Boddam, Aberdeenshire. 27/02/18 1st stop on my Beast From the East tour of Scotland. Not much in the way of snow but 2 celcius. With the wind it felt like -5.
Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire. 27/02/18 2nd stop on my Beast From the East tour of Scotland. Got some breakfast at Lidl and enjoyed the beach for a little while. Temperature around 2 degrees celcius and wind picking up. Still no Siberian blizzards.
Macduff, Aberdeenshire. 27/02/18 3rd stop on my Beast From the East tour of Scotland. Temperatures starting to drop and the wind chill was getting intense. I quickly headed to the Macduff Marine Aquarium to enjoy sights, downed a Capri Son and set off again. At this point I'll mention my aim to reach John O Groats. This aim proved fool hardy...
Lossiemouth, Moray. 4th stop on my Beast From the East tour of Scotland. Temperatures between 1 and 2c with a constant icy wind. Sun still out with clouds casting irregular shadows across the dunes and forest making an already beautiful landscape even more stunning!
Road to Ullapool A835, overlooking the river Conon, Marybank and Black Dyke. 5th stop on my Beast From the East tour of Scotland. This road is spectacular! Taken at around 3:30 in the afternoon. 27/02/18 The weather still playing ball at this point, temperature was reading 1c with windchill it felt more like -6. It was hard to resist pulling over every 5 minutes as the views were astonishing both sides of the road...
Glascarnoch Dam, Highland. 6th stop on my Beast From the East tour of Scotland. 27/02/18. Still on the A835. Temperatures from -2 to 1c. The road undulates and hides stunning landscapes around every corner. The only other souls on this stretch were a couple of happy chaps enjoying the same view from a retired post office van. I gave them a wave, enjoyed the view for a while and then continued on my drive. Exquisite...
A glimpse of Ullapool, Ross-shire Scottish Highlands. 27/02/18. 7th stop on my Beast From the East tour of Scotland. I arrived in Ullapool with the sun about to set and the ferry about to depart. I checked into a water front Hotel "The Ferry Boat Inn" which was warm and comfortable. Then walked around the small, charming village.
View from Ullapool, looking over Loch Broom. 27/02/18. 8th stop on my Beast From the East tour of Scotland. Snow topped mountains to the South East complete this spectacular view. Although bitterly cold and windy, Ullapool was quite calm and at this point I still felt I could make it to John O Groats. Haha, I was so wrong!
Urquhart Castle, Inverness. 28/02/18. 9th stop on my Beast From the East tour of Scotland. The weather turned overnight in Ullapool, I woke to blizzard conditions and had to decide whether to risk going north or head for the shelter of the West Coast. I saw a freshly ditched BMW 3 series with the occupants stranded at the roadside just as I escaped the blizzard. I went to see if they had mobile signal which they did, we then flagged down a local farmer who aided. I was quite happy to be on the A835 again. Beautiful but treacherous...
Aberchalder, Highlands. 28/02/18. 10th stop on my Beast From the East tour of Scotland. At this stage taking the A82 from Inverness to Oban. The weather was a tropical 3c. From forest and brush either side of the road, the landscape opened up and offered this spectacle. Looking over Loch Oich and South West to find perfect snow capped mountains...
View from the A82, Letter Finlay. 28/02/18. 11th stop on my Beast From the East tour of Scotland. I was coming to the conclusion that changing my route owing to weather conditions was incredibly fortunate. Instead of being buried in snow I found myself surrounded by breathtaking scenery. The roads were practically empty owing to the impending hazardous weather conditions that were only hours away...
View from Commando Memorial, Lochaber. 28/02/18. 12th stop on my Beast From the East tour of Scotland. The Beast From the East looms from the North East, flakes of snow pass intermittently. Temperatures around 1c, wind chill expidites this stop. I was certain that my multiple stops on the A82 to take pictures had allowed the Beast to make good ground. Despite this I had to.. Out of nowhere the memorial stop appeared. Had to channel my inner Ansel Adams and make this the first monochrome pic of my adventure.
View from A82, between Onich and North Ballachulish. 28/02/18. 13th Stop on my Beast From the East tour of Scotland. Breathtaking views from Fort William to Oban, on my last trip I headed in the opposite direction with fog and cloud hiding these wonderful scenes. This scene shows Loch Linnhe and Sgurr Dhomhnuil in the background. It was still quite windy and temperatures ranged between -1 and 3c.
View from A828, the road to Oban. 28/02/18 14th stop on my Beast From the East tour of Scotland. I stopped for a late lunch in Oban at my favourite Weatherspoons in the UK, the Corryvreckan. The pub is situated on the water front with boats, ferrys and a great view of Oban. After a satisfying lunch I decided to risk travelling into The Trossachs and booked a room in Woodside Hotel in Doune. The Red Zone...
View from the A82, Loch Lomond And The Trossachs National Park. 28/02/18. 15th stop on my Beast From the East tour of Scotland. The road from Oban to Doune undulates and sweeps around forests, hills and mountains. Intermittent blizzards as well as a lack of other cars add to this mysterious journey through Scottish Narnia...
A82 Loch Lomond And The Trossachs National Park. 28/02/18. 16th stop on my Beast From the East tour of Scotland. Stunning roads, well gritted and empty apart from a few logging trucks. At around this time, about 4:15 the sky went dark and shortly after the Red Zone earned it's name. For about an hour I followed those trucks at a slow speed as visibility was terrible, their lights were like beacons guiding me through the storm...
The Woodside Hotel, Doune. 28/02/18. 17th and final stop on my Beast From the East tour of Scotland. This became my shelter from the storm, the staff were incredibly accommodating with the breakfast being a highlight! The morning after I waited for the Red Zone warning to lift and drove back to Aberdeen. The roads were sketchy to say the least with not much in the way of traffic at all.
