'Bealach Na Ba' (the treacherous road to Applecross)

Hi reader

Have you heard of Applecross? It's an extremely isolated place in the west of Scotland and for many years it was only accessible by boat. These days it's part of the NC 500 route and so I followed the signs. If I'd known what was ahead, I think I'd have skipped it and gone another route.

Before I describe this part of my trip, you should know that the place often referred to as Applecross is NOT called Applecross by the locals. They refer to it as Shore Street or just 'The Street'. I'm a bit confused about all this, but you can get on Google and read up on it for yourself.

The road starts out easy enough, but it quickly becomes a narrow, single track with very sharp turns and perilous slopes at its edges. My pictures here don't do justice to how dangerous the assent was because the only places I could get out to take photos were when the road occasionally widened enough for two vehicles to pass. the rest of the time I was gripping the wheel, changing up and down through the gears and just praying my van could handle the gradients.

The sun was out for part of the time, but mostly I was driving in sideways rain and strong winds. When I finally reached the top, I was greeted by this amazing rainbow that seemed very close ... almost like I could walk over there and stand inside the rainbow. Maybe find a pot of gold?

Some of the gradients were ridiculous, and I did a lot of the climb in first or second gear. There was one very scary part where I was in first gear with the accelerator floored and the van was barely crawling forward centimetre by centimetre. 

I remember that before I started out on this journey around Scotland, one of the worries going through my mind was 'what if I break down in the middle of nowhere and have no phone signal?' Bealach Na Ba could have been that place. Luckily the plucky little Ford Connect made it to the clouds at the top.

This is Applecross (Shore Street). There's not much to it really. A pub that was closed. A food van that was closed. I had a walk, took a few pics and headed on my way. 

The food van had a sign that made me chuckle:

Thankfully you don't have to get out of there the same way you came in. There's a winding coastal road (opened in 1975) which travels around the edge of the peninsula to Sheildaig and Torridon.

And that's my journey to Applecross. Not as challenging as Henry Alexander driving a Model T Ford to the top of Ben Nevis, or Gandalf leading the Fellowship of the Ring over the Pass of Caradhras, but my own little tale of endurance and peril not for the faint of heart. 

See you next time. Thanks for reading,

Brian