Hopeman - Sunsets.

All these sunset photographs were taken between the end of June and September 2012.

Enjoy......

North from Hopeman, The Moray Firth.

Hopeman chimney pot.

Hopeman harbour and the Moray Firth, from East Beach.

The Moray Firth from Cummingston stacks.

North from Hopeman.

Hopeman chimney pot.

The Moray Firth from Hopeman.

Freddie and Rafe, Cummingston Bay.

Over Hopeman.

The Moray Firth from Hopeman.

Burghead from Cummingston.

The Moray Firth, from Hopeman.

The Moray Firth from west of Hopeman.

West of Hopeman.

To the north west, from Hopeman.

To the northwest from above Clashach Bay.

Morven and the Far North from Hopeman.

Hopeman Harbour from near Daisy Rock.

Cummingston Bay.

East of Hopeman.

North from Hopeman.

Tarbat Ness.

Tarbat Ness Lighthouse.

A walk and a picnic at Tarbat Ness on a wonderful clear day - with views over the Moray Firth to Hopeman.

Rafe - Tarbat Ness Lighthouse.

Tarbat Ness Lighthouse.

Tarbat Ness Lighthouse.

Views north and west from Tarbat Ness.

Views north and west from Tarbat Ness.

A Few Days in Scarborough - September 2012.

407 miles back south to Scarborough for a few days to visit the family ..... and familiar places .....

Scarborough North Bay.

 

North Bay Chalets.

 

Peasholm Park.

  

Scalby Mills.

Rafe - North Bay with views north to Scalby Mills.

Rafe, Scarborough North Bay.

Canoe on Loch Beinn a'Mheadhoin, Glen Affric.

Early autumn seemed like a good time to go for a paddle in Glen Affric.

 Our start point, Coille Ruigh na Cuileige
Loch Beinn a'Mheadhoin, Glen Affric

We parked up at the Forestry Commission car park at  on Loch Beinn a'Mheadhoin (NH244263) and paddled east and north around the bays and islands in the northeastern part of the loch.

NH248263 
Loch Beinn a'Mheadhoin, Glen Affric

 NH248263 - Beinn a'Mheadhoin, Glen Affric

It was cold and clear, with beautiful calm views all around.

 Hills to the north - Loch Beinn a'Mheadhoin, Glen Affric

 NH257266 - Loch Beinn a'Mheadhoin, Glen Affric

No other canoes were out on the water today.

 NH259268 - Loch Beinn a'Mheadhoin, Glen Affric

 NH259268 - Loch Beinn a'Mheadhoin, Glen Affric

Views southwest - Loch Beinn a'Mheadhoin, Glen Affric

 The Not Istand - NH244258
Loch Beinn a'Mheadhoin, Glen Affric

We then paddled south west along the northern shore to what was marked as an island at . The water was low, so this island was actually attached to the northern shore.

 Views southwest - Loch Beinn a'Mheadhoin, Glen Affric

 Views northeast from the island at NH236250
Beinn a'Mheadhoin, Glen Affric

Further south west another island at NH236250, was only just an island, so after an explore ashore, we ported the canoe over the shallows between the island and the north shore of the loch.

Rafe on the island at NH236250
Loch Beinn a'Mheadhoin, Glen Affric

Rafe on the island at NH236250
Loch Beinn a'Mheadhoin, Glen Affric

The wind was getting up a bit and the paddling getting harder against wave and wind. It was blooming freezing !!

 Views southwest - Loch Beinn a'Mheadhoin, Glen Affric

We continued south and west for a time, before paddling up the southern shore to our start point.

Coffee (to warm us up) and cake (we needed energy) was taken at the cafe in the campsite in the village of Cannich.

Ben Rinnes.

Ben Rinnes is a Corbett and the local Moray mountain - you're not considered part of the community till you've been up and taken in the views of the Cairngorms to the south and the Moray coast to the north.



Ben Rinnes - Rafe, soon after the start of the walk.

This was our first hill walk this year, due to moving house and changing jobs and all the other bits of life that get in the way.  It was a bit of a tester, to see how fit (or not !!) we were.



Ben Rinnes - Rafe on the motorway

A nice walking day with a blustery wind.

Ben Rinnes - some of the views aren't so good.
Industrialisation of the wild places - on a GRAND scale !!

There was a well made path almost all the way up, so it only took us a couple of minutes over the hour to make the 550ish metres to the summit. Jim was feeling rebellious towards the summit !! I don't think there was enough in the way of scrambling. So he was a bit on the grumpy side.



Ben Rinnes - Freddie ascends.

But there were one or two opportunities for getting hands on around the summit.

Ben Rinnes - rocks near the summit.



Ben Rinnes lunch spot - Rafe.

We had a lovely lunch in the sunshine, amongst the rocks and out of the wind, with views to the Cairngorms.

Jim - Scurran of Lochterlandroch (summit of Ben Rinnes)



Scurran of Lochterlandroch (summit of Ben Rinnes)
Views to the south west.

We descended to the interesting rocks at Lady's Chair, although it was too windy for too much scrambling about.



View towards Moray coast from Lady's Chair, Ben Rinnes

We made our way back up to the main summit and picked up a geocache (after a good bit of scrabbling about amongst the rocks!). It was an easy descent on the good path, back to the start.



Ben Rinnes - views to the south east.

Route:  Car parking area by monr road (NJ284359), footpath south then west to Round Hill (425m), Roys Hill (535m), Black Banks, Scurran of Lochterlandroch (summit of Ben Rinnes, Corbett, 841m) Lady's Chair, return to Ben Rinnes summit, return to start.

Statistics:  Distance: 9.7 km  Ascent: 700m  Time: 3.30