Trip Report! Day 8: Ullapool to Glencoe

We woke up to lovely weather again! Scotland is so weird. Actually, this day was the beginning of British heat wave that the BBC freaked out about for the rest of our time in the UK. In Southern England it got as warm as the upper 80s, which apparently is just about as hot as it ever gets there. We took advantage by heading out to see some outdoor sights.

This is the Corrieshalloch Gorge and Falls of Measach about 12 miles from Ullapool. It was just a short hiking trail down to the falls and back up, but we were still dressed as if it were cool outside and were dying by the time we got back to the car.

Here is some helpful information in Gaelic.

Off the path there was a little area of cairns that other hikers have apparently made. I don't know what the point is but Ben made one just because.

Then we kept driving a little while down the road to a walking area the lady in the Ullapool tourist office had mentioned. (Sidenote: We LOVED the tourist offices in the highlands and I hope something like them exists in all the countries we visit in the future. They were so helpful!) We opted against the full 15 or 18 mile hike and decided to just walk awhile.

The landscape was gorgeous, and almost entirely barren of trees. We learned later at the museum in Edinburgh that Scotland was once heavily forested, but because people have lived here for such a long period of time they've all been cut down at various times over the past 6000 years.

After a while, the path turned upward along a hill, and immediately turned into a swampy mess. We persisted for probably a mile, jumping from rock to rock in a spirit of adventure.

Then it just became ridiculous. You might think you could just go around the path into the grassy area, but you cannot. It looks like solid ground but it's also a swampy mess. It was at this point that we finally turned around.

It was time to head back south toward Edinburgh, so we got on the highway headed for the southern Highlands. We had intended to stop in Fort William, but once we got there we were horrified at all the buildings and crowds of people and decided to keep driving. I looked later and Fort William has a population of 10,000. Clearly we had been sort of brainwashed into the tiny village lifestyle.

We stopped a few miles later in the village of Glencoe. This is the main street through "town."

And the views from our B&B:

We stayed at the Morven Cottage B&B - I'm shocked that she has a website! The owner was really nice and really helpful, taking the time to go through all the restaurants in the area and help us come up with walks we could do the next day (weather permitting, of course). Also, her son was an extra in the third Harry Potter movie, which they filmed right in the Glencoe area. Apparently he's right next to Hagrid in a key scene - we're going to have to rent it to see, once Ben finishes reading the books.

The B&B lady recommended we walk to dinner at the Clachaig Inn, just 40 minutes down a single-track road through the forest. She said she does it all the time and it's surprisingly not too dark once the sun goes down. It really was a stunning walk, 2.44 miles by my trusty Garmin watch. The southern highlands were completely different from the north - really huge mountains and much more heavily forested.

At the Clachaig Inn I got a second version of veggie haggis with neeps and tatties, just to see if it was similar to my first batch in Edinburgh. It didn't look as fancy, but it tasted the same, and therefore I must conclude it actually does taste like haggis.

While we were there I saw an authentic man-in-kilt.

And then we set off to walk home. Through the pitch black for two and a half miles. Ben took a picture with the flash and this is what it looked like. For much of the walk I literally could not see the ground at my feet. It was terrifying. The B&B lady thought we were hilarious the next day. As if something bad could happen to tourists wandering in the wilderness in a strange country!