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Munro Sunset
Short Vid :
5 days of glorious spring sunshine and Scotland’s Mountains were looking superb. A dump of snow before the high pressure set in had led to some very tempting conditions.
I had managed to head up one of An Teallachs Munros the week before but wanted another outing before the normality of the westerly gales and rain returned. So with the forecast breaking, I decided to squeeze in a late walk to one of the closer Munros – Ben Vorlich. The plan was initially a wild camp, however a squeeze on time meant that this became unrealistic- and I settled for a hike to catch the sunset.
Leaving the car at Advorlich, the skies were blue and the sun warm! The familiar track headed south and the views improved with height with the Lawers group emerging to the North and eventually the Trossachs and Central Highlands to the west. What an evening! The clarity was superb! I was beginning to wish I’d brought the tent, however after a few hours I was stood on the summit enjoying a cracking sunset.
There was a breeze on the summit but this dropped quickly as I descended in the growing gloom. The night was starting to come in but before it won out the Western skies put up one final defensive battle with the sky turning pink as the sun drifted away to brighten up another part of the world!!
pink skies Be More and Stob Binnein by
Scotland's Mountains, on Flickr
Dusk over the Central Highlands by
Scotland's Mountains, on Flickr
Highland skies by
Scotland's Mountains, on Flickr
I was taking my time on descent making lots of photo stops. The wind was completely gone now and ambling down the path in still mild conditions , watching the stars appear one by one was the best part of the walk!
Stars over Vorlich by
Scotland's Mountains, on Flickr
I made it back to car before 9 and was knackered. I had been up since 5am and when a red aurora alert appeared when back in the car, I didn’t have the energy t walk back up the hill. I decided I would find a nice spot with northern skies on the way home ad park up… However as I drove east the cloud moved in and my grand plans were scuppered!
The next day I saw lots of great shots on social media of the aurora from out west and also great inversions shots! If only I had summit camped – aurora over an inversion would’ve been nice – never mind – next time perhaps
Week before vid :