A road trip through Scotland – Part II
The further we get up North, the sunnier it seems to become. Fort William, just a couple of hours north from Loch Lomond, is often referred to as the “Outdoor capital of the UK”. It’s the start- or end-point of the West Highland Way, a 154 km walking trail and provides access to Great Britain’s highest mountain, Ben Nevis. With it being a weekend in the summer holidays, the hike up Ben Nevis is supposedly very busy so we decide to keep this for another occasion. Instead, we hike through the beautiful Nevis Gorge towards Steall Falls.
The stony path directs us along the edge of the forest and River Nevis on the right-hand side. The path is mainly steady but requires scrambling over some rocks occasionally. After around 45 minutes, the gorge widens into a dramatic, green valley surrounded either side by mountains. We can already see the waterfall straight ahead, and hear the distant noise of the water thundering down into the river. The closer we get, the more the valley seems to widen. Following the river after the waterfall, the scenery changes from a lush forest into grass-covered mountains. We only follow the path a little more and decide to cross Spean Bridge, a mere steel string to balance across the river with two further steel strings at chest-height inviting to hold on to in order not to fall into cold mountain river. I’m usually not feeling very comfortable standing on elevated structures when I’m not really secured but it’s actually not scary at all and the “handrails” provide a sturdier hold than expected. We enjoy the peacefulness and beauty of the scenery, feeling fortunate that this place at this hour, late in the afternoon, is not overrun by people like so many other beautiful spots.
From Fort William, our journey will take us to the Isle of Skye, which can be accessed via two ways: Over the bridge connecting the mainland village of Kyle of Lochalsh to the village of Kyleakin on Skye or via ferry from Mallaig to Armadale (ferry has to be pre-booked at 9.40 GBP (10.50 EUR) per car plus 2.80 GBP (3.13 EUR) per adult). As we both prefer roundtrips, we decide that we’ll access the Isle of Skye via the ferry and leave it via the bridge.
The road from Fort William to Mallaig is called the “Road to the Isles” and it takes us past the Glennfinan Monument, erected to commemorate the beginnings of the Jacobite Risings in the area, as well as the Glennfinan Viaduct. The latter is a beautiful, arch-way bridge through the mountains which will look familiar to many as it appeared in numerous films, the most popular properly being four of the Harry Potter movies. The still operating West Highland Line is connecting Fort William and Mallaig. On road to Mallaig from the viaduct, we are fortunate to see the beautiful steam train coming past us and name it spontaneously the Tchu-Tchu train because that’s just exactly what it looks like.
After unsuccessfully looking for a suitable spot to camp along Loch Morar and finding out that the only hostel in Mallaig is fully booked, we spend the night in the SeaView Bed & Breakfast in Mallaig. As soon as we move into the cosy, clean twin room which at 75 GBP (83.81 EUR) for the two of us including a cooked breakfast accompanied by fruit salad, cereal, toasts and jam is very reasonable, especially considering that some of the hostels cost nearly the same to stay in a six-bed dormitory.
In the morning, just before we are due to head off to the Isle of Skye, Mona has discovered yet another little gem in her guide book called the Silver Sands of Morar near Mallaig. Just off the main road, this is a stretch of beautiful white sand. We go for a walk along the shores, admiring the beauty and the silence of the area: Apart from the sound of the waves gently rolling onto the beach, the odd bird sound and distant car going past we literally hear nothing. Some people have set up their tents along the treeline of the beach and we are a bit envious. As much as we loved the comforts of our Bed & Breakfast, we are a little sad that we didn’t find this spot the night before. With some exceptions (e.g. in the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park), it is possible to camp anywhere in Scotland. We’re going to keep this in mind for the next time. More Scottish adventures on the Isle of Skye in my next post 🙂
