Stac Polly and Ullapool

Today we woke up to much nicer weather, we could even see blue sky! We started off by driving back towards the castle we were going to stay at to see if we could spot the deer from the night before. No luck. The deer had clearly made their way into the hills. It was ire to see the view again with some sunshine though, the clouds added nice shadows for contrast and we could actually see the tops of the peaks- We didn't even realise there were so many when we drove down yesterday.
We turned around and headed back on route to Ullapool- todays destination, we had planned to walk up Stac Polly but needed some lunch supplies first. Off to the Tesco superstore we went - the first supermarket in a while!(Turns out superstore here actually means a mid sized supermarketbut they had packaged food-so all was good-except my plastic conscience of course).
The view as we drove to Ullapool was amazing- so many peaks and ridges- some cast in dark shadows that made them look like no one should go there (the Lion king and the elephant graveyard sprang to mind). Between the peaks were valleys made up of much smaller hills and mounds that were covered in golden grasses, grey rocks and dark purple shrubs as far as the eye could see, and then we eventually made the desent down to Ullapool.
It is asmall town that sits on one of the locks and it look very much like an alpine village as you drive down into it with the water, peaks and pine trees against the predominantly while little houses.
So, with lunch now bought beheaded back the way we came (againi!) to find the start point for our walk. Rob managed a spectacular stumble out of the van after booting up- made funnier when he reached for the door for support, only for it to fling open wider and almost have him land in the ditch of water behind. He was ok though so we can laugh.
The walk was steep and my legs weren't too happy about it but we made good time s stopped shy of the summit for lunch. The wind on the face we had been climbing up was absolutely ridiculous so it was a welcome relief to enjoy lunch on the other side in the sunshine.
After lunch becontimed the loop around the bottom of the summit before spotting a route upwards that we decided to try. The actual summit would mean a pretty tough bit Of scrambling but this was ok and got is close to the top.
Walking over the ridge at the top exposed us once again to the wind and we could barely stand, it was insanely strong! There was no way we would even allempt to Summit the precarious stacks and besides, the view was pretty damn good- we could even see the sea.

We walked back down against the never seizing wind and got back to the car after a 2hr 15min trip. And then I smelt it, the poop I had stood in...why!? After some inventive cleaning methods we Set back off to ullapool for chinese food and a campsite by the water.
The bar was a little odd the chippy served bad chips and thought I was mad when I asked for a few scraps on top- only to fill me a tub with them instead and charge me for the privelege!
Now we're in the van full of yummy chinese food and listenting to the rain and wind that has finally returned.Read more