Gairloch – Coastal Road Trip

Day 21 – Gairloch to Ullapool

Day twenty-one will be full of lochs as we meander around Loch Gairloch, Loch Ewe, Gruinard Bay (not technically a loch, but almost), Little Loch Broom and finally Loch Broom.

Photo of the day

Coastal Road Trip, Corrieshalloch Gorge National Nature Reserve, National Trust for Scotland, Ullapool, Loch Broom, Blue sky, Reflection — Loch Broom.

Loch Gairloch

Coastal Road Trip, Gairloch, Loch Gairloch, Longa Island, Sunrise — We ended yesterday with a sunset view from our room. Then this morning we woke to this beautiful view of Longa Island in Loch Gairloch.

Coastal Road Trip, Loch Gairloch, Eilean Horrisdale, Reflections — Kicking the day off with a few more reflections along the road to Redpoint, first near Eilean Horrisdale.

Coastal Road Trip, Loch Gairloch, Badachro, Boats, Reflections — Then these rather tired boats at Badachro, but still so picturesque.

Loch Tollaidh

Coastal Road Trip, Loch Tollaidh, Reflections — Heading over to Poolewe passing the small Loch Tollaidh.

Coastal Road Trip, Loch Tollaidh, Blue boat — And another sinking boat…

Inverewe Garden

Coastal Road Trip, Inverewe Gardens, House, National Trust for Scotland — Inverewe House in the Inverewe Garndens, now managed by the National Trust for Scotland (so we got our free entry). Actually this was the second house built here, the original burnt down in a fire just over 100 years ago.

Coastal Road Trip, Inverewe Gardens, Path, National Trust for Scotland — We arrived just as it opened, nice and quiet, great, until a coach load of tourists arrived, fortunately there were plenty of garden paths for all to get lost in.

Coastal Road Trip, Inverewe Gardens, Purple flower, National Trust for Scotland — Flowers! Time for some close-ups.

Loch Ewe

Coastal Road Trip, Loch Ewe, Isle of Ewe, Cove, Anti-Aircraft Battery — Cove, at the the north western tip of the entrance to Loch Ewe, was littered with World War II Anti-Aircraft Battery. Although unsafe to enter, it’s amazing that the concrete of these batteries has lasted so long. Such a sharp contrast to their surroundings.

Coastal Road Trip, Loch Ewe, Cove, Beach — A secluded beach on a small peninsula along the road between Cove and Inverasdale.

Coastal Road Trip, Loch Ewe, Cove, Inverasdale, Poolewe, B8057, Road, Passing Point — Although many of the coastal roads in Scotland are single track (like the road between Poolewe and Cove), most have plenty of passing points, so we never had any problems.

Gruinard Bay

Coastal Road Trip, Gruinard Bay, Gruinard Island, Stream — A stream bubbling down to Gruinard Bay, with Gruinard Island in the background.

Coastal Road Trip, Gruinard Bay, Jarno — Views over Gruinard Bay and Jarno.

Corrieshalloch Gorge

Coastal Road Trip, Corrieshalloch Gorge National Nature Reserve, National Trust for Scotland, View to Loch Broom — Before heading down into Corrieshalloch Gorge, we stopped to take in the very green views down the valley to Loch Broom.

Coastal Road Trip, Corrieshalloch Gorge National Nature Reserve, National Trust for Scotland, Bridge — Unfortunately the bridge over Corrieshalloch Gorge had been closed a few days earlier for safety reasons, so we couldn’t get to the main lookout point.

Coastal Road Trip, Corrieshalloch Gorge National Nature Reserve, National Trust for Scotland, Julian, Jarno — Trying to look down into the gorge… but we couldn’t see much.

Coastal Road Trip, Corrieshalloch Gorge National Nature Reserve, National Trust for Scotland, Mushrooms, Toadstools — Along the gorge path Mushrooms or maybe Toadstools?

Loch Broom

Coastal Road Trip, Corrieshalloch Gorge National Nature Reserve, National Trust for Scotland, Ullapool, Loch Broom, Blue sky, Reflection — We started the day with a bright blue sky, and ended the day with a bright blue sky! This was our view across Loch Broom as we sat on the pebble beach at Ullapool eating our fish and chip dinner.

