Scottish wanderings - part 2

Friday 16 June

Today we had a lot of driving to do. We were travelling from Inverness through to Durness, which is near the north west tip of Scotland.

Some of the seagulls we came across today were huge

 With Jen at the wheel we headed off. The navigation system had a number of idiosyncrasies which were to cause us the odd problem until we worked them out. If the road we were on went around a bend the system still showed the directional status as straight ahead. The result was that we sometimes took the straght ahead road which was the incorrect one. That is exactly what happened as we were attempting to leave Inverness. Still, it was not all bad. We saw bits of the city we would not have otherwise seen. The port was interesting and not originally on our schedule.

The bridge leading out of Inverness was impressive. It spans the Moray Firth.

Having successfully left Inverness we headed up the coast on the A9 which was not a really big road even tough it had a low number.

Our first stop of the day was at Dornoch which boasts a church with some impressive stained glass windows.

In the church yard was a stone that dates back to the mid 1500s and was used as a tailor's measure.

The tailor's measure is in the bottom right of the photo

The village has a connection to an Irish evangelist who came to convert the local heathens around 600AD (I think).

After a refreshing cup of coffee it was on the road again.

We did stop at Golspie intending to have a quick look at Dunrobin Castle but decided that the price was not right and we still had a long way to go for the day. Externally it was a pretty castle.

The were a heap of visitors to the castle as this line of motor homes attest.

Our lunch stop was in the town/village (don't ask me how to determine if a place is a village or town) of Helmsdale. We actually ate in a cafe that is listed as on of the six top fish and chip places in Britain. We didn't have fish and chips as all we really wanted was a sandwich.

On leaving Helmsdale the navigation system decided to send us along the A897 as the route to our next target. By the time we determined that it was not going to put us on the more major road along the coast we were well on our way to the north along a one lane road. Once we worked this out it was rather interesting. The one lane roads have lots of passing places and most can be seen in advance as they have sign posts announcing them as passing places. It turned out to be an interesting drive once we got used to dodging and weaving our way along the road. We had to contend with motor cyclces, bikes and cars.

There was a surprising amount of traffic. The road meandered along a valley with a waterway which appeared to have quite good fishing as there were quite a few people playing with rods. From time to time we also came across shelter were people were lounging around.

The scenery was quite pretty even if the windscreen wipers were getting a workout. It just kept on raining! Sometime the rain was a light drizzle. At other times it was heavier.

We also had to contend with sheep. Often there was no fencing along the road. There were cattle grids to stop the sheep moving from one farm to the next but they were free to roam along and across the road.  As there were a lot of lambs around we were constantly slowing for ewes and lambs to get off the road.

We also came across cattle wandering down the road.

Apologies for the windscreen wiper in the middle of this photo

We had seen a train line running along the valley and we came to on of the stations serviced by the line.

The the track crossed the road there were boom gates and warning signals.

The station house has been taken over by a conservation project that overseas the Forsinard Flows, one of the last great natural landscapes in Britain. The blanket bog is one of the world's rarest habitats. It has taken some 8000 years for the deep peat soils to grow. We spent some time chatting with the ranger on duty comparing these peat bogs with those I had seen in Yorkshire.

When we hit the north coast we were west of Thurso and decided not to visit the Scottish home of the Queen Mother. Instead we headed west towards Durness and our overnight stop.

There were some stunning views along the coast and some lovely white sand.

We were staying at the Balnakeil Craft Village which was just beyond Durness. The weather was atrocious so apart from doing a quick walk around the village and having the most decadent hot chocolate that I had had in a very long time we decided we had had enough bad weather for the day.

Fortunately the village boasted a restaurant and it was right next to where we were staying so our food needs were well catered for.

Scottish wanderings - part 1

After finishing the West Highland Way I caught the bus from Fort William to Glasgow in order to collect the car we were going to use to tour the north of Scotland. The bus traveled along the A82 through or near to quite a few places we had visited during our walk. The sun was shining and I regretted not carrying my camera. Be thankful as there would have been a heap of photos of mountains and lochs. The other positive was being able to see the route before I drove it later in the night. It did help.

The bus terminated at the city bus station and I was quickly on another bus heading for the airport. By the time I got to the Hertz desk it was very quiet and I got served without a wait.

Having been duly issued with a car, one with built in navigation, I set the destination to Fort William and headed out of the airport. While it was 9 o'clock at night it was still quite light and I did not need the lights, yet. The biggest problem was having the indicators on the left and the windscreen wipers on the right. That problem was overcome when it started to rain.

Before it got too dark I stopped to work out how to turn on the headlights. Once I actually found the switch it was OK and I set them to auto which was a sensible setting for we tourists.

I finally pulled into the carpark at the B&B a little after midnight. It had been a long day.

Jen had suggested a late breakfast time slot for the next morning which was a good decision. After breakfast we finished packing, threw all our gear in the car, locked it and walked down to the High Street so that we could formally complete Jen's walk with the obligatory photos. Here they are again ... just in case you missed them.

In keeping with most of the days we have been in Scotland it was raining!

We returned to the B&B and headed out of Fort William in the direction of Inverness. This took us up the Great Glen passing Loch Lochie, Loch Oich and then Loch Ness. We kept crossing over waterways but did not see any vessels using the locks.

