View from a mountain

We are just back from a four day trip to the west coast. Spending the first night at the excellent Ullapool youth hostel where we met Walter Lekie an Argentine general practitioner who was trying to trace his Scottish ancestry. Lekie being a Scottish name belonging to the McGregor clan. Walter could speak almost no English and to my delight we were able to converse in Spanish. I say to my delight because I get so little opportunity to speak Spanish I really thought I had lost it. Walter joined us for dinner and we spent a pleasant evening together.

The weather in Ullapool was warm and sunny with great clarity. Before checking into the hostel we climbed Ullapool Hill and were rewarded by incredible views of the town, harbour and surrounding hills.

The next day we climbed Stac Pollaidh the mountain in the picture. John had never been this far north and he was amazed at the view from the top over the Inverpolly wilderness. It was benign on top, so much so, we could enjoy lunch in comfort. We then drove to the far north and stayed at Tongue youth hostel ( almost empty except for two girls cycling Lands End to John O Groats and a very nice lady of Italian origin called Nadia Faccenda). Nadia had set up her own business Saffron Accessories and was having a few days away from it all.

We explored the amazing coast line with it's pristine beaches, again in very good weather, and spent another night at Tongue. On Saturday we drove back home stopping to show John the famous and isolated Crask Inn. A very good four day break.