KINGSHOUSE TO KINLOCHLEVEN AND ON TO FT WILLIAM

This post covers two days on the West Highland Way; the last two days of our walk.

The shuttle from Clacaigh Inn picked us up early, and drove us up Glencoe to the start of our walk. There was a steady rain when we started, and it rained persistently all day long.

Our route was uphill from the start, and after the first 15 minutes, we were at the bottom of the “Devils Staircase.” We were all steady up the switchbacks, and 500 feet of altitude gain later, made the top.

For all these walking days, Marty has been acting as our rabbit on the uphills. He spent extra time on his  conditioning and it shows. He’s been doing the uphills with relative ease. I’ve been pleased with my conditioning as well, but I take the 18 wheeler approach to long uphills; keep up a sustainable pace for me, slow and steady. Steve is in great shape as always. 

Unfortunately, at the top of most climbs you wind up giving back some of that hard earned altitude. That was the case here. What followed was a long downhill, then a couple of hours of up and down walking until we were on a ridge looking down on Kinlochleven, our stop for the day.  Today’s walk was nine miles, a relatively short day. Just as well, since the weather got worse as the day went on.

We got into Kinclochleven in a steady rain, and were the first folks of the day to check in at the MacDonald Inn. The rooms wouldn’t be ready for a couple of hours, but the Inn had drying rooms for our gear, and a cozy pub and friendly innkeeper behind the bar. Pretty much all we needed.  

Kinlochleven (“Head of Lake Leven”) is at the head of a valley with a large number of  water sources coming down from the surrounding mountains, feeding the lake. In the early 1900’s British Aluminum chose the village's location to build a large aluminum plant. They built a then technically advanced hydro facility, using the mountain streams to power the plant.  The town became a company town, first with the construction workers, then the plant workers. As with a lot of American company towns, British Aluminum built the housing for the employees.  In 1908, Kinlochleven became the first town in the world in which every home was electrified.

The aluminum plant closed in the 1950’s, and the hydro facility was converted to provide electrical power for the area. Today, Kinlochleven is a nice little town with a small commercial district catering to West Highland Way walkers and other Highland outdoor activities.

At one time, the forecast for the Wednesday walk was for heavy rain, temperatures in the 40’s, and 30+ mile an hour winds. The Wednesday walk being 16 miles, our options that day, if the forecast held, were an on going topic of discussion.

But the forecast improved as the week went on, and Wednesday morning started cold, but clear. Best weather we could hope for on the last, long day.

The climb out of Kinlochleven into the surrounding mountains was as long as the Devil’s Staircase was the day before. Once we got to the top, we began to follow an old military road down Lachraimor ( “Large Vallley”) for several miles. Lachraimor is a wide, open valley with large mountain ridges on both sides, with no habitation save for some sheep. Views in the valley stretch for miles.  Steve compared the views to those he had seen in Denali in Alaska. We made good time through this valley, getting a lot of miles behind us.    

Toward the top of the valley there we passed an information plaque next to a large cairn. The plaque said that this was the place in 1620 where the MacDonald clan broke off their chase of the Campbell’s and let them return to their homes in the north. To commemorate the end of their pursuit, the Campbell’s created a large cairn, and dictated that forevermore, passing MacDonald’s should add a stone to the cairn, and passing Campbell’s shall remove one. The cairn is still there, and it’s large.

Shortly after the cairn, the trail climbed out of the valley, over a couple of ridges toward Glen Nevis and Fort William. Here we started getting views of Ben Nevis, the highest peak in the UK. We found a good place for our first stop of the day – almost four hours out from Kinlochleven.

 A lot of people use Fort William and Glen Nevis as a base to climb Ben Nevis. It’s a difficult hike/climb and it’s considered a dangerous undertaking. Not so much for the difficult climb up, but because the  wide summit area is typically shrouded in clouds, causing disoriented climbers to walk off an edge looking for the way down.

The trail headed generally toward Ben Nevis, across some unfortunate previously forested clear cut areas, until we reached a gravel road signaling a three mile downhill into the village of Glen Nevis. From there, the final stretch of the walk was a two mile walk along a back road into the larger town of Fort William.

We got into Fort William around three o’clock, having done the 16 miles in 6 ½ hours. We found the Premier Inn, our place for the night, and everybody went to shower, get our feet up, tend to our bruises, and take a well earned nap.

