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The Devil’s Pulpit Waterfall

Unless you love photographing waterfalls, I would not recommend going here. It’s quite dangerous to get down into the gorge. It was the last evening of our short trip to Scotland, I realised we hadn’t seen many big or dramatic waterfalls. So this one is thanks to Flickr or was it Instagram? I forget exactly where I discovered the Devil’s Pulpit. Turned out to be less than half an hour away from where we were staying and not too much of a detour. When we visited, there was no easy places to park on either the B834 or the A809 roads. After a few back and forths we found somewhere to park and walked into the woods around Finnich Glen. This is Carnock Burn. There’s a footpath on the south side of the gorge. Then a very steep, slippery ancient stone steps called Jacob’s Ladder. There wasn’t a rope there when we went but it could do with one, especially on a rainy day. Taken with a tripod and the camera zoomed in to create this perspective. Finnich Glen isn’t anywhere near as narrow as it looks in this photograph.

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Looking south from Ben Lomond

After a few hours of walking we made it to the summit of Ben Lomond at 974 metres above sea level. This was the view looking back south, towards the town of Balloch and the direction we had walked from. Despite this happening in April there was still a few patches of snow on the ground, as you can see in the foreground. I typically don’t include people in my photographs. This was an exception as having a person in this photograph gives it scale. This is also my best friend makes the picture more special to me personally. It was surprising to see so many small islands on the loch. From the shores of Loch Lomond I had assumed there was three or four islands. Clearly not from this angle. The big island in the foreground is Inchonaig. The furthest away, on the right is Inchmurrin which points towards the Alexandra / Balloch area.

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The Kelpies at night

North of Falkirk alongside the M9 motorway you’ll struggle to miss seeing The Kelpies. These 30 metre high horse head sculptures depict shape-shifting water spirits. They opened to the public in 2014 so I hadn’t had a chance to see them before. After our dusk adventure to the Falkirk Wheel I wasn’t expecting to get the chance but we made it. They are well worth a visit – huge and impressive. Next time I visit I’d like to get there a little earlier at sunset. The coloured lights cycle through the colours of the rainbow. With the black night sky behind I thought the blue lighting made them stand out the most.

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Kilchurn Castle, Scotland

Standing on a rocky peninsula at the northeastern end of Loch Awe are the ruins of Kilchurn Castle. Seen here from the “panorama viewpoint” off the A819 road to the south of the Loch. It was an overcast day but the sun did come out for this photograph. You can see the tower house battlements and the jetty from this angle. Built in the mid-15th century for the Campbells of Glenorchy. It fell out of use and was in ruins by 1770.