Mick & Lyn's overseas adventure 2013: Wednesday 21 August 2013. Lochcarron, Ardaneaskan, Applecross.

Have you ever heard of the Bucket List? It's a list of things you must do before you die. Well we have one for you to add to your list.

After waiting for the early morning rain to subside, we decided to drive through the mountains to a coastal town called Applecross. We had been told that it is a must do but the conditions need to be right as it's not a good idea to get caught at 2000 feet on a one lane narrow road when the rain closes in. Unfortunately that is what happened to us.

The trip over the mountains was a wonderful experience and we stopped when we could to take photographs. As the road is only one narrow lane there are passing points along the way and the trick is to arrive at one when someone comes the other way. Of course it does not always work that way.

The road is obviously very steep and winding in places and reaches an altitude of 2060 feet before descending on the other side down to the village on the Applecross peninsula.

The peninsula is between the mainland mountain masses and the Island of Skye and is home to about 250 people. It can be accessed by only two roads and is a haven from the noise and clutter of modern life. The Gaelic name for the area, ‘a Chomraich’, means ‘The Sanctuary’.

Over the 2060’ mountain the road is called the BEALACH NA BA and we were told that if the cloud lifted, we would be able to see the kind of views normally reserved only for sweaty mountaineers. Panoramas to the Outer Hebrides and South to the Kintail mountains. And it was truly spectacular.

There were quite a few people socialising inside and outside the pub in the village and having a meal. A group of older bikers were there who we had met at the warning sign at the start of the road. They had been trying to get a camera on timer to take a picture of them all but the camera operator had been unable to get back to the group before the camera went off so we offered to help!

After a chat with our biker friends we sat down at a nice vantage point overlooking the beach and had a cuppa before heading back on the return trip.

Unfortunately very dark clouds had started to appear over the mountains and Lyn was keen to get back before the rain came.

We didn't make it and by the time we reached the top the rain had started and we entered the clouds. Fortunately it passed through fairly quickly and the sunshine reappeared much to Lyn's relief..

The view on the way back was even better than on the way up particularly as the sun was casting different shadows over the hillsides.

When we reached the bottom we decided to go into Lochcarron for an early meal of Sea Bass at the pub. This was so we didn't have to negotiate the very narrow road to our B & B more than was necessary.

And very nice it was too.