B about to to walk into his drawing – looking at Arkle (B has made a drawing that includes Arkle and gneiss)
Arkle may look like quite a simple proposition, but when actually on the walk it felt to me like a bit of a slog. The weather was mixed on this day. We were rained on a few times, though these periods did not last too long. There was some mist/cloud as we went up, but it cleared enough when we got to the top to give us a view of the neighbouring peaks and surrounding area.
Once we got to the far top of Arkle, we retraced our steps to get back. The terrain is quite rocky, and navigation could be a bit tricky in mist.
Who would have thought that fluorescent colours are good for camouflage? I think this was an Emperor Moth larva
Two ptarmigan camouflaged against the rocky ground
View out to sea from Arkle
Coir’ a’ Chruiteir, a corrie on the neighbouring Foinaven range
The highest top of Arkle, in mist
Rainbow over the glen between Arkle and Foinaven
Ancient gneiss with lots of lochans. A so-called ‘cnoc and lochan’ landscape. The gneiss here is 3400 million years old, the oldest known rocks in Europe
View from Arkle of a small part of the nearby handsome Foinaven range, which we went up the next day (across a lot of bog). The peak is the nameless ‘top 808m
Foinaven seen from Arkle. From the left, you can see Ganu Mòr, Lord Reay’s Seat, the far end of A’ Chèir Ghorm, and the notch Cadha na Beucaich before it rises towards top 808m
Lochan na Faoileige, partially hidden by Meall Aonghais
Loch an Easain Uaine, with Ben Hope in the distance, the most northerly Munro (we went up it a couple of years ago).Three streams flow into this loch, and the outflow eventually reaches the sea via a convoluted chain of lochs and streams
Me looking down into one of the many deep cracks in the narrow ‘pavement’ along Arkle ridge (Photo courtesy of B Hodgson)
