer running from the north road up towards the quarry, I arrived back at the cottage rather grubby and midge infested, I couldn’t wait to jump into the shower.
It really was a very beautiful day and I decided that I would walk up Ullapool Hill. I made myself a wee flask of coffee and headed for the hill. The first thing that I noticed was how lush and leafy it was; the paths were narrowed and almost overgrown with flourishing grasses and ferns. The bright red berries are out on the rowan trees. August is such a voluptuous month. I took my time on the way up, enjoying the unfolding scenery of mountains and lochs. There was a lot of bird and insect activity going on; little birds were swooping low over the heather, I think that they might have been pied wagtails. The heather, vibrant purple in the sunshine, was buzzing with insects, I saw bees and huge blue dragonflies. There were lots of Mountain Ringlet butterflies; they looked dark as they flitted about but when one landed on a bush next to me and spread its wings in the sunshine, it had beautiful reddish orange markings like delicate embroidery on the outer edges of its dark brown wings. Gorgeous.
Less welcome were the aggressive flies and millions of midges; the hill was alive with them, even right up at the summit where there was a slight breeze, and they were horribly persistent, no matter how much I waved madly and brushed them away.
Eventually I arrived at the top of the hill where I had a chat with a very pleasant couple from New Zealand, and I drank my coffee while admiring the view of the village and the loch spread out below me. The sky was bright summer blue with wisps of cloud to the west, but when I looked north, I could see big grey rain clouds approaching. This didn’t surprise me because I had just received a message from James to say that it was raining on his mountain! I was on my way down the hill and was just taking a photo of some bog cotton that looked breathtakingly bright white in the sunshine, when the first large drops of rain started falling. It was so refreshing that I didn’t even bother putting on my waterproof jacket. As the path turned towards Loch Achall I suddenly caught sight of an amazing rainbow arching behind a rowan tree with dark cloud above it, what a stunning sight it was, and so ephemeral - it was gone a minute later. I was so lucky to see it. The rain only lasted about 20 minutes and a while later, after spotting a deer running from the north road up towards the quarry, I arrived back at the cottage rather grubby and midge infested, I couldn’t wait to jump into the shower.
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