Tag: nc500

Here are the six sets of steps which make up the zig-zag formation of the Whaligoe Steps, with each section of the ascendency clearly shown – 23rd of August, 2021.

This morning I stood and pondered as I looked out across the North Sea. The pebble shore I was standing on was slippery underfoot, and I thought about the sign which you can see before the descent down the Whaligoe Steps.

My thoughts were that despite such beauty here, there are aspects which still need to be considered. If you decide to visit here for the first time or repeat a prior experience, simply be careful and mindful of risks.

Who doesn’t love a shameless clip of calm and nature? That’s a rhetorical question and one that leads me in to sharing some wee clips from my early morning stroll.

Back on the 30th of June in 2019, I witnessed the amazing local coastguard in action outside my front door. An accident occurred down at the base of the Whaligoe Steps and if memory serves me right, there were three road-based vehicles in attendance in conjunction with this marvellous example of their helicopter.

If you are interested in keeping up to date with this essential emergency service, you can visit their social media profile here HM Coastguard – Highland – Home | Facebook

I mention this incident to highlight my concern with the current (at the time of composing this blog entry) logistics of vehicles negotiating this place. If you check my previous posts there are examples of the busy moments around the Whaligoe Steps where traffic builds up and tailbacks, frustration and what can only be described as congestion is evident.

It is not a stretch of the imagination to know that the full weight of the emergency services could well be hampered if they are required to attend an emergency during a busy time at this residential area.

Thank you as always for your time reading this, I really appreciate it.

This morning during the sunrise I took the opportunity as the tide was low enough, to make my way to the pebble shore which is precarious to navigate. My idea was to look through my camera lens and see what I could find.

As a result, this post is nothing more shameless than to share an angle of the Whaligoe Steps not often witnessed, and to my surprise I felt like the images could have been taken on another planet.

I was looking up the name for washed up items which are left littering the shorelines of the coast when I stumbled across what is observed to be a proper marine term. ‘Wrack line’ or a ‘wrack zone’ came to my attention.

There is a quaint pebble beach which is tricky to reach down at the base of the Whaligoe Steps. It is a challenge to negotiate due to not only the slippery ground beneath foot, but also due to debris which periodically drops down from the overhanging cliff face.

On a daily basis you can see an item left to rest until the tide rolls in again to manoeuvre it to a new location. This morning I thought I would share my findings.

I went for a stroll down the Whaligoe Steps this fine morning and captured the amazing sunrise photograph you can see on this post. I will share with you some other visual delights too if you can spare a moment to browse.

I think these might well be a couple of herring gulls. They are simply contemplating life this morning in their habitat. Footage filmed 22nd of August.

Isn’t nature a wonderful aspect of life?

With sightings of sea-life and bird-life around the Whaligoe Steps being rife, I really hope to capture some stunning photographs/footage to share with you in future posts. Keep your fingers crossed.

The photo shows a car park that is certainly busy. On the right hand side is a little space which homes a large cone and a couple of makeshift buckets with reflective tape stuck on them. If you look carefully there is also a hint of a white painted line. That painted line is part of “No 4” which informs visitors that the parking space is designed for a local resident.

Thanks to this photograph, you will note that the local resident cannot get in to their parking space or under this duress leave the parking space either if that was applicable. This occurrence at certain times of year are commonplace which you will witness in future blogs.

(What you will not be able to decipher is that the resident has to park their vehicle about a quarter to half a mile away due to the events).

Also note how close the red car nearest to us in this photo is parked in relation to the wall. The wall has been newly repaired and rebuilt due to property damage. More on this in a future blog.

Campervans are impressive vehicles and there are a few in this photo. Size-wise they are quite a sight on the local country roads here in Caithness.

Take care and be safe.