They're Up There Somewhere!

The Weather Elves had promised a better day but when we opened the blinds it was low cloud and drizzle once again.  Tony was busy looking at every forecaster in the hope of finding one which said it was going to be wall to wall blue sky and sunshine.  They all said 'improving'.  Come ten o'clock we packed our rucksacks and Tony left for Canisp (and hopefully some views) whilst I walked down the road to the start of the Glencanisp Loop, advertised in the guidebook as 7km with 'the impressive mountain wall of Quinag' and 'classic views of Canisp and Suilven'.  Camera at the ready then, still holding on to that 'improving'.

The first part of the walk follows the River Inver.  It tumbles down from the hills through clefts and boulders and was fierce today, wonder what it is like in winter?!  The guidebook said I had to watch carefully for a right turn away from the river through the heather.  I was so busy watching out for my knee on the slippery rocky trail that I convinced myself I had passed through 'the birchwood' and missed the turning.  What followed was ten minutes or so of 'deviation, repetition and hesitation' till I looked more closely at the map and realised I hadn't yet gone far enough.  The fly fisherman must have wondered what I was doing appearing, disappearing and reappearing!

I reached the top of the hill via a narrow path through chest high bracken which nicely soaked me up to my unmentionables, as my Gran would have said.  Despite navigation blips and sodden clothing I was enjoying envisioning how the 'impressive mountain wall of Quinag' would look on a clear day.  Apart from the two anglers on the river, I hadn't seen a single person in ninety minutes.

The top of the hill reached and the 'classic views of Canisp and Suilven' lost to the mist, in compensation Loch Druim Suardalain lay below me in the glen.  The descent was quite steep and the rocks slippy so I was focusing on protecting my dicky knee as I entered the woodland with wildflowers lining the path.  Eventually, two deer gates negotiated and I could see Glencanisp Lodge below me, once a hunting lodge now home to the Assynt Foundation.  As I reached ground level I met a couple looking at a phone on the track.  They saw me coming and asked if I might be able to help.  They were German and I resisted the temptation to ask them for directions to the nearest Kaufhaus as I needed a Hemd (I'm relearning German on Duolingo for our big adventure next year.  It has useful phrases for meetings such as these!)

They were walking the loop I was on in reverse but had reached a fork in the path and could not decide which way to go.  I asked if they wanted to take a photo on their phone of the guidebook map, which they did.  Having pointed them along the path I had just come down, we chatted until the midges became unbearable and went our separate ways.

Once on the road from the Walkers' Carpark down to Lochinver I remembered that Tony recommended a detour to the head of the Loch which he was sure was the vantage point used by the local photographer to capture those 'classic views'.  Ever hopeful that the sky would crack open and Canisp and Suilven would be revealed in all their magnificence, I took the path, but it soon became clear that the cloud was set in for the afternoon.  Homemade soup and a mug of cappuccino at An Cala beckoned so I packed away my camera and descended to the village and Cafe.

Lunch over, postcards posted, milk and orange juice purchased it was back to the Old Coastguard Station where I now wait for Tony's return.  He messaged from the top of Canisp to say there were no views there either.

My blip is taken from the top of the hill and I've had to seriously dehaze it to pull out any kind of detail.  Definitely better on black!

Tomorrow's forecast: rain