This was the end of our 8^th walk in Europe. Each one has been special. The adventure, time with good friends, opportunities to meet the people, and really get to know their country – nothing better.

Tomorrow, it’s train back to Glasgow, a night in the Doubletree, and dinner at the best Italian restaurant in the city – already have the reservations.  

   

BRIDGE OF ORCHY TO KINGSHOUSE

Today’s leg of the West Highland Way was a 12 mile stretch from the Bridge of Orchy, across

Rannoch Moor to Kingshouse.. Kingshouse is a historic inn on the road from Bridge of Orchy to Glencoe Village, and it’s the traditional overnight stop at the end of this leg. But right now, the old inn  is closed for renovation/restoration. So the end of our walk was a shuttle from a nearby ski lodge into Glencoe Village, nine miles away. 

The forecast for today was for persistent rain, and when we started it looked like they had the forecast right. We left Bridge of Orchy Hotel with packs covered, and rain gear on. We crossed the bridge beyond the hotel, and headed uphill into the forest.  After a few minute, we got above the trees, and kept going up for the next 45 minutes. By the time we crossed the ridge, the rain had started to let up. The rest of the day was cool (low 50’s) and grey. Good hiking weather.

Down in the next valley we followed a back road that took us to the 200 year old military road crossing several miles across Rannoch Moor.

Just before we got to the military road, we had one of those magical experiences that turn up on these walks. We were crossing a bridge over a pretty good sized river when off to our left we saw a large deer crossing the river. We stopped to watch, and then a second, third, and fourth followed behind him. They showed us a little curiosity, but finished their crossing and started grazing the grass that was greener on their new side of the river. We moved on.

Rannoch Moor is the largest uninhabited “wilderness” in the UK. The old military road gave us a pretty straight shot across the Moor, which soon opened up and gave us awesome views for miles in every direction. We had good footing on the old road, only a slight altitude gain, and cold gray weather. Great hiking conditions, so we made good time for 8 miles across the Moor. We left the moor with another uphill, then down into the valley of Glencoe, and the shuttle pick up point.

Without particularly hurrying, we’d done the 12 miles in  4 ½ hours, including a short stop for lunch, and several stops for Kodak moments. The downside was, we’d gotten to the end of the walk more than an hour before the shuttle was to arrive.    Upside was, the ski lodge was open and we chilled there with some refreshments until the shuttle took us into Glencoe Village.

Glencoe Village was the location of the Glencoe Massacre, known in the Scottish Highlands as simply, “The Massacre.”  Whenever you tell a Scot that you’re going to Glencoe, he’ll make sure you aware that was where “The Massacre” occurred. 

“The Massacre” that is fresh in every Highland Scot’s memory occurred over 300 years ago. King William III offered a pardon to all the Highland clans that had fought against him if their chief took an oath of allegiance to him in front of a magistrate by January 1, 1692.  The MacDonald clan chief, MacIain of Glencoe initially refused, but subsequently agreed. He travelled to Fort William to sign the oath, but the magistrate wasn’t available. He finally reached a magistrate on January 6, signed the oath, and thought that was the end of it.

It wasn’t. A force, led by Robert Campbell, was on its way to Glencoe with orders to kill the entire MacDonald clan. They arrived in Glencoe, and the MacDonald’s not knowing what was going on, invited Campbell and his 130 soldiers into their homes and hosted them for 10 days.  On the 11^th day, Campbell received his orders from Signal Rock to kill all the MacDonald’s under 70 years old. Early the next morning, still in darkness, Campbell and his soldiers rose from their beds and began the massacre. Dozens were killed and dozens of others fled and died in the cold in the surrounding mountains. The Scots say that the treachery in response to the hospitality of the Highland people  is what really ticked them off. And the MacDonald's certainly haven't forgetten it was the Campbells who were responsible.

We’re staying in the Clacaigh Inn tonight just outside Glencoe Village. Signal Rock, where the order was given for The Massacre in 1692 is in the forest above the Inn. After dinner tonight we took the 45 minute walk to go see it. It’s a prominent rock on a hilltop, but is now  in a deep forest.

