Glencoe and Surrounds

The mountains around Kinlochleven

I have only visited Glencoe once before, which was just on a tour bus, so no walking involved. But I knew at the time I would have to be back, and it's finally happened. After 3 days in the Cairngorms we drove over to Glencoe area. This region is also fantastic, definitely some visits back here are required as well! This is a lot more dramatic than the Cairngorms, with really sharp peaks and long ridge lines. We were staying in Kinlochleven, which is really a great place to be based for walking. It's actually on the West Highland Way, I think it's the last night of the walk, the following day you would make your way into Fort William and the end of the route. So the whole town seems really suited to walkers, there are 3 pubs in town, all of which cater purely to walkers. And there are multiple routes (not just the West Highland Way) that start right from town. The weird thing is it used to be an aluminium smelter and yet it's surrounded by these beautiful mountains. It must have been a very different town 30 odd years ago.

Hints of the mountain tops

The weather wasn't great the whole time we were there. We had one rest day where we sat inside and just played cards all day, never done that before, just straight through, the whole day, card game after card game. It was a good day to spend inside though, the wind was howling, and when it wasn't hailing it was raining. So pretty glad not to be up a mountain on that day.

My one shot of the West Highland Way

We did part of the West Highland way, just because we thought we should. I had actually been kind of keen to do this at some point, but I am a little off it now having done part of it. The thing with these long distance paths is that they have to be doable even in really bad weather. People have hotels booked along the way, so they can't really spend an extra evening holed up somewhere waiting for the weather to clear. This means that the paths generally have to go through the less interesting part of the countryside, meaning the valleys. And the paths are always super-wide, almost fire trails. In fact some of the walk we did was on logging roads, so you also had big trucks full of tree trunks driving passed. Not the most conducive to appreciating nature. There are also a lot of people doing the walk, you are always passing people, or seeing people up ahead. It was good to experience this, since now I don't have to use a whole holiday to realise it's not what I want to do.

Stunning scenery - those mountains!

Bluebells near Kinlochleven

The weather that day was also the worst of the whole trip, which probably added to the less than positive reaction to this walk. We did a little side-trip up to an iron age fort, this was the one point at which we got out of the valleys for a bit, and man was it windy up there! Smart move walk constructors, keeping people protected. I'm sure I saw some people doing the walk in jeans, so really you can't make the route too arduous.

We had two other great walks whilst we were staying in Kinlochleven. The first was a super long walk, it must have been 20 odd kilometres, with maybe a third of that completely pathless, and with some elevation gain. You start off in the town and follow the river out and up. Through this great mossy forest. There was so much water around. It's such a a pleasure not having to carry much water on your back, because you know there will always be another creek to fill up from. It did mean a few river crossings, some were better than others. At one, there was a log placed across the stream that you could kind of balance on. It wasn't deep, or wide, but it was fast flowing and did flow straight off the cliff. What was really off-putting was the deer skeleton that had caught in the log and who's spine was flapping in the current. Another bridge was completely rusted through so had to be skirted. That wasn't so bad though, given the lack of decomposing animals.

Is this New Zealand or Scotland?

The washed away bridge

As we got higher the views got more and more stunning. It reminded me of walking in the Swiss alps, there were these rings of snow-capped peaks all around you. And the best thing was not another person in sight. We lunched at this beautiful mountain hut by a lake. It must have taken some serious work to construct this thing, solid walls, fireplace, multi-levels. I guess the stones would have been helicoptered in, but just putting it together would have been an undertaking and a half. It was ever so slightly spoiled by the two rotting sheep carcasses right outside the door. They were the only sheep we saw all day, and it was unfortunate they had to be stinking up the lunch spot.

After lunch we left the paths behind and struck out up the nearest hill. Our goal was to go up and over two ridge lines before dropping down to a saddle and another lake and then following a different river back into town.

The second ridge line was a bit of an undertaking. It was almost like climbing a wall, and there was still snow at the top, quite amazing for late May. But the views were incredible. You could not see a single sign of human habitation from the top, no villages, no roads, no people. That is actually kind of rare in the UK (you are probably not surprised to discover), so to be able to get to a spot like that, on a day walk, is what Scotland is all about for me.

Can't get enough of these views

It was a bit of a forced march after cresting the final hill. The day was getting on and we knew the kitchens didn't stay open that late. No way was I missing my dinner that day!

And now this post has gone on for longer than expected, so I will have to display the last great Kinlochleven walk we did in a different post.

The view from the final mountain. I wish I was back there

Dave and the Mamores, have to be back to tackle these

Almost home, the final descent to Kinlochleven