Endings and beginnings in the West Highlands
20th August 2007 As promised, here is a report of my visit to Scotland's West Highlands the week before last. Yes, there has been a delay in the post coming, but that seems to be a trend in outdoors blogging these times. Yes, other distractions intervened...
A disappointing July had me gagging for a few days away, and a promise of at least some fine weather was enough to see me head north. Things started well, but the weather headed downhill thereafter. Nevertheless, it didn't stop me getting in an ample amount of walking, and I reluctantly left to head south after what was in a myriad of ways a very successful break from the rat race.
Thursday
An overnight journey took me to Bridge of Orchy to walk my penultimate section of the West Highland Way. When I arrived, I found Bridge of Orchy basking in sunshine and captured some scenes both on film and on memory card. After crossing the A82 and passing under the railway, I picked up the track that was to take me south to Tyndrum. As luck would have it, cloud soon rolled in and conspired with various masts and electricity poles to reduce my photographic activities.
The hubbub of the A82 became scarcely audible as I passed Beinn Dòrain and there were teasing views up Gleann Ach'-Innis Chailein and Glen Coralan. Perversely, it was after this that the weather began to cheer up again, with the cloud melting away again. The noise of traffic on the A82 became a more permanent feature while the slopes of Beinn Odhar were crossed; it did make me wonder if there were better routes for the WHW than to squeeze through a pass alongside a railway track and a busy road. The sun stayed out and the views behind me towards the Black Mount and the likes of Beinn Dòrain remained excellent: there was an abundance of camera activity as a result.
Tyndrum was too excellent an excellent refreshment opportunity to miss, and I took advantage of the Green Welly Stop for a spot of lunch. It was soon back to shadowing the A82 again; thankfully, the noise was less pervasive than it was north of Tyndrum. The glorious appearance of the Crianlarich hills made me wonder if southbound was the right direction for once: they certainly looked better than their more rounded Tyndrum counterparts. As I proceeded along Strath Fillan, I followed the WHW as it crossed over and back across the A82. The final crossing saw me heading up steep slopes, a heavy price to be paid by tired legs and an argument in favour of the usual northbound itinerary. The views that opened out did provide some compensation for my exertions before I dropped down to Crianlarich for a night's stay in the SYHA hostel and a spot of refuelling at the Rod and Reel pub. It was a long day spent covering twelve miles of trail.
Friday
A drizzly start to the day greeted me when I arose. Crianlarich SYHA is a self-catering hostel, so I braved the weather to head to the train station's café (which usefully opens at 07:30) for a spot of breakfast. It didn't take too long the drizzle to peter out, but skies remained cloudy, and I decided that a start from Inverarnan was a better proposition than the sterner test proffered by the alternative: retracing my steps up the hill that I had descended the previous evening. The coach journey that this change of plan necessitated only cost me £1.50; I doubt that I have ever bought a cheaper ticket from Scottish Citylink. I disembarked at the Drover's Arms and made for Beinglass Farm, retracing steps that I made on a hike at the end of May until the point where I headed north along a good track.
I carried on up Glen Falloch with the hubbub of traffic never far away until I crossed under the A82; the roar of the Falls of Falloch tried in vain to drown out the din, though their sight was beguiling. They would have looked better had cloud cover not been as comprehensive as it was. Like the day before, the cloud curtailed any use of my camera and, on a sunnier day, the profusion of pylons would have presented challenges for photo composition: I prefer to see hills devoid of these distractions in my pictures. Still, the day remained largely a dry one, with only isolated light showers perturbing this dryness.
Later on, I got tangled up in groups of walkers and mountain bikers (should the latter have been using the WHW?) heading the same way. All parties were friendly, but I was happy to let them continue ahead of me so that my stroll could be a more relaxed affair. My taking of lunch near the A82 underpass was the perfect opportunity to allow this to happen.
Once on the west side of the A82, I soon lost the traffic noise and progressed along a good track that took me to the end of my WHW. The ascent was a gradual affair, just what I needed. The sun came out too, but was nowhere near as dominating as it was on the previous day. Nevertheless, views of the Crianlarich hills still entertained. A boggy tramp down Bogle Glen returned me to Crianlarich to await a coach heading to Fort William, my base for the next two nights. I had it in my head to catch the 14:30, but this was changed to the 16:30. About 16:45, a Citylink coach did stop, but that had no ticket machine onboard, so I had to await its partner travelling after it. I was informed that it was 10–15 minutes away, but that developed into nearly 45 minutes. I don't blame the drivers because they are at the mercy of traffic conditions, after all.
