Having had a fantastic experience hiking up Stac Pollaidh for sunrise the past Wednesday (see 'My first ascent of Stac Pollaidh'), the weekend arrived and I was heading there again on a church men’s walk with a group of friends from our local church at Kiltarlity. The weather was scheduled to be cloudy with sun for the afternoon. As we drove the hour and a half to the location, I wasn’t surprised to see cloud, but was not expecting the mountains to be shrouded in low cloud - but this IS Scotland! I was thinking I was glad I brought the waterproof and extra layer!

As we turned left onto the final few miles stretch of road up to the car park we were greeted with a super rainbow - only managing to find a suitable viewpoint to stop the car just as it started to fade.

We all arrived at the car park within a short time of each other and soon were on our way ‘up the hill’. Low cloud was swirling around the top of the Stac, and it seemed debatable at that point what sort of views we would get when we reached the top if the cloud base dropped much lower.

The views on the route up were stunning again, with the tops of the surrounding mountains this time cloaked in cloud - completely different to the hike up here during the week. Sunlight was piercing through at points, creating bands of light across different parts of the panorama.

It didn’t seem long before we reached the eastern summit, and were just under the cloud base - which lent itself to superb views down the glen with swirling cloud intermittently obscuring the views. The sun was reflecting off the loch below creating a contrast with the shadow-laden landscape.

Soon however we were engulfed in cloud and all views disappeared other than across the top of the Stac. There were moments that we would see the brightness of the sun seeking to break through the cloud brightening our surroundings - but it seemed like the cloud was here to stay. In the back of my mind I knew the forecast was sun for later in the afternoon ….. would it clear it up before headed back was the question. Part of the group headed off to do the scramble up to the western summit - in the cloud! One day maybe for me, but I wasn’t keen on the idea!

Eventually the cloud started to thin and the welcomed warmth of the sun could be felt.

Views down the glens started to re-appear and as I turned I noticed a fog bow! Amazing. There was no brocken spectre, the sun seemed at the wrong angle, but it was excellent seeing the bow which faded and returned a few times.

Meanwhile the views on the south side of the mountain continued to improve and ultimately the cloud lifted and cleared from over the top of us.

Here’s a few panoramic photos with the changing atmosphere:

Eva, a friend’s lab was incredibly well behaved and seemed to appreciate the views as well! It would have been nice for Willow to join us, but with sheer drops off the side of the mountain at points, I just wouldn’t have trusted her off the lead, and needed two hands free when coming up myself!!