Scotland

Tak me awa...

Hillwalker, your timing is perfect. My trips to Scotland are in late April-early May.
Very long days then at 55 degrees north latitude. Temps often 60s F. Driest month of the year for precip, but snowmelt on the hills fills the burns. Tourist places and B&Bs open, but uncrowded and glad to see you after the long dark winter (there is a reason the largest drying facility for alcoholics in Europe is in Inverness. Must really be something, look at the competition...). Most tourists still south of the Border, not filling campsites and country roads. People you meet on the hill tend to be Scots and damn' glad to be there.
As against that, there was the morn I walked back to my car after bothying somewhere north of Cairn Gorm over a very wet moor. It had to be 70 degrees, warm South breeze, hazy sun, and the midgies were out. I can report they do not fly up under the kilt, but attack between there and the top of your gaiters. An hour's walk left my legs covered in welts, and about 30 on each forearm. I was travelling very light and gambled the beasties would not be out yet... this was the third week of May.
Alistair, it is good of you to mention culinary delights for our friend. Hopefully he'll have a proper breakfast at some point: eggs, toast, Canadian bacon, sausage, haggis, coffee. Haggis is the perfect breakfast, especially as it is loaded with good cholesterol. Of course, as we learn from "Mountain Days and Bothy Nights," a man needs a good bellyfull of cholesterol if he's to go on the hill the day... Personally I'll have that maybe once a week...
Creag nan drochaid

Braveheart filming site near WHW

The village scenes in Braveheart were filmed in Glen Nevis. To judge by the snow on the Mamores at the time the month was April or early May, just before midge season. The site is right by where the road crosses the River Nevis at Polldubh, on the right or south side towards the Mamores, perhaps an hour's walk from where a branch of the West Highland Way ends just across from the tourist path up Ben Nevis; I walked over it on my way to Sgurr a' Mhaim the Spring after the film was shot.
The other reason the filming moved to Ireland was the need for hundreds of extras as soldiers for the battle scenes. Basically they rented two brigades of the Irish version of the Territorial Army (whatever they call it there). Also the two pitched battles Wallace fought (Stirling Brig 1297 and Falkirk 1298) were in much more open country and well away from the Highlands anyway.
The Mamores are a convoluted range of hills just south of Ben Nevis. A few stalkers' paths but basically still pretty wild and steep. Stunning views...
Creag nan drochaid

Creag Nan Drochaid said:

Alistair, it is good of you to mention culinary delights for our friend. Hopefully he'll have a proper breakfast at some point: eggs, toast, Canadian bacon, sausage, haggis, coffee. Haggis is the perfect breakfast, especially as it is loaded with good cholesterol. Of course, as we learn from "Mountain Days and Bothy Nights," a man needs a good bellyfull of cholesterol if he's to go on the hill the day... Personally I'll have that maybe once a week...
Creag nan drochaid

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Almost forgot to recommend the Black Pudding (not a desert).

Black pudding

alistair said:

Almost forgot to recommend the Black Pudding (not a desert).

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I saw that missing too, also how about the cooked tomato that always seems to be there on the breakfast plate?

I always bring a small bottle of Louisiana Hot Sauce. Scottish food tends to be a little bland to me.

31 days to departure.......

TW

werdigo49 said:

If this thread is of interest to so few VFTT'ers that it is considered objectionable, I'm game for switching to private emails among a few of us.

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Please don'! WETSU!

My departure on this adventure is in a little over a week! Hillwalker is already over there.

I emailed Tiso Outdoor Experience, in Glasgow, to ask if they could store the canvas army-style duffel bag in which I'll be transporting my backpack and poles on the airplane, and they said "no."

I guess I'll try the other Glasgow outdoor suppliers, but does anyone have another idea? Renting a locker for several L per day, for about 50 days, isn't appealing!

werdigo49 said:

My departure on this adventure is in a little over a week! Hillwalker is already over there.

I emailed Tiso Outdoor Experience, in Glasgow, to ask if they could store the canvas army-style duffel bag in which I'll be transporting my backpack and poles on the airplane, and they said "no."

I guess I'll try the other Glasgow outdoor suppliers, but does anyone have another idea? Renting a locker for several L per day, for about 50 days, isn't appealing!