There was no sign of sun when I got to Fort William so I made my way to the Cruachan Hotel where I was to stay for two nights. A spot of tidying up preceded my getting food at the Ossian Hotel. This is a quiet spot in an otherwise busy town and provided what I asked of it; I have simple requirements. A stroll along the sea "front" returned me to base for the night.
Saturday
Another wet morning awaited me when I arose and caused some confusion in my mind as to what to do. I did try to dry up, but the success rate wasn't brilliant. Eventually, I began to envisage a walk from Invermoriston to Fort Augustus along the Great Glen Way. A missed coach sent me back to my original plan: a spot of recce around Kinlochleven.
It wasn't so promising when I got to Kinlochleven, but I donned the waterproofs and headed for Loch Eilde Mor. The wet conditions were a good test for my newly acquired Harvey map of the area; another post may have something to say on the Harvey versus OS comparison. My journey was to take me up the steep side of Meall an Doire Dharaich, and some scrambling resulted. I have to say that wasn't my intended approach, but I soon reached the good track that was my attention. Thankfully, things were drying up all the while, even if the atmosphere was distinctly muggy and midge-friendly. The summits of Am Bodach, Na Gruaigeachan and Sgurr Eilde Beag were all hidden in cloud, and other hills of that height in the Mamores were similarly afflicted; they were most likely not the only ones, either. That said, the hills separating Loch Leven from Glen Coe did seem clear. I continued to the halfway point along Loch Eilde Mor before returning to Kinlochleven, having convinced myself that a return in a time of sunnier and fresher weather was in order. However, I left myself a lengthy wait in the rain in muggy sleepy Kinlochleven and the midges gave me more grief than I have had from them before. They weren't the only antisocial beasties about that evening: some drunken young ladies delayed the bus by 15 minutes with their antics. Once on the bus, peace began to return, even if some of the midges didn't find their way back out for a good part of the journey to Fort William.
Sunday
I awoke to another grey morning but, as the day wore on, it seemed as if Scotland was trying to make up for the previous day with the sun battling to get through the clouds without having a massive amount of success. However, this was certainly enough to make me wonder if I was going home prematurely. My resolve remained with me, though, and I started for home with the 13:00 coach to Glasgow. From there, it was on to Crewe by train and a bus got me back to Macclesfield. I had left Scotland having completed the West Highland Way and with ideas for future excursions. It wasn't a bad trip at all, and I have some more ideas for walks on any return. No, the midges don't deter me easily.
A spot of long distance trail completion
15th August 2007 The last few weeks have seen me quiet on the blogging front. Having to restore a PC to working condition after its having gone belly up on me was certainly a contributor to this state of affairs. A trip up to Scotland also took me away from the world of computing and refreshing it was too. While a full report for the trip will remain for a further post, the fact that I finally finished the West Highland Way during the visit up north brings me nicely to the subject of this one. In the same spirit, I have also walked nearly all of the Gritstone Trail with only a tiny section about Bollington to do of an evening.
My progress along both trails typifies my previous approach to walking: decide a location for a walk and use part of a long distance trail for all or part of its length. That is probably more true of the Gritstone Trail than the WHW. The latest instalments along the former, for which trip reports are planned, had me heading south over the sections between Sutton Common and The Cloud and then from the latter all the way to Kidsgrove, the southern terminus of the GT. Its northern end, Disley saw my boots very early on in the story of my attentions when I hiked from Bollington in murk with the remains of January snows on the ground. Walks between Rainow and Sutton Common and from Tegg's Nose to Kerridge have taken me over the rest of the length while I have followed its course on many other rambles too. Its being local to me has meant that I have been on it a lot but, rather perversely, it has also dissuaded me from completing the thing thanks to the walking attractions (or distractions?) offered by other locations.
My progress along the WHW has been a little more deliberate than the GT though the direction of travel has been something of a movable feast: having to go a good way away does concentrate the mind a bit more. My final section took me between Inverarnan and Crianlarich while the previous day saw me head south from Bridge of Orchy and overnight in Crianlarich. A through-hike at the end of May took me along the shores of Loch Lomond on my way from Inverarnan to Drymen. A February outing took me from Milngavie to Drymen after a three year hiatus which followed a pleasant hike between Glen Coe and Bridge Orchy. The previous summer saw me head over the Lairig Mor between Kinlochleven and Fort William twice: my holiday plans were blighted by the weather the first time and a return set the world to rights. On neither occasion along this part of the WHW was the weather truly nasty but glorious late August weather was a wonderful accompaniment to the second outing and a world away from the cloudy but dry July day of my previous encounter. Largely cloudy skies were in attendance on the trek between Kinlochleven and Glen Coe the previous summer and sun was not particularly successful in its attempts to come and show off the landscape at its best.