Daily video

Day 20 – Glenbrittle to Gairloch

A long drive today, about 150 miles, so we made an early start… and a good job we did. So much to see as we headed from the Isle of Skye back on the Scottish mainland.

Photo of the day

Coastal Road Trip, Loch Maree — Slioch reflecting in Loch Maree

Glenbrittle

Coastal Road Trip, Glenbrittle, Fairy Pools, Waterfall, Julian, Jarno — After first stopping at Glen Brittle Bay we headed back to the Fairy Pools, got on our waterproofs and headed out… we were going to get VERY wet in the driving rain.

Coastal Road Trip, Glenbrittle, Fairy Pools, Waterfall, Jarno — Stepping stones along the hike to the the Fairy Pools.

Coastal Road Trip, Glenbrittle, Fairy Pools, Waterfall — I’m not sure what was wetter, us or the rocks.

Coastal Road Trip, Glenbrittle, Fairy Pools, Waterfall — Despite the pouring rain the tiers of waterfall were still hypnotising to watch.

Loch Carron

Coastal Road Trip, Loch Carron, South Strome Picnic Site — Heading back on to the mainland we looped around Loch Carron on the A890, and managed a few pics at the South Strome picnic stop, before the clouds descended again.

Coastal Road Trip, Loch Carron, A896, Waterfall — Another waterfall along the side of the road, just past Loch Carron heading to Kishorn.

Pass of the Cattle

Coastal Road Trip, Pass of the Cattle, Bealach na Bà, Bridge — The start of the small windy road over the Pass of the Cattle (AKA Bealach na Bà), more waterfalls!

Coastal Road Trip, Pass of the Cattle, Bealach na Bà, Bridge, Julian, Jarno — For the next hour our so the scenery was so dramatic, and the clouds somehow added to that.

Coastal Road Trip, Pass of the Cattle, Bealach na Bà, Bridge, East — Looking back down the east side of the Pass of the Cattle, you can see the road we had just come up, snaking its way down to Loch Kishorn in the distance.

Coastal Road Trip, Pass of the Cattle, Bealach na Bà, Bridge, Top, AA, Viewpoint — Reached the viewpoint at the top. Today the only view was the thick dark clouds. Our fellow road trippers seemed to be mainly made up of motorbikers and people trying out their new sports cars, as we pootled along in our SUV.

Coastal Road Trip, Pass of the Cattle, Bealach na Bà, West — And heading back down the west side towards Applecross and the Inner Sound.

Callakille

Coastal Road Trip, Callakille, Lonbain — Driving north from Applecross, Lonbain and Callakille the coastline turned flatter, with gentler slopes down to the sound.

Coastal Road Trip, Rona Lighthouse — As we drove along we could glimpse the east side of Raasay and South Rona (plus its lighthouse), and in the far distance The Isle of Skye that we’d only left this morning.

Loch Torridon

Coastal Road Trip, Loch Torridon, Kenmore — And the scenery changed again as the road hugged the steep mountainside near Kenmore…

Coastal Road Trip, Loch Torridon, Kenmore — …and more of Loch Torridon came into view. The roads were so so quiet too… lovely.

Ardheslaig

Coastal Road Trip, Ardheslaig Bay — The calm bay of Ardheslaig.

Shieldaig

Coastal Road Trip, Shieldaig — Shieldaig was a surprise, with some smart properties and even a posh coffee shop (perfect timing for an afternoon pick-me-up).

Beinne Eighe

Coastal Road Trip, Beinne Eighe, Glen Torridon — We then headed inland to Loch Maree, as there was no way (by car) to continue along the coast at this point. Our journey inland took us straight through the heart of Glen Torridon and the magnificent Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve. The area is know for wild cats and golden eagles, though we saw neither (maybe next time).

Loch Maree

Coastal Road Trip, Loch Maree — Time to reflect along Loch Maree.

Coastal Road Trip, Loch Maree — Slioch towering over Loch Maree. I read after that this is a very typical calendar shot, and there we were thinking we had that one in a million shot… 😉

Gairloch

Coastal Road Trip, Gairloch, Harbour — A tranquil evening at Gairloch Harbour.

Coastal Road Trip, Gairloch, Loch Gairloch, Sunset — We seem to get lucky with our hostal room views, this time sunset over Loch Gairloch.

Daily video