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Try Black's or send me a PM as I have family/friends/ contacts in the city that may be able to help you out.

http://www.blacks.co.uk/home.html

Hi werdigo49,
I just ran across this thread a minute ago. If you are still looking for info about hiking in Scotland or the UK in general, you might post your questions on the forum at NaturalBushcraft.co.uk; they're a great bunch of guys on there, and very willing to help a fellow traveler out.
Best of luck,
Josh

jbrown said:

Hi werdigo49,
I just ran across this thread a minute ago. If you are still looking for info about hiking in Scotland or the UK in general, you might post your questions on the forum at NaturalBushcraft.co.uk; they're a great bunch of guys on there, and very willing to help a fellow traveler out.
Best of luck,
Josh

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Thanks, Alistair and Josh! I just registered at the Bushcraft site -- it does look like a good group. I need to lurk a bit before doing any posting!

I think I've been obsessing too much over this canvas bag. A new one is only about $17, and I can probably find someone to hang onto it anyway once I get over there. If not, maybe I'll put it in a plastic bag, bury it behind a tree along the WHW, and pick it up near the end of my trip. It weighs 22 oz, not inconsequential for a backpacker but also not out of the question to carry. Maybe it can replace something else I'd planned to pack.

With this great ambitious trip looming, it's just silly to be fretting so much about the duffel bag. I'm going to focus on more important aspects and let this issue take care of itself.

Progress report

I'm at the Fort William Public Library, using their free internet access. So far...

Day 1: Landed GLA 7AM from Phila, right on time. Got fuel at Nevisport and out to Milngavie, started on West Highland Way at 11:00 AM. Easy first day walking (I needed that, after losing 5 hours and no sleep on the plane!); camp at Drymen Campsite.

Day 2: Tough one! Lots of large firs blown down across trail between Drymen and Conic Hill, requiring slippery and arduous cut-arounds on the bank to the right. Stiff wind, light rain and sleet almost all day; in and out of rain gear about 6 times. Conic Hill a pretty good climb. Later I recalled that I had been advised against this route, due to blowdowns; I met others who had walked the road instead. Stayed at Campers' and Caravanners' Camp at Balmaha.

Day 3: Pretty good day; found and stayed at Rowchoish Bothy. Book says take path back after crossing small stream; I saw a path but no stream, so continued on. Finally dragged out GPS, which directed me 800m back! The stream had run UNDER the trail.

Day 4: Short day, just up the Loch (Lomond) to Doune Bothy.

Day 5: Good day, stayed at Strathfillan Wigwams. Camping area was an untrimmed grassy field, but wonderful backpackers' room with full kitchen, microwave, etc.

Day 6: Rough day, rain all day. Camped at "wild campsite" beside Inveroran Hotel, after resupply jaunt to town of Crainlarich. Stiff wind; I have a lot to learn about pitching that tarp!

Day 7: Too long a day! Across Rannoch Moor in the morning (wonderful; I was all alone, due to my slow pace; 3.5 hours across this desolate country). Lunch at Kingshouse Hotel, then up over Devil's Staircase and down to Kinlochleven (Blackwater Campsite) for the night.

Day 8: Good 12 mile trek or so to Glen Nevis Campsite; Many mountain bikers, due to World Cup Downhill competition this weekend. Showers and toilets, of course, but no backpackers' cooking area. Camped next to 4 German men who'd shared Doune Bothy with me.

Day 9: Short walk into Ft. William and the END sign. Snagged a spot at Ft. Wm. Backpackers. ... almost out of my 15 minutes so I'll send this now.

Rats... just did a bunch of editing but didn't save it. Essence of it was that I hurt my right ankle on Day 7 and am spending through Tuesday night here at Ft Wm Backpackers (£15/night!). It's definitely a young person's place, but I'm sleeping fine and the people are nice. Wednesday it's either Great Glen (the conservative choice) or Cape Wrath (which scares me a bit, but maybe...)

Glad to see you're making good progress, werdigo. Your remarks on the WHW remind me of my walks on it from Altnafeadh north over the Devil's Staircase (it's not, really just zigzags on the military road) and suddenly seeing the Mamores for the first time (incomparable, breathtaking in November with snow on the tops). The 12 miles from Kinlochleven-Glen Nevis I recall as mostly an easy road through the Lairig More with a descent through the forestry...
You are wise to hesitate about the Cape Wrath walk, since it requires much routefinding and is not much a trail, if memory serves. Also you are alone...
No matter which way you go I hope you invest in two sturdy ankle braces or at least ace elastic support braces. Fort William has a full array of stores. Once one has a bit of ankle trouble it don't take much to sprain it worse, and favoring one side puts more strain on its opposite. I wore street shoes in Leith, and turned an ankle on the sidewalk. Three days later I was walking from Glenmore Lodge to Faindouran bothy over Bynack More and turned it again near Bynack Stable in Strath Nethy. Rest, ibuprofen, compression, elevation. I learned the value of that little acronym RICE then, I'll tell you...
One year soon I'll do TGO challenge, but for now, please have a pint for me. Yours ay, Creag nan drochaid

Progress report #2

I'm at the Inverness Student Hotel now, and will be here through Monday.

