Canisp
Canisp, as anyone who has followed this blog over the years will know, is one of my favourite hills in Assynt. Since our first exploratory venture onto this hill almost 20 years ago, we have visited it on four further occasions. We have however only reached the summit on one occasion, back in the spring of 2007 I think. The conditions that day were beautiful, with blue skies and a gentle breeze.
Back then, before the ‘hill bagging’ craze had really taken off, you could visit these hills in the spring in mid week and be fairly confident that you wouldn’t see anyone else. That was the case that day and I remember sitting with Nita at the top ……just taking in the spectacular views all around. Our gazes though were drawn of course to the rugged form of Suilven just across the glen.
It felt very remote and indeed the walk back across acres of boulder strewn hillside was hard work and I’m sure we earned a pint or two when we returned to Achmelvich. On three other occasions our walks on this hill ended high up, but retreating in the face of high winds, cloud, rain or hail.
In 2015 I completed my first 80 x 80 cm oil painting based on our walks on Canisp. Since then I have completed a further five paintings. All six are presented here in this blog.
Exploring the small hills around Wanlcokhead
Since returning from our trip to Ardnamurchan back in May, we have done quite a lot of walking. We made several trips up into the Southern Highlands re-visiting a few of our favourite hills, but for the most part this summer, we decided to explore the many little hills around Scotland’s highest village Wanlockhead.
We’ve been here a good few times before, but usually only for short walks up to the radar masted and domed hills of Lowther and Green Lowther Hills. This summer we were determined to have a closer look at the many beautiful grass and heather covered tops nearby.
These hills, being the focus of the old lead and gold mining industries, are littered with old workings, but far from being an eyesore these historic sites just add interest to these wild open spaces. We made five trips there this summer, wandering across hills with names like Sowen Dod, Green Hill, Bail Hill, White Dod and Sheiling Rig.
We spent many pleasant hours wandering and sitting, just enjoying the peace and quiet of this open landscape. There are Red Kites a plenty in this area, as well as Buzzards and other moorland birds. We also think that we spotted one of the newly re-introduced Golden Eagles, which at the time was a real surprise.
There are plenty of bugs and beasties to admire as you wander along and in early August the hillsides are bright with Heather and there is a constant buzzing of bees. I really like to re-visit places and try to get to know them better. Dashing to a hill, climbing it and then moving on to the next and never returning, seems to be missing the point somewhat. Although guilty of this at times myself, we now love getting off-piste just a little and these short walks near Wanlockhead have made for a very enjoyable few months this summer.
Looking ahead
To be honest I haven’t got much lined up at the moment, but I did want to say a little about our next planned Courtyard Studios Open Weekend. This is planned to coincide with the Scottish Maritime Museum Christmas Market. This takes place on the evening of Friday 28th November and then all Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th. A selection of the artists at Courtyard Studios will have their studios open on these days and everyone is very welcome. Nearer the time, look out for further details on my FB Keith Salmon – Scottish Landscape Artist page.
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