We catch the shuttle tomorrow morning back to Kingshouse. Our walk tomorrow is relatively short, 9 miles. But early on we’ll have to deal with the Devil’s Staircase. The Devil’s Staircase is a series of switchbacks going up a 500 foot wall, before the trail heads on to the village of  Kinlochleven, our stop for the night. Tomorrow night we’re staying in MacDonald lodge in Kinlochleven . I’m thinking it would be really bad form for one of us to sign the register as a Campbell and ask for an early wakeup call.               

GLASGOW TO BRIDGE OF ORCHY

We’re a group of three now: Me, Marty, and Steve. We left Glasgow around noon today on the three hour train ride to Bridge of Orchy, in the Highlands. Bridge of Orchy is little more than a crossroads with a train stop, but it’s at the trailhead for the start of our walk along the West Highland Way.

The train trip started through the Glasgow suburbs, but gradually got into more rural and scenic country. The train went up the west side of Loch Lomond, then started a climb into the mountains of the Highlands.

The highlight of the Bridge of Orchy is the Bridge of Orchy Hotel. It’s an old inn that has been expanded over the years with more rooms to accommodate walkers and others traveling to the mountains of the Highlands. In spite of its isolation, it has really nice rooms, a good bar, and a great kitchen.  We got here in the middle of the afternoon, scouted out part of the trail, and basically got ready for the next walk to start tomorrow.

Tomorrow is a 12 mile day that  starts with a climb up into the hills, then a descent into Rannoch Moor, a long wide plain that we’ll follow for several miles along a centuries old military road.

We’ve been really fortunate with the weather since we ‘ve been in the UK. Tomorrow looks like we’re getting some payback. The forecast is for “persistent rain” throughout the day. It won’t be the first time we’ve put in a long day in rainy weather. You simply put on the rain gear and pack cover and go do it.

STIRLING - DUNGEONS AND DRAMS

We just spent two nights in Sterling. Besides enjoying the town itself, we saw two Scottish castles that you might recognize from the movies, and visited two distilleries of single malts that you probably wouldn’t recognize.  After these couple of days I’m feeling more immersed in Scotland than before.

Sterling, population around 50000, is much smaller city than either Edinburgh or Glasgow.   At one point in its history, Sterling was the capital of Scotland. It’s obviously an old city, and its less dominated by tourism. It feels a lot more like a real city at work than Edinburgh did.

Our hotel in Sterling was the Colessio, a short walk from the castle. The Colessio is in  an old restored building that used to be a hospital. Now, it has really classy public areas (think 1940’s Hollywood), and good rooms.  Pretty good prices too. Good place to stay.

The first day in Stirling we saw the castle. Stirling Castle sits high above the town and the surrounding countryside, and it overlooks what historically was the first bridge over the River Forth north of Edinburgh, the entry point to the Scottish Highlands. As a result of this strategic location, there’s been a castle here since the 12^th century. It’s the focal point of a lot of Scottish history, in addition to being the royal quarters for Scottish kings and queens.  A lot of the interiors are restored, and we probably spent more time in Sterling Palace than we did in Edinburgh Palace.

The second day in Sterling we rented a car for the day. I drove, and managed to get through the day’s driving on the wrong side of narrow roads with minimal embarrassment. More importantly, no one got hurt, and no damages to property reported.

The first place we went with the car was to Doune Castle, several miles outside of Stirling. Doune Castle is much smaller than Edinburgh or Sterling, built in its current form in the 14^th century by the Duke of Albany. Being in Doune really gives you a feel that you’re walking through the places where life took place in the 14th century.

Doune, because it has a real medieval feel, has been used in the movies and TV multiple times. All of you have probably seen it. It was prominent in ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail.’ It’s served as Winterfell in ‘Game of Thrones’, and it’s been Castle Leoch in ‘Outlander.’

We couldn’t end our sightseeing of the area without paying homage to Single Malts, so we spent the rest of the day touring two small Highland distilleries producing some really good Whisky.

Deanston Distillery is built in an 18^th century cotton mill on the River Teith. When the mill closed in the 1960’s, and the prosperity of the village was threatened, Deanston became a distillery. They still have a cask or two of their early whisky, now 40 years old. You could be the proud owner of a bottle of this 40 year old whisky for around $5,000. You also get a nice bottle and a nice box with it.

