2020 Vision from Lochcarron

2020 Vision on arrival

It was never supposed to be like this. 2020 is about having a clear vision of the future. Instead, we are languishing in a world where we are locked down, the economy is in tatters, there have been 65,000 excess deaths in the UK, we have the worst government in my lifetime, Brexit isn't done, the USA has been run into the oil sands of despair by a megalomaniac, asylum seekers are drowning as they seek safety and the younger generation are facing a lifetime of uncertainty as well as personal and national debts.

Everyone has a story to tell about how their lives have been changed by loneliness, financial ruin, mental health problems, family losses, sometimes suffused by the friendliness and support of neighbours and strangers. We have been luckier than most with space in the house and garden, access to the countryside, and the financial security and stability of pensions. We have lived frugally having changed to a vegetarian diet a year ago when our son came to stay for a few months whilst attempting to buy a new flat. We had a weekly grocery delivery during the early months of lockdown and only rarely ventured out to the shops or pharmacy. Even hill walking, the most isolated of activities, was banned from March until July, the best months of the year.

Normally we travel to London seven or eight times a year to see our daughters and grandchildren, we have not been since last December. We usually travel for a couple of weeks in the Ardeche in France, an area that we have visited almost every year since 2007 to stay at a chambres d'hotes whose owners have become good friends. We spend a week in the Lake District as we have done every year since 1984 where we catch up with family and friends. I usually make 20 or so trips to the Scottish mountains to exercise and enjoy the rigours of hard days to keep me ticking over. We try to have a city break to somewhere in Europe and every few years we book a trip to a more distant place. We were due one this year as we have spent the last few years building and moving house.

None of these things has happened this year, so when we heard that my brother's house in Lochcarron was available following a cancellation in October, we seized the week, packed enough provisions for a month and headed into the rain-washed West Highlands. It was a treat despite the October rain fest. Lochcarron also gave us chance to reflect on the strange happenings of 2020,  a sabbatical bereft of freedoms.

I had intended to tackle some of the difficult to reach Corbetts nearby and took my bike to help. The first full day on Sunday was to be dull but mainly dry so I packed to go to Kililan and cycle the Glen Elchaig to Iron Lodge from where I could climb Aonach Buidhe. It was not to be, a mouse had chewed through a water pipe in the attic with the resulting water dripping through two floors. The morning was spent mopping, finding the source of the damage and awaiting the plumber who had miraculously sorted the problem by lunchtime. 

We spent the afternoon in Plockton, making a complete circuit of the attractive coastal village that was awash with lots of visitors during the October school holidays. Monday was a complete washout so after a walk near Balmacara and topping up provisions in Kyle of Lochalsh it was back to the house for some reading time.

Gregor had arrived on Tuesday so we went to Shieldaig for a walk on the wild side in the rain to Bad Calida the peninsula that marks the entry to Upper Loch Torridon. It is one of our favourite short walks and the highlight was watching an otter as we returned to Shieldaig. The rains stopped at lunchtime and I grabbed the chance to drive up to Cluanie to cycle and walk up Beinn Loinne. Wednesday was very wet so we went to Glenelg and after a light lunch in the hotel we visited Sandaig where Gavin Maxwell had lived with otters at Cambusfearna. On the return we drove up Gleann Beag to visit the two Brochs, Dun Telve and Dun Troddan. Gregor returned via a 12 kilometre hill run crossing a swollen river and suffering more heavy rain before we collected him in Glen More.

Plockton on a wet Sunday

Loch Carron towards Duncraig Castle

Balmacara walk

Otter bay, Shieldaig

Shieldaig from the north

Maol Chean-dearg and An Ruadh Stac across Loch Damh

Cambusfearna, Sandaig

Dun Telve, Gleann Beag

Dun Troddan

Thurday and Friday gave us days for a bit of Munro bashing and a magical drive to Applecross and Shieldaig that are described in other posts. Our return home on Saturday was in heavy rain but we were back for 1pm, refreshed and deep cleansed by the bracing conditions of the West Highlands. Now we await the next lockdown.

2020 Vision on departure

Homeward Bound