Due to various working ours, time restrictions, and prior engagements, we set out from Ayrshire at about 4pm. It’s then a solid drive up the west of Scotland to Kyle of Lochalsh. The initial few hours is well known to me. Glasgow, then up Loch Lomond, through Tyndrum and up to the wonderfully picturesque glen coe. Although I’m not Munro Bagging(we have smokers in our party), we do do a bit of Munro spotting. Theres several mountains which I know well which could be future weekend expeditions from Amsterdam. I’d quite like to do Buachaille Etive Mor, but we’ll see.
We continue north. It’s now about 8pm, so too late to visit my Grandmother who lives up here. We opt instead to head down the Fort William road. Although I’ve been along here, it is newer territory. Fort William is the village beside the tallest mountain in Britain, Ben Nevis. The view of Ben is pretty crap from Fort William, but continuing along on our trajectory, we eventually get some far better views.
Ben Nevis, although the tallest mountain, is quite easy to climb. There’s even a cable car which will take you most of the way up I think.
The road to Kyle of lochalsh is known to be very picturesque. We are very lucky to have some reasonably clear weather. It’s cloudy, but its warm and you can see quite far. Eventually you climb to a level where you can see down across loch ???? over to some serious mountains(?????). We get out for a well earned leg stretch. They have a viewpoint which tells you the names of all the mountains and their heights. I’ve never heard of any of them.
The sun is now low in the sky. Everything is bathed in an orange glow, and we continue along the seemingly endless winding roads. This is very similar to Glencoe. I think this is Glensheil. The mountains stretch up high on both sides of a winding road. It’s late in the evening (but still daylight), so there are not that many cars on the road. It really starts to feel like an adventure. Its really easy to become a little boy dreaming of Lord of the rings and huge treks along mountainous terrains when you are in Scotland. This particular area – given it’s heavy rainfall – is a lush green. It could be rivendale, the home of the elves. Geekish as that sounds, its one of the few ways to describe the vistas. Finally after almost 6 hours of driving, I see the site that lets me know I’m nearly there. Eilean Donan Castle:
Eilean Donan Castle is one of the most Picturesque castles in Scotland/UK/Europe/The world. It IS picture postcard Scotland. It has a beautiful old bridge which leads up to a very well preserved keep. It has been used in countless films, and because it is surrounded by both lochs, views and mountains, it makes you feel very proud to be Scottish. For me, it is a marker that we are only 10 miles from Skye. We decided a while down the road, that since we knew there was a campsite in Kyle of Lochalsh, that we would pitch for the night there, and go to Skye completely fresh the next day. On our way to camping, we could see the bridge to Skye.
The bridge to Skye was extremely controversial when it was built, There used to be a ferry, but it was decided to build a bridge, which ruined the view from Kyle of Lochalsh.
So we set up camp for the night, cook a very lush and non camping dinner, swear a lot at midgies, and then head to the local bar for a few night caps.
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