Latitude

This whole week has been unbelievably dry, clear, and sunny. The high pressure was off the charts, literally. Today it's starting to come down again, and the clouds are forming.

It's been amazing to go out into the blazing sunshine in the middle of December--it makes the few hours of daylight feel longer. These days here the sun rises just before 9:00 a.m. and sets just after 3:30 p.m. We're at about 56°N latitude in Oban.

I grew up at 37°N, went to college at 47°N and attended grad school at 44°N. While Oban certainly isn't Arctic, it is a noticeable change. The long endless summer days, the brief slanting light of winter.

The winter sun is prized by photographers for its color and angle. I've been out and about the last couple days taking photos with my little old digital camera. These out at Ganavan on the hills along the coast: (Click photos to enlarge)


Looking down at SAMS (Scottish Association for Marine Science) with village of Dunbeg and Ben Cruachan, the double peak in the distance:


Kerrera and Mull with the Mull ferry coming in:


At Lochawe along the side of Ben Cruachan, looking south-west:


Loch Awe is the longest loch in Scotland and the little village of Lochawe sits at the north end. Yesterday I visited a friend who lives there and we hiked up to the Cruachan reservoir for a gorgeous view.

The path took us alternatively into lovely sunshine and frozen frost-pockets against the hillside. Icicles hung from the rocks and cliffs and lined the mountain streams. Ice stalagmites grew where water splashed onto tufts of grass and froze into clumps of upward-pointing popsicles.

I didn't get a photo because the camera batteries died at that point in the hike! Arrgh!