After staying a few days at Ft. William Backpackers, nursing a swollen ankle, I headed for the Cape Wrath Trail on Wednesday (early June), taking the train to Mallaig (as Creag suggested) and getting off at Glenfinnan on the return. After a miserable 10 hours in the rain I arrived at A'Chuil Bothy. No details now, but one episode that reflects the least badly on my judgment was stepping on a floating mat (after 8 hours of walking) and going down, with my right leg, to my hip. I got to the dank, dark bothy at 9:15 PM. Stayed there Thursday, then hiked back out to Corryhully on Friday, and caught the 11 AM Saturday train back to Ft. William to start on the Great Glen Way.

I just finished the GGW yesterday at 1:00 PM and am going to relax around Inverness for a few days while deciding what "Way" to tackle next, probably Speyside or Rob Roy. (After my one day on the CWT I find those little signposts immensely comforting!)

I sort of feel as if I've let Hillwalker and Creag down by bailing on the CWT (not to mention the couple of hundred dollars of maps I have), but it just didn't feel comfortable. Maybe some other time...

--Werdigo49, from Inverness Scotland

Around Inverness

Weel, laddie,
Ah dinnae ken whaur ye've been, but Ah'm blyth that ye didnae win first prize... tell ye later ower a pint o' 80/.
If Ah were you, Ah widnae fash mahsel ower not walkin the CWT. Mind, if it isnae a path wi' waymarks, more o' a route, then it takes navigation skills of a high order to get from one end to the other. It crosses some of the wildest lands in Scotland, bereft of people and shelter for the most part, bothies notwithstanding. This is why you'll often see walkers with their OS maps in plastic cases hung around their necks on a lanyard, and their Silva compass ditto. They are navigating from landmark to landmark, and the right compass bearing is the only way to get there in a landscape where the right ridge or corrie may be shown only by subtle differences in slope or screes.
And dinnae fash yersel ower me either. It is your walk. I am walking and doing trail work here (today, patrol Newbury and Andrew Brook trs on Mt Sunapee). We are both happy.
As you are biding in Inverness a wee while, another train ride you may try is Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh, just across from Skye. Rather scenic, especially by Loch Carron. As you favor mountains you could then consider going on to see the Cuilins on Skye, and walking among them. Plan on camping two nights. But check with the TIC downtown as to whether there is still a bus from the Kyle ferry to Broadford with a stop at Sligachan Inn on the way to Portree. From Sligachan it is easy to find a well-graded path climbing along the burn towards Coire Riabhach, and there you are, on the braes of the Cuilins.
If you prefer a touristy day YOYO, but no one who visits Inverness should miss the Culloden battlefield. One important event in Highland history...
As it is now 1030 AM where you are you'll get this in the evening.
IMO walks like CWT are best done with reliable partners. Keep walking, keep bothying, you may meet some.
Yours ay, Creag nan drochit

Thanks for your note, Creag. I'm always going to wonder if I bailed too soon, the result of a rough first day. (I've had bad first days in the 'daks too, and gone on to some very successful hikes.)

When I was a kid, navigating northern Vermont woods and fields, we often had no paths. We just headed for a corner of a farmer's field, where one could crawl through the barbed-wire fence, etc. and probably never took exactly the same route twice.

Moving like that without a defined path was kind of exhilarating, and under the right circumstances I can imagine enjoying it. But I think I'll head for the Speyside Way next.

Finished Speyside Way Sunday. Going to get knowcked off this library computer (Ft Wm) so that's it for now!

OK, today I have a new 15-minute chunk of time... I finished the Great Glen Way Friday, I think it was, June 17, and spent a few days at the Inverness Student Hotel (Sat, Sun, and Mon); even took a 3-hour cruise down Loch Ness to Castle Urqhardt (which I'd walked past a few days earlier!). Tuesday I took a bus to Aviemore, in the Cairngorm Mountains, and began the Speyside Way.

Tuesday night I camped (my silicone 8x10 tarp) at Nethybridge ("Lazy Duck", OK but an uphill mile from the Way), Wednesday a "wild camp" in the woods about a mile south of Cromdale, Thursday at a free camping area at Ballindalloch Station, Friday at Fiddich Park in Craiglatchie, Saturday at a Caravan Park (great showers and bathrooms, despite all the RVs) at Fochabers, and wound up in Buckie Sunday about 2 PM. Had to stay in a B&B hotel there (en suite room with TV! First TV I'd seen in a month).

