As soon as I reached Ballachulish, I could see the change in landscape. Lush green rolling hills a plenty. Within 10 minutes, I was in Glencoe. I stopped at the visitor centre to pick up a couple walking maps then headed out.
I stopped at almost every layby, taking pictures and enjoying the scenery. What a gorgeous place. I fell in love with it. Even though it was dark, cold and raining, the beauty was overwhelming. Waterfalls all over the mountains and roaring streams from all the rain. This is the benefit of being here in autumn. The downside... very slippery and boggy while hiking.
There were many parking areas along the A82, and I stopped at one of the main ones. At The Three Sisters. 3 peaks beside one another, with deep valleys in between them. I got geared up to brace the cold, gusty rain and started on my hike. The valley I chose was between the last peak of the Three Sisters and Buchaille Etive Beag. It was full of little streams, lots of purple heather, tall green grass, moss and bunches of bracken. This is Scottish muirs. Such a beautiful site. I love all the purple heather, and occasional yellow and white flowers. Seeing that scattered over the rich variety of greens, can't help but tug at your heart. I didn't mind being soaked at all. 
I followed the trail into the valley, then decided to skirt off up the mountain. It was extremely windy. The mountain had 2 summits (924m and 958m) and I hiked up in between them. I debated climbing the last 150 m to the top but thought, with all the gust I'd get up there, it would be very dangerous. I had the occasional gale almost knock me over as it was, sheltered in the rocks. So, I just enjoyed my view there and eventually made my way back to the car. I made a few more stops along the way and then looked for a place to camp for the night.
There was a small road that headed toward Glen Etive and I drove down there. It was a small, windy road but had lots of passing areas for other oncoming vehicles along the way. It wasn't a very busy road so I took the opportunity to take many pictures at most passing bays. Such a nice place. A river roaring alongside the road through the valley with Buchaille Etive Mor on my right side. A pyramid looking mountain. Passed a few areas with Red deer as well. Many bucks, and only 3 doe seen so far. Their quite large, those deer. Beautiful. At the end of the road, there was a little gravel parking area and then a nice couple patches of grassy areas beyond it, perfect for setting up a tent. Right along the loch shore. The loch connects to the sea from here, so it wasn't good for washing. But it was no bother. Plenty of fresh water streams and waterfalls around. I was fairly sheltered at my camp, surrounded by mountains. Not much wind and it was so calm and quite. I had it all to myself. I set myself up and roamed around the area a while. After I had my dinner, another vehicle showed up. Three men had the same idea and they set up their tents not far from mine. I thought, why not say hello? It's just us 4 for the night...
I introduced myself and I met Sinclair, John and Russell. Sinclair and John lived in Edinburgh , while Russell was from Sheffield in England. They were having a weekend away from the city. They were very kind to me, offering me to join them for dinner and wine. I had already ate, but seeing how they had meat (and burgers at that!), how could I resist. My fruit and cracker dinner didn't compare to that!We sat around the campfire and drank wine, sharing stories. Next thing you know, we drank all 3 boxes of wine and even a bottle of whiskey Sinclair had for a little nightcap. Ha ha ha, all 4 of us were a bit drunk, I have to say. We felt like a bunch of teenagers being so silly, stumbling around, even tripping over the fire! Oh dear. We had a blast though. Those guys were awesome!
I woke up the next morning sick as a dog. I don't like wine at all, and to drink that much the night before... *groan*. When I got out of my tent to see them, John had gone for a wander and Sinclair was looking not much better than me sitting in the chair. Ha ha, what a sight we were. Russell was walking around filming a bit, but he wasn't top shape either. We laughed at ourselves, reliving some of the moments of the night before, and the boys were thinking "we drank all our alcohol for the weekend on one night!" Not what they had originally planned! Lol, but they had a great time too. I stuck around for a short while when John came back from his walk, exchanged numbers and emails and then I headed off. I planned to do some more hiking, but with the way I was feeling... As I said, the road was windy. Had to stop 3 times to be sick then decided to pull over and have a little nap to get the nausea to subside a bit. After an hour, I was feeling much better, and wanted nothing more than I nice warm shower. I drove to Red Squirrel Campsite and got a pitch there. I did some laundry and the nice European staff allowed me to hang it up in a washroom that was currently closed off. Was perfect. I got some directions for a hike nearby and planned to go up it the following day before I moved on. Seeing how I was in poor shape, I just napped, read my book, did a small walk, drove around here and there, and socialized with the campers beside me before calling it a night. Suited me fine. A few midges were out and about anyway, being near the river's edge.
