Sea ice, sky fire, and otters - Daniel and Clare's photos (11th December 2012)

Today again we were up before dawn. Soon we noticed some colour in the sky, but the real draw to start with with was the extraordinary symphony of crashes, cracks, clinks, tinkles and whooshing hisses as the sea ice, now quite thick, moved with the tide. The ice - literally square miles of it - was a great soundboard, giving a resonance to the audio display.

The colour soon got going, though, and we were spellbound with the spectacle of sound and light, from first dawn through midwinter's long waxing and waning of sunrise colours. Fortunately there was still no wind, so the cold was barely noticeable amidst all this excitement.

It's extremely rare for the sea to freeze here. Murdoch MacDonald told us he'd only seen it once at Alligin, during his childhood, and never since. Not long after we'd got back, we read by chance in J.H.Dixon's book on Gairloch (published in 1884, when the climate generally was colder than today), that he also had only once witnessed it.

Probably it was a combination of a lot of rain the previous day (making the sea water in the loch less salty), and no wind, as well as the low temperature which allowed it to happen.

However, just a few days before finishing this report (end of February 2013), Steve Carter showed a photo of a small part of the sea by the shore of Loch Shieldaig frozen. So perhaps it's not so rare, but this was pretty extensive.

As the light grew and whitened, the sky became more and more dominated by wonderful lines of "mackerel" cloud. Then we spotted something a little way up the loch - unmistakably a distant otter profile! It was in the same spot we'd seen otters before, the previous year, and also back in 2000. So we gingerly made our way round the ice on the road, towards a large rock where three otters were busy.

We assumed that they would be gone by the time we got nearer. The rock was perhaps 30 yards or so from the road. We didn't try to go onto the beach partly as it was very icy but also it would have been noisy and that might have worried them. They clearly had seen us but didn't seem worried. They were in and out of the ice and water, climbing around the rock, appearing to play hide and seek. We were again absolutely spellbound. After about an hour, the otters moved on - we weren't quite sure where: they were often swimming under the ice. They anyway could move a lot quicker than us! We had had the view of a lifetime: still on cloud nine, we wandered back for lunch.

So, just like two days ago, we spent the whole morning on the shore, within a couple of minutes' walk of the cottage. Today was dry and bright, though. Eventually we tore ourselves away, and headed along the shore in the other direction, taking the Estate road down the loch, through the woods, and along to Coire Church. We later heard that the Estate have bought the church, which was closed a couple of years ago. We revisited the Darroch memorial, behind the church from the path, on a little rise with wonderful views. We hope the Estate will preserve access to this spot if they do convert the church into a house or similar.

The cloud remained distinctive and pretty, but was starting to thicken as the afternoon light lowered. We walked a bit further on, to the gate just before Rechullin. There we saw another otter. This spot is a fair way above the loch, so it's a very different feeling. Sgurr a'Chadail is still prominent here, as Liathach appears almost end-on, though the summit of Mullach an Rathain is also still visible.

This short, very easy walk, from one side of the Torridon House Estate to the other, has to be one of our all-time favourite routes, and it's great that we've been able to do it several times. Hopefully we will return there soon. We were interested to find that Peter Barton, in his Cicerone guide to Torridon, rates it as the best, even compared with all the many fabulous mountain and corrie walks that Torridon has.

The show was gradually fading as time for sunset came: it was softly benign but without palette: the sky was looking a bit greyer and the sea ice was starting to melt, with broken sheets of ice leaning at funny angles on rocks, partly submerged in water. It had been another incredible day.

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Sunrise over sea ice:
11th December: sunrise, starting pink and flecked...	There was real depth of colour in the sky and on the ice	Sgurr Dubh (left), Beinn Liath Mhor (right), and Sgorr Ruadh (right), looked unreal at times
Becoming more fiery, with gold...	Some wider views of the sunrise
Bright cloud takes over:
As the day brightened, the colours retreated to this...	...giving some warmth to Sgurr a'Chadail...	...and lighting some of the snow higher up Liathach	Most of the sky looked like this, and the distant gloom soon fizzled out
The day was still waxing, so without losing brightness, the cloud thickened from this...	...to this	Sun shone on on Liathach's southern slopes	...with the distinctive profile of the Sgurr standing out
Icebreaking otters:
When we got closer the the big rock on the shore, we could see two otters...	...then three - they were very active, in and out of the sea all the time...	...The word "lithe" could have been invented for these two in the shadows...	...there was some playing going on, plus some munching...
...alert to the east...	...and to the west, before disappearing: swimming under the ice must have been a pretty unusual experience for them	The moment of emergence! Apologies for the blur - perhaps though the otter was feeling a bit dazed - probably it took a fair whack to break through the ice from below...	It seemed to be checking out where it had just come from
...but a few yards out, not sure what to make of this? Water on top of ice, in the sea?	...regaining composure	...looking towards the sun...	...and ever vigilant
The day settles:
Otter excitement finally over... approaching midday, the ice must have been quite calm here for a while (turn of the tide?), as it was reflecting well on the loch, and catching the light on the beach	The sun highlighted the summit of Mullach an Rathain (here seen as a small pyramid on left high skyline, with a tor at its bottom left)	A closeup view of Sgorr Ruadh	and Beinn Liath Mhor
The path to Rechullin:
Into the forest	Lichen and moss on a boulder near the path	Needles of frost in closeup...	...and en masse
Winter clarifies the mountainous backdrop of Torridon House: all three summits of Beinn Alligin, snow-covered, can be seen through the trees	The pond just east of the rough path to the road bridge and waterfalls; Beinn Alligin again	Some of the more intricate ice patterns
Church and memorial; the end of the day:
The Darroch memorial, and the (former) Coire church, looking to Beinn Alligin	..and to Beinn Dearg	..and towards Beinn Shieldaig (left) and the narrows (right)	Southern panorama, from Liathach (Sgorr a'Chadail, leftmost, then Mullach an Rathain), rightwards to Beinn Shieldaig
..and a closeup of Mullach an Rathain, its summit clearer from here.	Ice envelopes unfolded and flooded by the incoming tide	Sunset approaching

(Text and photos by Daniel and Clare Gordon. March 2013).

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