Monday I took buses to Ft William and have been here since then, at Ft. Wm Backpackers. Tomorrow (Thursday) I'll move to Glen Nevis campground, and Friday climb Ben Nevis. Saturday a bus back to Inverness and Aviemore, to spend my final 10 days or so in the Cairngorms. Andy, here at Ft. Wm Backpackers, is a Cairngorms expert and has shown me many great trails. I should have no trouble exploring around for a few days, then get to Glasgow on the 13th.

Hope these notes are of some interest to the VFTT group! Scotland is nice... but I'm getting eager to get back to my home territory (and wife and cat!).

--W49

Cairngorms

So, you made it over the Speyside Way in a straight line and good time. Splendid! Since Strathspey has the biggest collection of single malt distilleries in the world, I know I would take at least two weeks or more, with many loops...
The Cairngorms is big country, but very walkable provided you keep track of where you are and don't step blithely off some crag. They lurch, ah, lurk in surprising places, and you have to tailor your route to avoid them. You must also watch out for the devil's point, and above all try to avoid Ben Macdui in mist. Not all the shadows are from clouds... especially big grey ones.
Sunshine and happiness be your lot, and all the downgrades easy, and all the pubs open. Slainte mhath.

Creag nan drochaid

I arrived home last night about 7:45 PM EDT... long day; I'd arisen, in a Glasgow hotel, at 6 AM local or 1 AM EDT! The flight, US Air 769, was excellent, though.

Creag, here's a bit about my days in the Cairngorms. They were fantastic. I really only got a taste of them!

On Saturday July 2, the day after walking up and down Ben Nevis from the Glen Nevis campground, I took a bus from Fort William. to Aviemore, and a very kind man I'd met on the bus drove me out to Glenmore Forest. I wild-camped that night along the south shore of Loch Morlich. The next day (Sunday July 3) I walked the Lairig Ghru pass (fantastic!) to Corrour Bothy, and rested there Monday (a "zero day"). Tuesday I day-hiked The Devil's Point and Cairn Toul (for the latter, I was glad to be able to follow a more experienced hiker, because I never would have found the "trail" through the boulders on the ridge without his lead). Wednesday, running out of food, I moved down to Bob Scotts Bothy at Derry Lodge, and Thursday walked into Braemar to resupply. Friday I walked up Glen Derry to Hutchison Memorial Hut, and day-hiked over to Shelter Stone and Loch Avon. (Beautiful loch... but I don't think I ever did find the real Shelter Stone. Sleet and rain discouraged exploration.) Saturday, out of Hutchison, I day-hiked Ben Macdui --- in the mist, despite your advice (which I hadn't seen, of course!)...and you can't wait around for perfect weather anyway! --- no problem UP (2 hrs from Hutchison) but I got confused coming DOWN and wound up partway down the Tailleur stream on the Lairig Ghru side (the opposite side from my gear at Hutchison)... yikes... perched on a steep boulder garden in a SLEET storm, trying to figure out where the hell I was. Of course eventually I did, and climbed up the Tailleur stream to the main path: 3 hrs back to Hutchison.

I had to think about heading HOME, so Sunday it was back down Glen Derry to Bob Scotts Bothy, and Monday east to the Linn of Dee and then west down the Glen Tilt, wild-camping that night at a great site beside the beautiful Falls of Tarf. (I had 3 days of superb weather, on my way out.) Tuesday morning it was an easy 11 miles down to Blair Atholl and a commercial campground there, where I enjoyed a slow hot shower and laundering of every item of clothing except my Goretex rain gear. Wednesday, I caught a bus to Glasgow where my wife had reserved a fairly nice hotel room near the bus and train stations... and Thursday the flight home.

I'll try to assemble a short summary of my 7 weeks in Scotland in a final post in this thread, and maybe a link to some of my 377 photos, once I cull and caption them.

Met some really nice people and had a lot of great experiences... but it's good to be home!

Welcome/failte.

Werdigo,
All of us who have been following your travels here are happy you are home safe and readjusting, preferable slowly. I have visited most of the places you went in the Cairngorms. Your trip up Ben MacDui reminds me to shoot compass bearings in such featureless terrain. I once took the wrong side of a ridge down, only to end up atop some crags by a waterfall that was not supposed to be there. For you, the Allt nan Tailleur was a good clue...
The Shelter Stone IS hard to find, and the one time I dossed there it was early October and the glen was so dark in the rain we just remained in our sleeping bags with the stove heating drinks for 12 hrs until there was light enough to climb back up to Loch Eteachan. But you sure had great walks and an easy transition back to civilization, so

Here's to you! Wha's like you? Damn' few, an' they're a' deid. Mair's the pity...

Look forward to your last, an' a' the photies.

Creag nan drochaid