The Southeastern Cape Mabou Highlands

The air had cleared considerably on the south side of Beinn Alasdair Bhain (Fair Alistair’s Mountain) by the time I arrived back at the Mabou Post Road Trail Head and the day was, if anything, better for photography. On my way back, I stopped for a couple of photos on the Mabou Mines Road and then drove to Northeast Mabou, where I stopped for views of the always gorgeous Highlands there. As you will see, the southeastern Cape Mabou Highlands were clearly well past their peak on this day, at a time in other recent years when they would have been still pre-peak or at peak. But it made little difference: their great natural beauty is attractive in any season. The photos on this page came from this post-hike drive when the sun was golden.

Photo #1 was taken on the Mabou Mines Road, also known as the Mabou Coal Mines Road, about three-fifths of the way between Finlay Point Harbour and the Mabou Harbour Road. The Highlands seen here run towards the south and end at Mabou Harbour Road, which continues on their southern edge to Northeast Mabou; the Northeast Mabou Road then follows along their eastern flank. The Highlands seen here are west of those seen in the following photos, across the valley through which the MacDonalds Glen Road runs towards Mabou Mines. The beautiful afternoon light is really extraördinarily kind in this view, as the the great majority of the deciduous trees are bare, although the sunlight on the remaining leaves make it appear as if the slopes were still largely covered with leaves.

Photo #2 is taken in Northeast Mabou, looking northwest at the Highlands at the left of the panorama visible from this vantage point. Again, nearly all the trees are bare at the summit and a considerable distance below, but the lovely sunlight brings the oranges to life and makes it appear as if there is more foliage left than there is. At the base of the highlands, some vivid colours do remain, along the lovely green field that spans much of this photo.

[continued below]

Photo #3 looks to the right of photo #2 at the photogenic farm whose white and red buildings stand out so nicely against the greens of the fields below the Highlands. In this view, the sun is rather less successful in concealing the large number of bare trees; only the lower slopes still have colours and they all tend towards the oranges and browns. Note the lovely tree sheltering the house, however, which is still very green, as are a few trees on the near side of the field. The Northeast Mabou River, which descends from Glenora Falls, is in the foreground of the photo, hidden among the trees.

Photo #4, a much wider-angle view, gives a much better approximation of the distance to the farm at the centre of photo #3. In this much broader view, the trees on the upper slopes are nearly all bare, while those closer to the base still have some, but not a lot of colour. This year, the peak came during the festival when I had no time to capture the gorgeous fall colours.

[continued below]

Photo #5 looks along the eastern flanks of the Cape Mabou Highlands out to and well beyond Glenora Falls. The smaller “bump” just to the right of the bigger summit at the centre of the photo marks the valley carved by the Northeast Mabou River at Glenora Falls. Here, too, the summits are bare, though there is some residual colour on the lower slopes. What lovely undulating Highlands!