Sunday 23 March 2014

Road Trip; Glencoe...

8am last Wednesday and i am sitting in a 4x4 heading up the M9 towards Stirling bound for Glencoe. Francis had some Equine work so we took the  bikes for a road trip to Glencoe and Appin where we stopped over for the night...


There is something magical about the Highlands, i am not talking about that Hollywood nonsense Braveheart movie with an Aussie midget and inaccurate history reference, but the scenery which is amazing whatever time of year...



We went for a cycle from Bridge of Orchy onto Rannoch Moor...




Low cloud did not stop us admiring the amazing views...




Caledonian Pines....




 The old road...













What you cannot see in this pic is the 30+ mph gale blowing!, i reckon you would have struggled to stay upright with luggage on a bike riding the cross wind here!, and we were not yet out into the open, and so indeed did not bother going right over to Kingshouse in this wind!...




We turned around here before being fully exposed to the elements, it was indeed wild!...



We stopped at a couple of small ruins just before Forest Lodge...


Never seen this before here  as hidden in summertime with the folage...











Mowgli liked it...






Moving on...




From Forest Lodge it was a tail wind assisted loch side ride back to the car...








One wet but happy dog...


Who perked up when some muffin`s appeared to have (not for him!) with some coffee..


Stopping before the descent into Glencoe for coffee and muffins (above pic)...


The drive into Glencow is always amazing what ever the weather...








Parked up we went a walk along some of the old road below the present road...



Not many old roads are as scenic as here...




Wonder how many feet, hooves and wheel carts have travelled along here...























No one else was down onthe old road along the vally floor today. Most visitors we saw jumped out their cars looked at the info board, took some pics them moved on to the next view point...





Dark times in Glencoe...



One tap for the village in 1955! :) ...

Station wagon Landy like dad had when the ranger, what we grew up in!...




With the rain on big time and a couple of hours until Francis`s appointments we had food at the Glencow cafe then drove around to Kinlochleven to see the Grey Mare waterfall going full bore in this wet season...



I walked across to here at the wire rope crossing and tested out the waterproofs...


Freezing cold instantly i made a retreat!. Look up at the top of the falls. Can you see the rope ladder up at the top?...



Still dry but that was one cold shower!....



One of the old famous routes...


Ha ha!...

When it rains up here it really rains!, Need to buy a waterproof compact camera to continue blogging in this kind of weather!. Nice anyway to get away a couple of days...

More soon...

3 comments:

  1. Great post Bruce and it looks like you enjoyed a well deserved wee break. My feet ache every time I see the old road to Kingshouse.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great post Bruce. Probably my fave and definitely one of my top three places in Scotland. I particularly love the foot of the glen by Balachulish and it's nice to see the bridge in the mirk. Shame you don't seem to have stopped by the end of the brig to pay respects to Seumas a Ghlinne, James of the glen, who was executed there. It looks like the three of you had a great time in spite - because - of the weather! Amazing that Francis' work takes her so far afield! But what a bonus!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Glencoe is indeed an amazing place, i first came up here on a motorbike when i was 19 and it still amazes me every visit with its rugged beauty. It is somewhere i think you appreciate even more the older you get,

    ReplyDelete