October in the Highlands

Silverbirch, beech, bracken, heather, sea weed, white sands, sheep, highland cows, rain and sun, big skies and rocks, lochs and glens, on repeat.

Late October, we spent a week up in the Highlands. Places get booked up really quickly nowadays, so I was happy when we found this lovely cottage online, still available. And dogs allowed too! It didn’t have wifi or phone signal in and around the cottage at all but that’s just what we needed. It had, however, a log burner and a week supply of logs. Perfect.

We travelled via Glencoe as the road to the Forth Bridges was closed. I didn’t mind it at all as driving through Glencoe is one of my favourite things to do in Scotland. After Glencoe, as we really get into the Highlands, the spaces open up and the sky just gets bigger and bigger. Traffic is almost non existent. This is what I really wanted from this holiday after a busy year.

We stopped in Fort William to stock up on food supplies. It was another hour from there until we got to the cottage. A very long drive all in all but it was so worth it as it all slowed down after.

The drive to our cottage with views of Loch Moidart.

The Cottage. And lichen covered trees everywhere.

From a walk on our doorstep..

We walked a lot and one of our best walks was the one to the Singing Sands in Kentra bay. This beach is not accessible by car so you have to walk to it and it’s totally worth it. This walk led us through a variety of scenery but most if it was through a forestry plantation - pine trees as far as you could see. It was absolutely magical and you were almost waiting for a fairy to appear. It rained a lot, more like a heavy drizzle than heavy rain but it was enough for us to get soaked as we walked there. When we stopped, all we could hear is the raindrops gently landing on the trees and the ground. Absolutely peaceful. This peacefulness followed us to the beach too, there was not a soul and Finn enjoyed having the whole place to himself. Well, and me too, I must say. I didn’t bring my camera here. It was a long walk through woodland and I just didn’t fancy carrying it for hours and in the rain. The phone worked just fine capturing moments to forever remember this special place.

We went to other beaches too, like the Silver Sands of Morar, near Mallaig. While Finn was chasing a ball, I was admiring all the colours and textures. I also had a little commission of photographing sea weed and it was the perfect place for it.
Silver Sands is more popular as it’s very easily accessible. When I say more popular, imagine maybe maximum 12 people on the beach. On a huge beach.

Someone once told me one shouldn’t include too many images in a blog post so here you go, I’ll continue with more images in a different post.