Terrified drivers and passengers had just seconds to run for their lives as tonnes of earth and rock buried their vehicles in a landslide.
Farm manager Stuart Campbell described hearing a thundering roar as the hillside above his pick-up and trailer gave way on Saturday, hurling debris down on to the A816 at the Bealach south of the Ardfern turn-off.
The 38-year-old, and 19-year-old farm helper Morven Brown from Islay, were heading back to Cladich Fold farm in Dalmally to check on livestock in the floods when they turned a bend past the Kintraw Standing Stone and were suddenly confronted by a 20ft-high pile of rubble blocking the road.
“I got out to tell the car behind me that it was going to be a challenge but we’d have to reverse all the way back down when I heard a sound like I’ve never heard in my life before. It was a kind of thundering. That’s when I saw the other rockfall. It was coming right down behind us. We were going to be trapped. A boulder the size of a car just missed the back of us. I shouted to run for our lives. We had to get out of there. Earth was already starting to cover the top of the car,” he said.
Stuart, his passenger and a man and woman from the car behind managed to escape by climbing over a fence and scrambling up the opposite hillside to get away.
“It was frightening. It doesn’t bear thinking about what could’ve happened to us if we’d been just a moment later coming along the road.
“All I was thinking about was that I had a young person with me and I had to get her to safety,” he added.
Stuart and his passenger walked down off the hill and got a lift back to Ardfern from some American tourists. He believes the other couple waited on higher ground to be rescued.
“We were soaked to the skin when we were dropped off at my friend’s house in Ardfern to have sugary tea and gather our thoughts on what a lucky escape we’d had,” said Stuart.
The landslide drama was just the start of a rollercoaster of a weekend for Stuart who manages the Cladich Fold.
He went on to win Champion Calf and Reserve Champion Calf at The Highland Cattle Society’s 126th Annual Autumn Show in Oban the next day, as well as picking up the prize for best pair of calves.
Stuart was on a mission to win the champion calf title in memory of Alan Cameron of Inveraray, a friend and co-worker who died after a car crash in April.
“The last thing we spoke about was that we needed to win champion calf again to make it three years in a row. I wanted to do it in his memory.
“He was like a son, a brother and a best friend. Someone up there was looking out for me on Saturday. I’ve a feeling it was him, a bit of a guardian angel. It’s been one hell of a weekend.”
Stuart also fulfilled a lifetime ambition on Sunday by breaking a new breed record at the top Highland Cattle sale, where the champion calf went under the hammer for 11,000 guineas.
“Saturday is a day I’ll never forget. The weekend went from one extreme to another, from fright on the A816 to the joy of a dream coming true at the Highlander show.”