Sunset in the Glen
Glencoe isn't everyone's cup of tea. The first time I passed down this famous road my guide told me that the place gives her mother the shivers and she refuses to stop there. When you pull up at one of the thoughtfully placed parking areas and gaze up at the Three Sisters to the south and the Aonach Eagach Ridge to the north, it is a bit imposing; forbidding even. Quite a few poor souls have come to a tragic end in these mountains in fact.
So while I understand how a place like this can instill a sense of fear, those feelings are tempered by the fact that it's one of the most stunning places I've ever seen. If you're coming from the south, which almost all of us are, then you've just driven along the road that runs parallel to Rannoch Moor, with the imperious conical bulk of Buachaille Etive Mor gradually increasing in size and dominating the scene. If you haven't been here, chances are you've seen it on film or in a TV advert. And then you make your way to the top of the pass that runs through Glencoe and into the village of Ballachulish where the shores of Loch Leven come to greet you. the whole thing is a feast for the senses (as are the cracked black pepper and haggis flavoured crisps you can buy in the local Co-op). For this visit we stayed at the nearby Youth Hostel (apparently you don't have to be young), which was only a mile of two from this spot and within walking distance of the famous Clachaig Inn, a reason to visit in itself.
We came to this spot above the road because one of us had had the idea of photographing traffic trails in the fading light. When we returned from our adventure that was the shot I'd concentrated on from this episode, but one of the few advantages of the place we're all in right now is that there seems to be a bit more time available to revisit and rediscover the images you'd previously ignored, and in this case wonder why you'd overlooked it in the first place.
Keep well, Flickr friends.
Sunset in the Glen
Glencoe isn't everyone's cup of tea. The first time I passed down this famous road my guide told me that the place gives her mother the shivers and she refuses to stop there. When you pull up at one of the thoughtfully placed parking areas and gaze up at the Three Sisters to the south and the Aonach Eagach Ridge to the north, it is a bit imposing; forbidding even. Quite a few poor souls have come to a tragic end in these mountains in fact.
So while I understand how a place like this can instill a sense of fear, those feelings are tempered by the fact that it's one of the most stunning places I've ever seen. If you're coming from the south, which almost all of us are, then you've just driven along the road that runs parallel to Rannoch Moor, with the imperious conical bulk of Buachaille Etive Mor gradually increasing in size and dominating the scene. If you haven't been here, chances are you've seen it on film or in a TV advert. And then you make your way to the top of the pass that runs through Glencoe and into the village of Ballachulish where the shores of Loch Leven come to greet you. the whole thing is a feast for the senses (as are the cracked black pepper and haggis flavoured crisps you can buy in the local Co-op). For this visit we stayed at the nearby Youth Hostel (apparently you don't have to be young), which was only a mile of two from this spot and within walking distance of the famous Clachaig Inn, a reason to visit in itself.
We came to this spot above the road because one of us had had the idea of photographing traffic trails in the fading light. When we returned from our adventure that was the shot I'd concentrated on from this episode, but one of the few advantages of the place we're all in right now is that there seems to be a bit more time available to revisit and rediscover the images you'd previously ignored, and in this case wonder why you'd overlooked it in the first place.
Keep well, Flickr friends.