While on the subject of long distance trails, my progress along the Pennine Way has stalled but this year's multi-day treks along the West Highland Way are good practice for its northern reaches. It won't get completed this year but opportunities may well proffer themselves before 2007 comes to an end; I still have to walk between Gargrave and Haworth. Other long distance trails await as well: the tamer Great Glen Way, the wilder Southern Upland Way... The list goes on.
The July that’s nearly gone…
31st July 2007 Doubtless, few in Gloucestershire will want to recall the July that we have just had; I hope that they are beginning to get back on their feet again. Amazingly, those heavy rains didn't affect Cheshire to anything like the same extent, and I did manage to make two visits to the Cumbrian fells.
However, we shouldn't forget that July weather can be very much a hit-and-miss affair; I can think of loads of occasions where July has been very grey. Maybe, that's down to my experiencing loads of Irish and Scottish summers.
Good weather in July is dependent upon the jet stream moving to the north and that can take a painful amount of time, like it has done this year, or it may hardly happen at all. 2004 is etched in my memory for the latter reason, though I did not fare too badly in August of that year. It helped that I had some slack at work that allowed me to make a break for it when a weather window partially offered a chance.
It was late in doing so again in 2003, an otherwise fabulous year, and I made the mistake of spending a soggy week in Scotland's Western Highlands at the end of July, only to be greeted with a heatwave the very next week! After various efforts to distract myself from my disappointment with a number of weekends spent around Keswick, Skiddaw and Derwentwater, it was only a weekend visit to Lochaber that more than made good.
The fabulous weather meant that I won't easily forget the walks between Kinlochleven and Fort William over the Lairig Mor and around Loch Lochy at all easily; the conditions could not have been better. It was nearly worth getting sodden for the motivation to return to sights like these.
So here's to August 2007. Let's see what it brings. Whatever happens, we have to take what we are given.
Pennine Way gallery added
28th July 2007 Despite the fact that I haven't done all the photo processing yet, I have created a Pennine Way section to my photo gallery as promised. Photo selection was a little tricky because of the nature of the countryside frequented by the Way: not only is featureless moorland a navigational challenge but it is also a photographic one. The lack of any focal point makes for dull photos, so effort is required. Still, I hope that you enjoy the photos. This gallery is a work in progress, very much like the completion of the long-distance trail itself.
A return to Kentmere
26th July 2007 Even after all the weather-induced goings-on further south, I still braved the prospect of showers and headed to Cumbria for a day out among the fells. My getting a new Pentax DSLR was partly to blame for this; I needed to see how it got on in the "wild". My transport arrangements were the same as for my previous excursion up to these parts and the course of my walk followed a lot of that route as well.
There were variations from before, of course. I skirted Orrest Head so that I wouldn't get captivated atop it again; the day was more cloudy at this stage anyway. In fact, it was around here that I got the only rain on my hike and it was only a light shower. By the time that heavy showers were to arrive, I was safely ensconced in Oxenholme station awaiting a train back to Crewe. In between, the day was to improve greatly, and the cloud was becoming more broken as I headed for the Garburn Pass and the sun was well out on my arrival in Kentmere. Not surprising given the summer that we have been having, some large puddles the width of the whole track had to be crossed as I plied my way up Dubbs Road. I kept thinking that a spot of maintenance would counter their appearance but it doesn't look as if that's getting done.
I took a break for food in Kentmere, and spotted where there was a bus stop served by the Kentmere Rambler, otherwise known as service 519. This is a regular summer shuttle that plies its way between Staveley and Kentmere on Sundays and bank holidays with support from Friends of the Lake District. It looks useful and I wonder why it doesn't run on Saturdays as well; after all, this is an area well worth visiting.
After this, my course changed very much from before as I was heading for Staveley this time, rather than back to Windermere again. So, I ventured along the bridleway rounding the slopes of Green Quarter Fell, looking back a lot as I made my way. I turned for Staveley in the vicinity of Skeggles Water and it was here that I took my leave of a gentleman out walking with his dogs, whose path kept crossing with mine; we did end up passing some words of conversation at each occasion of our meeting. There were no navigational hazards on the way down to Staveley from here and the route highlighted a possible entry point for any future visits. There may well be a few...
