Loch Ness

I awoke at 4.30 this morning and decided to grab the camera and go out for the dawn. I went straight down to the windmill and took it from the same position with a nice reflection in the pool. I had a wander round the town and out to the 14c church taking pictures. I'm gradually uploading what I can to Flickr but the site wifi, which was quite good earlier is now struggling to cope with demand.

By 8 o'clock I was packed up and set off north. It was a pleasant journey using lots of small roads until I got up past Loch Lomond when they speeded up. I even had a bit of motorway for about a mile and a quarter.

As I got north the weather gradually deteriorated. I got to the campsite I'd planned to use in Glencoe Village. Reception was closed so I chose a pitch and instead of setting up straight away, I had a little think. The wind was blowing up a bit of a hoolie so I decided to go off and visit Glenfinnan and consider an alternative strategy. As I got to Glenfinnan the heavens opened but hey, I've been on Lakeland Photograhic Holidays so a little bit of rain wasn't going to stop me. I walked out to the monument and then decided to do one of the walks up the hill to get a good viewpoint on the area. I got bl**dy soaked and when I got up there the rain was blowing straight in my face. I managed to get one shot without rain on the lens because I set it up, wiped the lens and kept it covered only whipping away the cloth before I pressed the shutter. It wasn't really worth it because the view is so misty it's almost undefined. You can see it here if you're interested.

I decided to head to the new Camping and Caravanning Club site at Foyers on the shore of Loch Ness. It's an area I've visited before many years ago and it's the best side of the loch without all that 'Nessie' stuff that's ruined Drumnadrochit and much of the other side. I got set up and settled into a bit of wifi catching up. I thought I was going to have to blip something from St Monans again as the rain persisted and seemed to be set to stay. All of a sudden I noticed a chink of light and it gradually got bigger and gave us a lovely clear evening. The sun's just about down now, although it dipped behind the hills a couple of hours ago. So, I have a Loch Ness blip for you and I'm pleased about that. i have a long connection with the Loch. When I was a child and my father was working on the Hydro Electic Scheme up here, we used to travel from Invergarry up th banks to Inverness for things not obtainable locally. I've seen Sir John Cobb's Crusader just before he crashed and died in pursuit of the water speed record. I'vce seen Nessie, my mother swears and I've been on a rowing boat in more recent years on the brooding darkness of the loch. Today it looks much less threatening and more like the many other lakes I've visited. There are a couple more here plus more from St Monans and I'll hope to add to these in due course.

Thanks very much for the faves you've been piling on me lately. I think you've liked yesterday's late blipwhich has just gone into the Spotlights. It's probably time for bed now as i've been up since 4.30!

David