Duck Bay, Loch Lomond

Another winter is nearing a close on Loch Lomond.  This is the third that I have documented – or partly so.  The first, 2010/11, was the coldest in decades with Arctic conditions for many weeks.  Scroll down for photos taken then.  2011/12 was mostly wet, but we did get the odd snowfall.  A pictorial look at that winter also follows.  This year, 2012/13, while very snowy at times in the South of the U.K., saw not a lot of the white stuff here.  For a few days at the end of November and beginning December, several inches fell on the lowlands with a goodly amount on higher elevations.  A nasty dose of flu kept this photographer from capturing images of that.  I have added the few images and videos I did get later in the season to those already posted.

Loch Lomond Winter Cruise

JANUARY, 2013

From Balloch, one can take an hour long cruise on the South end of the loch all winter long, weather permitting.  On a rare sunny day recently, I boarded Sweenie’s cruise boat, The Silver Marlin, and caught a half hour of blue skies and azure water before the clouds rolled in once more and painted the landscape grey.  The boats leaves from a landing situated where Loch Lomond ends and the River Leven begins.  Balloch Park and the town center make a picturesque setting for the start of the cruise.

Balloch Hotel

                                            

Balloch Park

 

Swans in Flight

Lochside Snow

Weather Changing

Storm Clouds over Loch Lomond

 

Another Winter on Loch Lomond – 2011/12

The first photos and videos I posted in ‘Loch Lomond, Limericks And Life’ were taken in November and December  of 2010.   This posting sees the start of another winter; a very different winter.  While last year was arctic cold for months with much snow in early November, it is now late December, 2011,  and we have just had our first snowfall.

Moody Afternoon

Rosy Evening on Loch Lomond

High winds and torrential rain have been the extremes since September.  The wetlands video that follows is evidence of just how wet it has been.  Back in the Spring,  I walked on the ground that is now covered in water.

WINTER  – 2010/11

Winter Tranquility on Loch Lomond

At twenty-six miles long, or thereabouts, Loch Lomond is the largest loch in Scotland.  In the weeks and months ahead I will share more photos and videos of the Scottish landscape in the area in which I live.  Balloch is situated at the south end of the loch where it narrows and becomes the River Leven.  I will bring you pictures and videos of its journey through Alexandria and Renton to Dumbarton.  

Icebound Loch Lomond

Ice covered Loch Lomond   Only the shallowest water froze.  This body of water has an average depth of 37 metres (121 ft) and, at it deepest, is 190 meters (620 ft).  It has the largest surface area of any loch/lake in the United Kingdom – 27 square miles.  Loch Ness boasts the highest volume of water putting Loch Lomond in second place.

The sunlit mountain in the background of the above video is Ben Lomond.

Below are photos and videos I took in November and December. We had weeks of arctic weather when parts of the loch were frozen, as in this scene. Loch Lomond has many moods with faces to match.

Winter Wonderland

Trees in Christie Park, Alexandria.

This is another of the pictures I took in December.  Alexandria is about a mile from Loch Lomond and Balloch.   It was minus ten degrees centigrade at the time. It strikes me as I post these recent photos that they are already history.  What, a short while ago was SO in the moment, the arctic weather, the new camera, Christmas approaching, is all past, a memory.  Since photos capture a moment, they’re history a minute later,  just some more ancient than others.  Of such stuff are stories born.

January and February were foggy and wet, so I did not get any worthwhile pictures.

 For many more photos, videos and historical information of the Loch Lomond area,  the Highlands and islands of Scotland  plus stories, limericks etc.,   click on the menu icon (3 horizontal lines beside lochsplus) at top of page.