Tuesday 13 November 2007

Autumn Light In The Highlands



Driving down to Perth for a Mountaineering Council of Scotland meeting late one afternoon last week I was struck by the beautiful light as I left cloud-covered Strathspey and began the climb up to Drumochter Pass. Momentarily the clouds dissipated and the low sun shone below the drifting remnants turning the moorland and hillsides golden brown. The dusting of snow on the summit of The Fara, a long hill running alongside Loch Ericht, sparkled and the sky had a lustre not seen in summer. The whole landscape glowed. Stopping to view the scene I wandered up a bank away from the car and the road, a cold wind belying the apparent warmth of the light. A few minutes later I was back on the road and the clouds were sealing the sky, cutting out the light and returning the world to a harsh, dull greyness. By the time I reached Drumochter the summits were in cloud and any sense of enchantment in the landscape had vanished. Many hours later, crossing Drumochter at midnight on my way back north, snow was falling, flashes of white streaming through the headlights towards the windscreen, a different sort of magic. These moments of storm and light, snow and sun, are one of the facets that make the Highlands a very special place. Sometimes the beauty is overwhelming, even from a car.

The photo shows the late afternoon light on The Fara, with Dalwhinnie to the left. Photo info: Ricoh GR-D, f8@1/160, ISO 64, raw file converted to JPEG and processed in Photoshop Elements 5.

3 comments:

  1. These moments of storm and light, snow and sun, are one of the facets that make the Highlands a very special place. Sometimes the beauty is overwhelming, even from a car.

    Very well put!

    I feel exactly the same and can't for the life of me understand how anyone can think of putting wind factories on top of these hills and not feel like a murderer...

    I'm impressed that someone like you who's been around the world still finds the Highlands magic hard to beat.

    I cannot think of a better place, and one more worth preserving. But there you go.

    Keep up the good work,

    Walter

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  2. Walter,

    Thanks for your comments.

    I agree with regards to wind factories but these aren't the only threats. The view that gave rise to those comments will be ruined by the Beauly-Denny power line if this goes ahead.

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  3. Aye, you're right there. Those pylons would completely destroy Drumochter.

    I was up Ben Alder back in August for a two-nighter, pitching my Akto a little to the West of Beinn Eibhinn. The first sign of 'civilization' I could see on my way back were the Dalwhinnie pylons. It's amazing how far away you can see them! I may be wrong, but I think I could see them from the Ben Alder trig point...

    Chris Townsend for First Minister, in my book!

    W.

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