It turns out that American whiskey, bourbon specifically, plays a big role in the production of Deanston scotch, as well as other scotches. Deanston ages most of its whiskies in casks from Kentucky bourbon producers. The casks provide much of the flavor and color.

From Deanston, we went to Glencoyne, another single malt producer. Glencoyne is an old distillery that distills its whisky on one side of the road, and ages it on the other side. That road is the dividing line between the Highland whisky district, and the Lowland whiskies. Because it’s distilled in “The Highlands”, Glencoyne is a Highland whisky, which is more desirable to most.

Marty and I left Stirling on Saturday morning on an express train to Glasgow. The train was largely full of teen agers from Stirling and beyond apparently going to Glasgow for the day. Standing room only. Happily, it was a 30 minute ride.

Steve got in from his golf trip in Ireland Saturday afternoon, we got caught up,   and we’re ready to head off tomorrow to the start of the West Highland Way walk at the Bridge of Orchy.  

EDINBURGH

We’ve had 3 nights and 2 full days in Edinburgh. It’s been a good place to let the body recover.

I can’t say enough about Scott House, the B&B we’ve stayed in. The rooms are luxurious, it’s a short walk to the Royal Mile, it’s surrounded by great restaurants and pubs, and Jemima is a great hostess. Edinburgh is a really comfortable city to be in.

The first day here we went to Edinburgh Castle. Everyone does. It’s in a prominent location overlooking the city. It’s been the subject of 26 sieges over 1100 years. It’s the most besieged place in Britain and one of the most attacked places in the world. It’s still being besieged. It’s far and away the most touristed place in Scotland, and it was chock-a-block on the cold, windy day we were there.  But worth the crowds. We were there for one of the great traditions of the castle, the one o’clock gun. Since 1861, every day at exactly 1:00, a cannon is fired from Mills Mount Battery. The purpose is to provide a common time signal to ships in Leith Harbor and in the Firth of Forth. Previous methods using visual communications were often lost in the fog. At the time the cannon was put in place, a map was developed to account for the time lag from Mills Mount to various locations within hearing distance to account for time lag due to the speed of sound.

The Royal Mile is the central thoroughfare of Edinburgh. It  really consists of 5 separate streets running linearly between Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace. The stretch closest to the castle is pretty touristy, and where you can find “anything Scottish” multiple times over. One of the less touristy shops we stopped in, selling Scottish wool goods, described it this way: “There are 50 ‘Scotland’ shops in this immediate area. Forty-six of them are owned by two men in India. They have nothing that was actually made in Scotland, including the wool. The other four shops are independent, and we have only items that are not only designed in Scotland, but made here. “

We spent most of one day at the Museum of Scotland. It’s a huge place. As you might expect, it’s got a lot of relics from Scotland’s history. Even after time in the museum I wish I knew Scottish history better. The museum also has Dolly the sheep (stuffed), cloned at the University of Edinburgh twenty years ago.

Scotland loves their dogs about as much as the English, and they go everywhere with them. We saw the statue commemorating Greyfriars Bobby. As the story goes, Bobby was a Skye Terrier in 1850’s Edinburgh who guarded the grave of his master for 14 years until he himself passed away. His grave and his master’s are still commemorated by a statue, dog toys and flowers left in memory, and by a pub.

I also got to spend an hour or so in an old antique map and print shop. Lots of really great stuff. Made my day.

Food and drink have been a highlight of the Edinburgh stay. And pretty much at places within a block or so of Scott House. Our last meal there, last night was dinner at l’Escargot Bleu. It’s probably redundant to tell you it’s French. They have a pre theatre set meal that’s a great deal, in addition to being a memorable meal, including beef terrine, pigeon, asparagus soup with toasted almonds, mussels, mushrooms in garlic, Armagnac, Calvados, et al.

 Our table was in back, by the kitchen, and it was fascinating to watch the kitchen and front of the house at work. There was a little blowup once when the chef had a plate ready, rang the bell for the server, and the server didn’t show up quickly enough to suit him. The owner had to sooth some nerves.  We didn’t know until later that one well known reviewer has named l”Escargot Bleu as one of the top 5 restaurants in Scotland.  It’s going to be tough going back to pub food.

Off tomorrow to Stirling. Cheers.