Verdant Vantage

The weather was, for once, on our side. Most of what I say about the Highlands is about how fast it turns, and this was the exception — a properly good day, good enough that we spent it walking the Devil’s Staircase and stopping for photographs on the way back.

There’s a pull-off on the side road our B&B sat on, just off the A82. From there you can get down under the bridge where the road crosses the River Coe as it drains out of Loch Achtriochtan. Getting under it takes some care. Once you’re there the water comes down in stepped falls and the glen opens up behind them.

The tree on the rock at the top right was luck — I’d never been here and had no idea it was there until I was set up. But once I could see it, I built the frame around it deliberately, using it to balance the west face of Aonach Dubh standing behind. A tree that small holding up a mountain that big only works if you put it in the right corner.