Castle Stalker, Appin
It was day two of my tour of Scotland's West Coast, and after a flat sunrise at Oban I drove north on the A828 towards Loch Creran. It was 8am and there was very little traffic to contend with, so I covered a lot of road, with no delays. I passed Benderloch and the Scottish Seabird Sanctuary, with Barcaldine now appearing to my right, and Loch Creran to my left. Once over the Creagan Bridge, Castle Stalker was right in front of me, appearing almost from nowhere as I negotiated a blind summit near Appin, North Argyll. I slowed down, not wanting to miss my turn as I looked for an access path to the castle, which was now to my left down a hill. Then, just ahead of me I noticed a signpost which directed me to Castle Stalker View Cafe, which had its own viewpoint - just what I was looking for. I pulled into the empty car park, and although the cafe wasn't open yet I took advantage of the access path to the viewpoint, where Castle Stalker could be seen from above the trees below me. Although it was dry the light was poor, offering very little to my photographs, but as this was my first ever visit to Stalker, I was just glad to be here and to see this typical Scottish scene unfold in front of me. And typical it certainly was, with Castle Stalker, the Island of Lismore, Loch Linnhe and the Morvern Hills in the distance. As I lifted the camera to take my first shot I could hear the sound of cackling Geese. I managed to capture their V-formation as they flew by, which was a stroke of luck and it certainly added a little extra to the shot (shown here). I stood for a while, wondering whether I should make an attempt to get closer to the castle, as I wasn't content with a handful of shots from one angle only, but there was a thick wooded area directly in front of me and down the bank, with no footpath or designated route to Castle Stalker. I decided to pack up my gear and head back to the car, settling for the shots I managed to pull in at the viewpoint.
Back on the road I drove in a North-Easterly direction, continuing my journey on the A828, with Loch Linnhe to my left. Loch Linnhe is about 31 miles long. It opens onto the Firth of Lorne at its south-western end. The part of the loch upstream of Corran is 9 miles long and only about an average of 1.2 miles wide. The southern part of the loch is wider, and its branch which lies to the south-east of the island of Lismore is known as the Lynn of Lorne. Loch Eil feeds into Loch Linnhe at the latter's northernmost point, while from the east Loch Leven feeds in the loch just downstream of Corran and Loch Creran feeds into the Lynn of Lorne. The town of Fort William, my next stop-off, lies at the northeast end of the loch, at the mouth of the River Lochy. It wasn't too long before I dropped anchor at Fort William, grabbing a nice cup of coffee from McDonalds and supping it whilst studying my AA Road Atlas to see how much road I had covered, and more importantly, what lay ahead of me. A rough calculation told me I had covered 44 miles since I set off from Oban, but there was quite a drive ahead of me if I decided to travel further north to the Kyle Of Lochalsh, location of Eilean Donan Castle, near Dornie. I sat for a while - should I, shouldn't I? I 'd seen photographs of this famous castle on many a biscuit tin, amongst other things, but I wasn't sure whether to drive another 66 miles to grab photographs of my own. It seemed a bit daft to come all this way and not go the extra mile (or 66 to be precise) to see Eilean Donan for myself. I took one look out of the car window, seeing clear blue sky and bright sunshine - my decision was made! Off I went, feeling quite excited at the prospect of what lay ahead, including other places en route that I may discover, and that I did.Eilean Donan Castle is now on my radar...
Coming next.
Cheers, Ash
