Frosty Walk to Loch Scalpaidh

Frozen Loch Scalpaidh and the Applecross Hills (Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens at 70mm, 1/200 sec at f/8.0. ISO 100, handheld)

So, 2021 has started with excellent weather, unlike the end of 2020, and we have been making the most of the last few days of the festive holidays with some lovely local walks on the very frosty, and often frozen, ground.  Today we went for a 5 mile walk from Glaick to Loch Scalpaidh and then back via the Erbusaig to Balmacara road.  The views east and west from the high ground overlooking Loch Alsh were incredible, pretty hard to capture effectively with the camera.  My favourite shot from the walk was taken looking north across Loch Scalpaidh towards the Applecross Hills (above).  The loch was almost completely frozen over, with ice forming on the few remaining areas of open water.  The snow covered hills stood out beautifully against the cerulean blue sky and the sun-lit russets of the moorland surrounding the loch.  I cropped this shot into a panoramic format because the foreground was lacking any great interest, just frozen loch, and the sky was plain blue above, so not really contributiing anything to the image.

The views from the Balmacara to Kyle path are always worth the walk, and today the air was crystal clear and the Kintail hills and the Cuillins on Skye were standing out proudly.  These two images hopefully capture some of the grandeur of the wonderful winter landscape.

The view east from the Balmacara to Kyle footpath looking over Loch Alsh towards Kintail (Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens at 70mm, 1/125 sec at f/8.0. ISO 100, handheld)

The view west from the Balmacara to Kyle footpath looking over Loch Alsh towards the Cuillins of Skye (Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens at 41mm, 1/200 sec at f/8.0. ISO 100, handheld)