Our first stop was going to be Urquhart Castle. This is just another ruin. It was built, knocked down and rebuilt many times before being abandoned. It was really cold as we walked around the site and were pleased to return to the warmth offered by the car.

View over Loch Ness from the Urquhart Castle site

On leaving Urquhart Castle we headed into Inverness and our B&B which turned out to be one of many in that area of Inverness. Most were full. It was only a short walk into the business centre. By the time we set out it was still chilly but the sun had broken through.

I cannot recall seeing so many churches in such a small area. The folk of Inverness must have been much in need of salvation to have poured so much money into the numerous churches that we came across. Here are just two ... I'm sure you don't want to see them all!

The River Ness runs through the middle of Inverness. It is crossed by a number of bridges including some that are pedestrian only.

... and don't miss the two churches in the background

We did a turn through the central business district and stumbled on the castle. This one was relatively modern and definitely in use.

There are paths along both sides of the river and these were being heavily used by pedestrians and cyclists.

We had been informed that many restaurants offered good deals for pre-threatre dinner. We, ignorant ones, thought that this seemed a bit odd in a relatively small city only to discover that they had a huge arts centre which had multiple live shows running as well as cinemas.

We opted for dinner in one of the local cafes. Perhaps this was not the best choice. Meals came with potato (mash or chips) and vegetables. The only catch was you had to pick one from peas, carrots or beans. Carrots was a good choice. Jen picked beans. When her meal arrived she was surprised to discover that beans were of the baked variety. One should never assume. Jen had been looking forward to some green beans!

The next episode will cover our journey to the far north coast.

West Highland Way - day 11

Wednesday 14 June - day 11 - Kinlochleven to Fort William

The final day of our walk was to be the longest distance we walked in a day and also the most climbing. We had 24kms to cover and an expected elevation gain of 735m.

Having changed from the 2pm bus out of Fort William for the 5pm one we did not need to leave Kinlochleven prior to breakfast. This was good as there were no places where we could get food until we almost reached Fort William. Going without breakfast would have been a very poor option. We did get up at 6 o'clock and were ready to leave apart from teeth cleaning and putting on our boots prior to the 7:30am start of breakfast. Nevertheless we did not dillydally over breakfast and were out the door and on our way by 8:15.

At least it was not raining when we set out on our final day of walking

From our B&B we had to head down into the village before picking up the trail again. The first section took us up a path that climbed steeply through a birchwood. Fortunately there were zigzags to make the climb a little easier. There were a number of tricky creek crossings. The water was still up due to the persistent rain that had been falling for days. The aim was to get across without getting water in our boots. Jen became quite adept at rock hopping.

Jen tackling one of the creek crossings

We eventually popped out with views across the village.

After reaching a height of 275m we reached Lairigmor (the great pass) with sizable hills on both sides.

The day was dry and this seemed to lift the spirits of all the walkers. There was a lot more chatter. Walkers asked after each other and other walkers. Stops became real community affairs.

There were lots of bridges today, as well as rock hopping creek crossings.

Some of the bridges were in better repair than others.

Without the drizzle and rain we had some great views. These photos hardly do justice to the majestic peaks we saw along the way.

The track continued to wind around mountains and up and down, too. At times it was wide while it sometimes got down to a single file track.

Jen striding out in the lead

The ruin beside the track had a sign "Dangerous ruin. Keep out" however the guid book suggested that it at least would offer some protection if your were caught in a storm. It did look pretty solid ... more that can be said for some of the other ruins we came across.

The fork in the track allowed the walkers to use a bridge while vehicles could use the ford

There were frequent water flows across the track

One of the narrow sections of track winding its way around a hill

Large tracks of mountainsides have been used for tree growing. The shallow soil still manages for produce trees even if some do topple over due to the thin layer of soil in which they take root. We walked though quite a few areas where the trees have been recently harvested.

Logs piled up ready to the transported

From time to time we encountered walkers heading south. This group of schoolies were walking in a fairly tight bunch except for two stragglers who seemed to have really dropped off the back and lost contact with each other and the group.

We passed a number of waterfalls during teh day. That was not a surprise when you consider the amount of rain there had been.

One of the more surprising sights was that of a road maintenance vehicle doing an inspection.

Along the route there were plenty of plants, too. In the highlands plants have had to adapt to survive. There are a number of carnivorous plants feeding on insects. I'm not sure how many midges they manage to consume ... not enough as the biting creatures were still in evidence while we walked this final day. Here are two of the local carnivorous plants.

The Scots are obviously both a trusting and law abiding bunch. A number of times we came across tuck shops. These were unmanned with items for sale, a price list and somewhere to leave the payment. Here is one we came across.

What a pity they didn't provide hot drinks, too!

As we neared the end of the trail I went ahead as I had to collect my bus ticket and catch my bus. That allowed Jen to finish the walk at her own pace.

On the way into Fort William the trail passes by Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Britain.

At the base of the mountain is Glen Nevis a welcome valley leading towards the town.

On reaching Fort William you encounter this deceptive sign:

The finish of the walk is still some distance away.

Eventually I got to Gordon Square and the finish line:

A fellow walker kindly took these photos.

Jen made it to the finish line not that much after me. I took photos of her in Gordon Square on the next morning before we left Fort William.

We had made it.

On the final day we had walked a little over 24kms. The elevation gain was 853m - a little more than predicted.

We did it!!!