the Islands

JURA Beinn a'Chaolais from Beinn an Oir. 8pm, 23/5/87
Sun setting over Oronsay, from Beinn an Oir. 9.30pm, 23/5/87
Twilight sky over Colonsay, from Beinn an Oir. 10.30pm, 23/5/87
Argyllshire skyline at dawn from Beinn an Oir. 5am, 24/5/87 ~ with the sun rising in the col between Beinn an Dothaidh and Beinn Dorain.
Early sun on Beinn a'Chaolais, from Beinn an Oir. 5.15am, 24/5/87
Beinn a'Chaolais and Beinn an Oir from Beinn Shiantaidh. 9am, 24/5/87
Glenbatrick Bay. 2pm, 24/5/87
Camp at Lang Aoineadh. 6pm, 24/5/87
Sun setting over Colonsay, from Rubha Lang-aoinidh. 9.30pm, 24/5/87
Crotal [Xanthoria sp.] and sea-pink on a dyke. 11am, 24/5/87
A natural rock-garden on a basalt dyke. 11.30am, 25/5/87 ~ Bluebell, Trefoil, Sea-pink, Sea-campion.
North Jura moorland. 2pm, 20/10/86
Fishing Loch, Ardlussa. 3pm, 24/10/86
Barnhill.5pm, 23/10/86~ where George Orwell lived for long spells between May 1946 and January 1949, and wrote Nineteen Eighty-four .
Feolin and the Paps. 2pm, 26/9/87
RUM Canna and South Uist from Glen Guirdil. 1pm, 18/4/83
Skye from Orval. 2pm, 18/4/83
The Cuillin of Rum from Orval. 2pm, 18/4/83
Eigg from Sgurr nan Gillean. 11am, 20/4/83
Ainshval from Trallval. 2pm, 20/4/83
Hallival and Askival from Ainshval. 3pm, 21/4/83
Ainshval and Trallval from the S ridge of Askival. 10am, 21/4/83
SKYE Blaven and Clach Glas from Torrin. 2pm, 27/09/79
A crofter's field at Torrin. 1pm, 27/9/79
A bracing day at Elgol. 3pm, 4/10/80
The track to Camas Fhionnarigh
The Cuillin ridge from Sgurr na Stri. 1pm, 25/9/81
On Sgurr na Stri, about to get wet.
The resemblance between Blaven and a Vango Force 10. 2pm, 27/09/81
Camas Fhionnairigh from Sgurr na Stri. 2pm, 25/9/81 ~ The bridge has long since been washed away and crossing the river can involve a long detour at times, particularly at high tide. The black sand is comminuted gabbro - not pollution! Note the old cultivation ridges. Sadly the building near the bridge is no longer a bothy.
The Camasunary bridge (on its last legs). 9/81 ~ There being little alternative, the next thing I did after taking this photo was to cross it. Most of the wire handrail and a good number of the treads were missing, and bridge-sag brought the water up past knee-level at halfway. As a non-swimmer, I think this was the scariest thing I've ever done in the Scottish hills. A conjunction of spring tide and spate washed it all away a few years later.
Eigg and Rum from Camas Fhionnairigh. 4pm, 28/9/81
Central Cuillin from an Dorus. 9am, 19/4/82 ~ L-r: Sgurr Dubh na Da Bheinn, Sgurr nan Eag, Sgurr Mhic Choinnich, Sgurr Alasdair, Sgurr Sgumain, an Stac, Inaccessible Pinnacle, Sgurr Dearg. This remains, after a quarter of a century, one of my most satisfying hill-days. The Munros total was past 200, but the central part of the Cuillin ridge awaited (I'd got Bruach - Basteir - Gillean the previous day, and Eag - Dubh Mor the previous year) and I was by no means confident that I was up to soloing it. It proved to be all a joy. Except perhaps the screes of Sgurr Thuilm, but once the solid rock of the crest was reached it was plain sailing, up the steep but easy buttress of Mhadaidh and over its tops, back down to an Dorus, and levitating over Ghreadaidh and Banachdich in the crisp and airy spring sunshine. Lunch on Dearg, contemplating the Pinnacle, then, nothing else for it, an exploratory scramble up the long side. I found it all quite simple, and delightful, one arm's-length pull up a little wall and the rest just a question of balance, so on getting to the top and back down I climbed it again, with a camera round my neck this time. A scree-y bypass of an Stac, a walk along Mhic Choinnich's roof-ridge, back a bit for Collie's Ledge, a curiously awkward drop off Thearlaich for Alasdair, and down by the Stone Chute and Coire Lagan. Wonderful, wonderful.
