The end of the Christmas week arrived, and looking at the weather forecast, strong winds and rain/snow was due to come in from the north - however it appeared that there was a possibility of it being ‘dry’ for a time and I decided to head north west with a potential ascent of Stac Pollaidh.
The sun was out as I left home, but driving past Loch Glascarnoch the snow clouds were building and a plan to stop at Loch Droma was aborted as the snow started to fall.
Driving along the A835 after Ullapool gave a great view of Stac Pollaidh but it didn’t fill me with much confidence about the weather - even though the sun broke through to light up the foreground of this photo below:
Arriving at the car park however told another story, with some blue skies and the mountain looking great in the sunlight.
The sunlight wasn’t to last very long unfortunately and heading up the initial steep path on route to the mountain, the skies soon darkened and snow starting falling like small peas of polystyrene! It was obviously going to be an afternoon with mixed weather!
The snow eventually blew over and soon the great views opened up as I followed the uphill path around the side of the mountain. I initially resisted getting the camera out of the rucksack, as I could see wintry clouds looming in the distance which hastened my ascent. However I succumbed in the end, thinking that there may be a risk I wouldn’t get to see the view later if the lower cloud came in.
The rocky path up to the eastern side to the central ridge of the mountain was coated in a thin layer of snow which resulted in slow and cautious progress. Eventually arriving at the top, the wind had really picked up and it was very cold. True to expectation the views deteriorated due to the incoming snow clouds as seen below:
Waiting around for a while it didn’t seem that there was going to be much point in staying up there after getting a few photos, and so I packed up my stuff and even more cautiously than the ascent, started to make my way down the snowy rocks and boulders.
However, on the way down I noticed a subtle change of colour in the reflections in the lochans and decided to stop and get a photo. Looking more closely at the wind direction and clouds, it looked like the weather was on the change again and so I decided to turn around and head back up. I was soon going to find out it was the right decision!
Back at the eastern top of the mountain the views in different direction showed some great contrasts between rising mist/cloud looking south across to Ben Mor Coigach, the colourful reflections in the lochans looking over to Suilven and dense low cloud looking south west which also soon covered Suilven.
After setting a timelapse going on the phone, I waited to see what would happen with the weather and soon I noticed what appeared to be a break in the low cloud and blue skies with dramatic high cloud in the distance.
The next hour or so was spent just watching the amazing atmosphere around me change, with storm clouds being lit up by the descending and ultimately, setting sun. At times the whole landscape around Suilven and Cul Mor turned to a strange pink hue. I was SO glad I had decided to retrace my steps and spend more time at the top. Here’s a selection of the photos looking over to Suilven:
Here’s the changing views over to Cul Beag and Cul Mor during my visit:
I was even privileged to get a glimpse of the sun as it headed towards sunset.
As the sun was setting and the landscape started to darken, I had a sense it was time to pack and go. Also noticing under the colours in the clouds to the north west that low rain/snow cloud was heading in my direction (last photo of the three below) added to the motivation to get back to the car.
The walk back ended up in the dark by head torch light, accompanied by rain and snow. As I reached the car and put the walking sticks in the back, suddenly the skies opened up with a torrential downpour. I had returned just in time! It had been a memorable visit even amidst the big changes in the weather conditions. It just taught me again, that with variable weather conditions there can often be great photographic opportunities if we’re willing to hang on long enough!
Here is a selection of panoramic photos I took: