This is the view when I stopped during the climb to sit on the ledge and turned around.  Now perhaps you understand why I got such a jolt.  I really had no idea that this is what was behind me until I stopped.

The trail skirted the edge of Gair Loch and I remember the section where one went right between the water and the rock wall, which was particularly water-sodden area.  I was pretty focused on the trail at the time and while I knew that there was a rock wall towering above me, I didn't know that it was quite as spectacular as you see here.  Perhaps from where I was down low it was impossible to comprehend it's size and it's something only when you stand above it all and stop for a rest do you really get a perspective on things.  I'm sure life in general is like that, but it's probably best not to ask me too much about such things.

The trail followed the river north of Gair Loch.  If you look close, you can see the river's path where the trees are a little taller and goes from the end of the loch and approaches the rock wall.  There is a large and steep valley between the two ridges that you see on the right side of the picture.  That valley has a river (what else in Fiordlands?) that joins the Seaforth River which flows in Gair Loch.  The hut is situated at the junction of these two rivers and is where I took the nighttime picture of the Kintail Valley.  In the morning, the trail immediately crosses valley's river and then hugs the right side of the valley for a while.  You then cross the Seaforth River and climb the on the left of where I was perched for this picture.  Yep, it's a cool place.