Cloud Inversion in the North Harris Hills

The sun almost breaks through

Sometimes light in the mountains can be astoundingly strange. Such was the case one day last week when I accompanied a group of seventeen round the Clisham Horseshoe as part of the Harris Mountain Festival. We set off under grey clouds which soon enveloped us. Every so often a hazy sun threatened to burst through but never quite did so. However driving to the start from Tarbert we had seen the summits poking above the clouds into a blue sky so we hoped that we would eventually climb through the mist and look down on a cloud inversion.

 

 

Climbing An Cliseam

And so we did but not exactly as expected. The glens below us were mostly rippling with clouds but the sky above was not often blue or the sun very bright. Sheets of clouds spread across the sky, thickening and thinning over and over again as we wandered the ridges and peaks, marvelling at the ever-changing light. Sometimes walls of cloud rose up and almost engulfed us, only to sink back down. At one point there was a fog bow – a white bow caused by the sun shining through the fine droplets of moisture that made up the mist. The sun almost appeared many times but always more fine clouds drifted across, dulling its light.

Fog bow

Surging mist

In between the undulating mist below and the shimmering clouds above we walked the fine rocky summits that ring the glen of the Abhainn Scaladail. Mostly the walking was easy, with some simple scrambling and boulders to negotiate in places. The views, when they appeared through the shifting clouds, were tremendous, out over the ocean to distant islands, down to lochans far below and across the white clouds to floating peaks. It was a grand day and one to remember for a long time.

A narrow path on Mulla-Fo Dheas

View from An Cliseam with Todun poking through the clouds

Harris Mountain Festival: Walks & Films In the Outer Hebrides

On the Clisham Horseshoe

Next week, whilst a rather momentous decision is being made in Scotland, I'll be on the Isle of Harris at the Harris Mountain Festival.  On the 17th I'll be introducing The Cairngorms In Winter film and answering questions afterwards. (Terry Abraham's other full length film Life of A Mountain: Scafell Pike is also being shown, on the 16th).

On the 18th, the day of the Scottish Independence Referendum, I'll be walking the Clisham Horseshoe with a  group from the festival. This is a wonderful steep and rocky circuit of several hills with superb views of hills, lochs and ocean.

There's much more on at the Festival - walks, hill race, raft race, kayaking, hills skills training, talks, photo workshops and more. It's well worth a visit!

I'll be at the Harris Mountain Festival in September

On the Clisham Horseshoe

This September I'll be on the isle of Harris for the Harris Mountain Festival where I'll be introducing The Cairngorms In Winter film and answering questions afterwards on September 17th and then leading a walk over the Clisham Horseshoe on the 18th.

The whole Festival runs from September 13th to 20th. There are many different events including walks, a hill race, a raft race, kayaking, hill skills training, talks, and photo workshops with natural history photographer Laurie Campbell. The full programme isn't finalised yet so it's not on the Festival web site. It should appear soon.

Harris is a beautiful island with a magnificent coastline and dramatic mountains. This will be my third visit and I'm delighted to be going back. I gave a talk at the Festival last year but was unable to spend long on Harris (I describe the trip here). I hope to stay longer this year.

A Quick Visit to the Isle of Harris

Huisnish

 

 

 

The Outer Hebrides are a wonderful chain of islands on the Atlantic Edge. My recent visit to the Isle of Harris to give a talk at the Harris Mountain Festival was unfortunately all too brief, just a taster to remind me how marvellous an island it is. I should really make a longer visit. I reached Harris via the ferry from Uig on the Isle of Skye and had the same feelings when crossing Skye, even though the mountains were in cloud and a fierce wind blew with heavy showers at times, as I hadn’t been there for a few years.

Leaving Skye

The ferry crossing was in a strong wind and choppy seas. Skye faded into the cloud and Harris appeared as a hazy dark outline. There are usually many sea birds on the crossing but the dark surging waters and the grey sky made it hard to spot any on the water. In the air there were gannets, white against the dark clouds, flying high then suddenly spearing down into the waves. Small dark auks flashed past, skimming the water, and on islets cormorants perched, prehistoric as usual.

Tarbert

I spent much of a day wandering round the little town of Tarbert, admiring the harbour and the tiered houses and visiting the North Harris Trust. The big Skye ferry dwarfed the harbour. I watched with fascination as the front slowly opened like a giant mouth to disgorge vehicles. That evening I gave the first talk on my Scottish Watershed walk to a good audience who asked plenty of questions, which I always enjoy. Thanks to North Harris Ranger Matt Watts for inviting me. I hope I'm asked back next year.

Huisnish

The strong wind continuing to blow and the mountains remaining in the clouds the next day I headed west to the coast at Huisnish, a long slow drive down a scenic winding single track road. In the Outer Hebrides there’s a huge contrast between the rocky east coast and the beautiful sandy beaches backed by machair (a fertile shell-sand sward) to the west. At the little peninsula of Huisnish I ambled round several beaches and coves and gazed out across the vast dark expanse of the Atlantic Ocean – next stop America. The flowers that turn the machair into a glorious swathe of colour in the summer had gone, leaving green, sheep-cropped grass. Clumps of marram grass decorated sand dunes with heather and bog plants on the little rocky knolls. The sea shimmered and shone as the sunshine came and went in the racing clouds. The wind was cold and every so often blasts of chilly rain swept the landscape. Gulls and oystercatchers dotted the sandy beaches.

Huisnish

Then it was time to return to Tarbert and the ferry. I’ll be back.

Leaving Harris

Harris Mountain Festival

The great cliff of Sron Uladal on Harris

This week I'm heading over to the Isle of Harris via the Isle of Skye to give a talk on my Scottish Watershed walk at the Harris Mountain Festival. As the weather is very stormy at present with many ferry services cancelled or disrupted I'm hoping it all calms down before I travel. While on Harris I'm hoping to do some hill walking or, if the tops are in cloud, visit some of the lovely beaches.

First Scottish Watershed talk at the Isle of Harris Mountain Festival

On September 17th I'm giving the first talk on my Scottish Watershed Walk in Tarbert at the Isle of Harris Mountain Festival - probably as remote from the Watershed as you can get in Scotland!

The Festival lasts from the 14th to the 21st September and includes hill races, raft races, barefoot walks, non-barefoot walks, kayaking and surfing. Leading natural history photographer Laurie Campbell will be leading a photo workshop and also giving a talk entitled 'From Paxton to Patagonia'. There's also a talk from Cameron McNeish - 'A Wilderness Walk with John Muir'. There's much more too - see the Festival website for details - and of course there's beautiful Harris with its splendid beaches and remote hills to explore.