The glories and challenges of the Highlands of Scotland....and planning a trip!

I recently undertook my second 'Highland Fling' trip and headed north in March for a fortnight of exploration and photography. Now I am generally very happy with solitude and remoteness : in fact I tend to seek it out, so it was a surprise to find this trip more of a challenge in a number of unexpected ways.

I had decided to just go with the flow and see where my wanderings took me rather than have a fixed itinerary: with timescales and places to be at particular times and maybe this was a little bit of a mistake. Last years trip took in Glencoe, Skye with the furthest point being the Outer Hebrides and in particular the stunning beach at Luskentyre. The need to book ferries meant that the trip some structure and an element of a timetable. The recent trip was rooted on the mainland and heading further north, with the Assynt area being the main 'target' area. Now I had done some research before going and had a list of places that I wanted to visit; unfortunately all on google maps on my laptop: which doesn't function without internet. I should definitely have committed these photography locations to my phone as I am sure that there were some I 'missed' along the way. Lesson 1!!

I did have a good idea of locations and a vague itinerary, b ut found myself flitting about a bit back and forth over the time away, which wasn't ideal.

Van troubles were not anticipated, however did occur. Thank heavens for AA membership. The HIghlands are remote: and I mean REMOTE! Even on a A road up there in March, you can drive for literally 10's of miles without seeing another vehicle: some of the less travelled roads are driven in complete solitude. So having a mechanical issue can be hugely disruptive: just getting to a garage and getting parts can be quite a trial; it can take a few days to get them and it alters plans for sure.

Anyway, here are a few images from the first day of the trip: Glencoe was the starting point again after an overnight drive. Its amazing parking up in the dark on Rannoch Moor, grabbing a little sleep and getting up early to the view of the mountains of Glencoe and Glen Etive: What a stunning place! Look out for part 2