Travellers Tales from the Scottish highlands

The pic is of Morar sands. Why? No reason. I just liked it from the file. Why not? Its my blog. Sorry, dear, our blog.

We have a lovely couple from the USA staying in the cottage. He is a Campbell and goes back to the days of Angus Og, and his lovely wife calls herself Pokey Sue always sends us e-mails of what they are up to. This is part of her latest e-mail. They are staying for a month.

They already know the area well, used to live in Benderloch.

Hi, John, we are just attempting the low level walks due to the snow level (and if truth be told, our rather substandard level of fitness at the moment!). If it gets bad, it's certainly easy enough to simply turn back and return to the coziness of the cottage.

The central location is great. We have been in Glencoe for small, medium and longer hikes (once up the Devils Staircase) weather permitting. This morning we were back in Glencoe Valley with friends who have a six year old, and simply drove the valley to see the view - after last night's storm it was spectacular - and then went over to the Visitor's Centre and took a low level hike out the back door and up the forestry road with especially clear views of the Pap of Glencoe. By lunchtime we were grabbing a couple of pizzas (great for fitness!) at the Co-op in Ballachulish and back at the cottage to eat and watch the latest storm flying across Kentallen Bay.

Late in the day I decided to explore the disused railway track which we had been observing while driving the road to and from the cottage. A considerable amount of work is going into making this a bike and walking path. At least we hope its for walkers too! I set out in the sunshine and only about a quarter of a mile down the road was met by a wild squall of a hail, sleet and windstorm that blew me into the Holly Tree Hotel dripping wet and wondering why my Maine gloves didn't seem to be working.

Reception was very welcoming and I proceeded into the non-resident bar where another friendly person fixed me a very large pot of tea. I drank this overlooking the amazing view of Loch Linnhe from their huge windows. The storm blew over and I walked back along the track to the cottage with glorious views and sunshine. As it turned out, I barely made it back. Within minutes after turning the key, another wall of freezing water appeared and obliterated everything.

Pokey Sue.

I'll post more later... meanwhile we are interested in getting the A82 road upgraded....

The A82 upgrade campaign website
The A82 tragedies, and accidents. This is our new blog site about it.