out and about - 2020
25 December 2020 ............... Up by Ballachulish
Christmas Day - and the west coast was enjoying the finest of weather - wind, rain, low cloud, very poor visibility.
And just to add to the joy - the last day before another completely pointless and counter productive lockdown which drives people nuts, costs the economy a fortune, shuts businesses, costs jobs - and forces people indoors into their houses so they can maximise the transmission of cv19.
It is now well known that the transmission of cv19 is much higher in peoples houses that it is out there in shops and gyms and sports centres - but still the politicians like to prove how powerful they are by locking people up.
If you wonder why I am so sceptical about lockdowns, have a look at Wales - over the last couple of months they have had lockdown after lockdown after lockdown - it is now reported that they now have the second highest infection rate in the world - you read that right, the second highest infection rate in the world.
So what to do with the day - a last opportunity to head off somewhere to get a different view of the countryside - so a trip up to Ballachulish seemed a good idea.
And here I am - the hills were virtually invisible, and about the only thing I could see was the bridge - so here it is - Ballachulish bridge -
And since the only thing I could actually see was the bridge, here is another view of it taken from a handy layby.
It did occur to me that Ballachulish bridge really isn`t the most iconic of structures, it is a basic bit of engineering construction which does its job - so why is it painted a sort of yukky un-natural green colour - it is never going to blend into the environment.
So why not go in the opposite direction, and paint in a bright purple or a hot pink colour - make a feature of it - bring some colour into peoples lives. Could be a tourist attraction - a hot pink bridge.
I was thinking I could go back down the road again when the weather suddenly cleared up a bit, and I could see things - looking out to the west - I think that would be Kingairloch across the other side of Loch Linnhe -
Even the two Munros just to the south of Ballachulish began to clear, although they didn`t completely clear -
Along the road a bit towards Glencoe, and a good view across to the Pap of Glencoe - it is called the Pap because of its shape that looks like a human boob.
The Gaelic name for the Pap of Glencoe is Sgorr na Ciche - which shouldn`t be confused with Sgurr na Ciche, a very distinctive Munro on Knoydart.
The Pap of Glencoe lies at the western end of the Aonach Eagach ridge - now the Aonach Eagach ridge is quite a scary and challenging bit of hill walking even when it is in summer and the rock is dry - with that snow on it that you can just see in the photo it would become a lot more dodgy.
Round a bit to the left, and a bit of a view away up Loch Leven - still quite a bit of cloud up that way.
Somewhere away up at the far end of Loch Leven lies Kinlochleven with its famous Ice Factory. I wonder if they have geriatric ice wall climbing sessions.
Back in Ballachulish, and a walk up onto the bridge to get a bit of a view up towards the Pap and away into Glencoe.
By now it was half dark, so it is quite surprising that the photo came out at all, though it did require a bit of digital manipulation to make it presentable -
By the time I was back off the bridge and back to my van the weather had closed in again, the rain had started, and all the hills dissappeared again.
So dead lucky with that weather window, a good way to spend Christmas afternoon, and like a good member of society, I maintained social distancing of two kilometres for most of the afternoon.
Finally, I noticed that my first photograph of Ballachulish bridge had very little colour in it because of the weather - and I wondered if it would look good in black and white - it does, so for fans of black and white photography here it is -
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