Above the Firth

I was spoiled for choice of photos today - first thing I did when I got up was hang out of a window to capture the pink clouds before sunrise, but this afternoon's walk gave me a whole collection to choose from. I chose this, mainly because it gives more of a sense of the vista surrounding us as we crunched along a snowy forestry track round the shoulder of Toward Hill - a vista earned by a hard slog up the lower, south-facing slopes which were a dire mixture of mud and snow which clung in great balls to the soles of my boots, where the Yaktrax I was wearing only made matters worse.

Up here, however, I could relax. From here, we're looking down the Firth of Clyde, over the island of Bute to the right, with the snow-covered mountains of Arran behind it. Behind the trees on the left, the Cumbrae have less snow than we do. We couldn't bear to leave this high road, though stern notices and the sounds of forestry workers and machinery further up the track deterred us from going much further.

My extra photo shows the CalMac ferry Coruisk making her early morning crossing to Gourock. I love these pink clouds!