Sgurr Alasdair from the In. Pinn. 2pm, 19/4/82
The Cuillin ridge from Sgurr Alasdair. 5pm, 19/4/82
Eas Mor, at the foot of Coire na Banachdich. 7pm, 19/4/82 ~ The end of a perfect day.
Camp at Coruisk. 9am, 23/4/82
Blaven from Gars-bheinn. 2pm, 23/4/82
Cuillin ridge from Blaven. 3pm, 15/6/83
Rum from Blaven. 9.30pm, 16/6/87
Late evening view north from Blaven. 9.40pm, 16/06/87 ~ Clach Ghlas in full sun on the right, then Sgurr nan Each, with Garbh-bheinn and Belig framing Rudha na Mhaoil and Raasay.
Evening on Blaven. 10pm, 16/6/87
Sgurr a'Ghreadhaidh, Sgurr a'Mhadaidh, and Bidein Druim nan Ramh from Loch Coruisk. 6am, 12/6/95 ~ an Dorus is the v-shaped gap left of centre.
Coir'uisg and Sgurr na Stri, from halfway up to an Dorus. 8.30am, 12/06/95 ~ From an Dorus, which is not the easiest bealach to reach from the Coruisk side, I nicked up and down the west top of Mhadaidh, then proceeded uneventfully over Ghreadaidh and Banachdich to Dearg, up and down the easy side of the In. Pinn., by way of Mhic Choinnich to Alasdair, deviously around and over to Dubh Mor, and finally Eag, returning to Coruisk by way of the Garbh-choire. Taking a decent photograph in the course of a solo day-trip along the Cuillin ridge, in uninterestingly fine weather, is not something I find easy, and this day's results are indifferent. However, I've included a few shots, which have little merit but may or may not be of interest.
North-east from Sgurr a'Mhadaidh. 9.30am, 12/06/95 ~ Mhadaidh has four tops, the full traverse of which tests the boundary between scrambling and climbing. I have done it, but the south top was sufficient this time.
Cuillin Central - on Sgurr a'Ghreadaidh. 11am,12/06/95
In. Pinn., east ridge. 2pm, 12/06/95 ~ That roped party was already on the route when I arrived, so I walked some way up an Stac and had my lunch. Half an hour later they were quite near the top, so I went back across and set off up the ridge, which normally takes me about four minutes. I'm not sure why I felt embarrassed at reaching the top at the same time as them, but I did, and tried to sidle off back down unnoticed. Maybe it felt as if I was trying to show off, a cardinal sin in my upbringing.
Looking down the east ridge of the In. Pinn. 2.30pm, 12/06/95 ~ From about a third of the way down. The Pinnacle looks steeper from some angles than from others (the view from Ghreadaidh shows the true gradient of the east ridge), but I'm surprised at just how vertiginous it appears here. It doesn't feel difficult, but does demand care and concentration. Dry rock and a well-behaved wind are more or less essential for a safe solo ascent and descent.
Sgurr Mhic Choinnich and Sgurr Alasdair. 3pm, 12/06/95
Coire Lagan, with the foot of the Alasdair Stone Chute, from Sgurr Mhic Choinnich. 4pm, 12/06/95