Outdoor Discoveries

What originally was a news section for the rest of the website soon became a place for me to write about human-powered wanderings in the countryside. Photography inspires me to get out there, mostly on foot these days, though cycling got me started. Musings on the wider context of outdoor activity complete the picture, so I hope that there is something of interest in all that you find here. Thank you for coming!

A bank holiday trip to the Scottish Highlands

3rd May 2006

I took myself up to the Scottish Highlands for the May Day Bank Holiday weekend. I got there thanks to the overnight National Express 336 service to Glasgow and then the 07:00 Scottish Citylink departure to Fort William. Thanks to congestion on the motorways, the National Express service left Manchester an hour late but was only 15 minutes late when it got to Glasgow!

In spite of a load of bikers descending on Fort William for the weekend as they traditionally do, I managed to find somewhere to stay on Saturday night. Once I dropped off some of my stuff at the B&B, I caught a train from Fort William to Corrour. From Corrour, I walked along hill tracks by the side of Loch Treig and Allt na Lairige all of the way to Spean Bridge. Along the way, I got to pass through some pretty wild country but all was pleasant in the sunshine.

Next day, I left a cloudy Fort William on another Citylink coach and headed towards a sunnier Inverness before stationing myself in Pitlochry for the night after a train journey. My planning hadn’t got to booking my Sunday night accommodation on the Saturday and got a surprise when I found Inverness tourist office shut! The Fort William office was also shut but I already knew about that; Inverness though was unexpected, especially considering its recently gained city status. In the event, a quick call to Visit Scotland wasn’t long sorting things out.

When in Pitlochry, I did consider walking to the top of nearby Ben Vrackie but I arrived at my hotel at around 18:30 and I usually don’t start that kind of expedition at that hour of the evening. I did take in the fine evening with a short stroll but, next morning, it was raining lightly and I didn’t feel like carrying a heavy rucksack to the top of an 841 metres high mountain so I began a train journey home. Maybe one for another time then…

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