After packing up the following morning, I went to hike up the Pap of Glencoe. As per the directions, I was to follow the trail, pass through 2 gates then go up a steep trail after crossing 2 streams. The path I was on was a logging road, that I had to veer off and cut through a wooded area up onto another logging road. Problem was, I didn't know if I should go left or right once out of the trees. My gut said right, as it went uphill, but I was curious what was left. Of course, my curiosity got the better of me and I went left. Not much to see really, but it did lead down toward Loch Leven. Wasn't long before I turned around. I found the trail that cut through my first gate, trudged through lots of mud, puddles and bog (trying to walk on the rocks I could find as some areas were deep) and then came to gate number 2. Great, now I just had to find the trail going up the mount. And I walked, and walked... and am I all around to the other side of it now? Where the heck is this trail after the 2 streams? There's streams everywhere! The path I was on does go all the way around the hill, following power lines. But I didn't want to keep going on this path. I resolved and headed back. Once near the gate, I looked again for this trail. I've wasted so much time already... but, where the heck was it?! Then I realized, the trail was a waterfall. All the rain over the past month, had flooded the trail. Lol, I wasn't going to go up that! So, I figured I'd start my way to Fort William as I was bound to find somewhere else to hike.
And that I did. I took the loop to Kinlochleven and found a Greymare's Tail Waterfall trail (named after King Edward VII horse). I know what your thinking... really, another waterfall Vicky? Haven't you seen enough? But hey, why not?
As I followed the colour marked path, I ended up finding multiple trails forking in different directions. I picked one. Ended up climbing and came out in a stunning glen, full of flowers, heather, sunshine and a beautiful view of Loch Leven.
Wasn't long before I arrived in Fort William. The town is quite small, mostly outdoor stores, a tesco (groceries), pubs and hotels. A few tourist shops and a visitor centre. About it really. Very small, but it was great! All the outdoor stores had sales! Had to look around. Fort William is popular because it's the end point of the West Highland Way trail, as well as the entrance to the biggest mount in the UK, Ben Nevis.
I then drove to the end of Glen Nevis, enjoying the landscape around me. The very end of the road had a little car park and I decided to sleep there in the car overnight. About 4 other people were doing the same. To soggy of a ground for a tent here. I slept quite comfortably in the front passenger seat. Amazing how you can adapt.The following morning, I decided to walk the trail to Steall Waterfall. Regardless of the pouring rain. And the trail wasn't without a few obstacles. Some parts of the path, you would step across rocks over a stream... but the streams were rampant down the slopes, the rocks slippery and some even under the fast flowing rapids. I was very glad to have good boots and sure footing. Yes, I said sure footing. I'm not always clumsy. Only sometimes.
Once I got to the meadow, it was completely flooded. The path I was supposed to follow was thigh deep under water. I scrambled along the side of the hill amongst the vegetation. Nice thing about the heather, it forms a solid foothold. The waterfall was beautiful. Finally! A true waterfall! Not just a small one from all the rain, but one with some height and width. A hut was on the other side of the river, but seeing how all there was to cross the river was a metal wire to balance on and two as railings, I figured I wouldn't even try with how slippery it was and with the roaring river. Wouldn't risk my camera getting wet ;)
A path also follows along the river and eventually would cross it to the Steal ruin, but I'd have to come back another time when the water level is lower.
Next, I drove to Braveheart Carpark to hike up Cow Hill. It's just under 300 m (almost 3 km walk), but would be enough to still have a nice view.
Next, I went to the visitor centre for hiking Ben Nevis. I bought a proper map and guide for the mountain and checked the weather forecast for the next day. It was going to be sunny in the morning, then rain in the afternoon. Lightening storm up at the summit in the evenings with a possibility of snow. So, I planned to head up first thing in the morning. I was hoping they would have a form I could fill out to let them know if I went hiking and they could check to make sure I returned ok (like when I was in Australia), but no such luck.
Next morning, I got up early to catch the sun. And it was a lovely day! So nice to have some dry weather. Many people were already starting the climb by 7:45 am. Off I went to join them along the Pony Track. The first 600m was easy going, climbing up the Red Burn valley. It levelled off a bit at this half way point, revealing a small loch (called Lochan Meall an t-Suidhe) with a bunch of Red Deer nearby. Superb views of the valley.
From here on, the path relentlessly climbs a zig-zag pattern through scree and around boulders to the peak. By 800m, snow was dusting the rocks. The higher I went, the more snow there was. Luckily, it didn't get very deep. It has been known for hikers to loose the path and end up getting too close to the peak's edges leading to fatalities. Especially along the Five Finger Gully.The summit plateau flattened out a bit, much to my relief as I pushed through my wall already and was wearing out. At the summit proper, there was a metal hut, war memorial and a ruin of an old meteorology observatory from the late 19th century. The question I had, "why is the hut on the highest point in the UK made of metal?" Lightening storms are not uncommon up here and people use the hut as a shelter. Even to sleep in sometimes. However, I guess if you're daft enough to sleep in a metal conductor during a lightening storm...
I didn't stay too long at the summit. There was thick fog and low cloud so no view at all. Visibility was only about 150 m. I stayed long enough to have a snack in the hut, talk to a few people, then headed back down as I was sweaty and getting cold with the brisk wind.
The descent was easy going. Enough people had walked to the summit that you could just follow the trail of footprints in the snow until the path was obvious again. Funny, sometimes, coming down hill is more difficult than going up. My knees and legs were getting pretty tired of the descent.
Today, I plan to have a nice coastal drive to Mallaig before heading to Isle of Skye. Let my sore body rest!
No comments:
Post a Comment