For the last couple of days we have been exploring the Scottish national scenic area of Wester Ross, but now we are north of there, on the edge of Assynt Coigach.
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Tag: walk
Kinlochewe
We’ve just returned from a four hour mountain trail in the Beinn Eighe Nature Reserve. At this latitude, for every 300 metres you climb the environment becomes more like that 1000 km north. We’ve just been to 550 metres – the vegetation and temperature equivalent of northern Greenland, far above the Arctic Circle, according to the guide book.
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Inverness
Our 300 Km walk from Glasgow to Inverness is finally over. The last day has been the longest and the least interesting of the trip, except for the last few kilometres through the city.
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Drumnadrochit
As soon as we set off from Invermoriston this morning on the Great Glen Way we climbed steeply up hill through the trees.
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Invermoriston
The Great Glen Way south of Fort Augustus used to run parallel to the highway through the pine forest, but feedback from walkers that it was boring inspired an alternative route through the moorland at the top of the hill, above the trees.
Fort Augustus
Today’s walk has been very pleasant, first along the shore of Loch Oich, then along the side of the Caledonian Canal.
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South Laggan
After breakfast this morning our host drove us back to Gairlochy where we had left the Great Glen Way yesterday. The hot summer sun has been replaced by cloud and mist, and the temperature seems to have dropped about 10 degrees. It didn’t rain, but we needed our coats on to keep out the cold wind. No swimming in the loch today!
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Spean Bridge
Most of today we have been walking along the towpath of the Caledonian Canal, which allows boats to travel the length of the Great Glen from the east coast of Scotland to the west.
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Fort William
The end of the West Highland Way is marked by a statue of a man with sore feet, and that’s a pretty accurate description of how we are feeling after our 25km walk today.
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Kinlochleven
For the first time this (Scottish) summer, I put sunscreen on my nose today. I’ve also been high enough to touch some snow.
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Kingshouse Glen Coe
Today we crossed Rannoch Moor, reputedly one of Britain’s wildest, largest and most dangerous.
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Bridge of Orchy
As we ate breakfast this morning the sun was streaming through the window, and we could see that our B&B does indeed have a “hillview” as promised by its name. I briefly put my poncho on as we climbed the hill to re-join the West Highland Way, but it turned out to be a false alarm, as it stayed dry throughout our entire journey.
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Crianlarich
Water, water everywhere. And howling winds. We saw a waterfall spilling over the top of Glen Falloch blowing sideways instead of falling down like waterfalls are supposed to.
Inverarnan
We’ve spent most of today walking along the bonie, bonie banks of Loch Lomond – in the pouring rain. The sun that is supposed to shine bright upon the loch didn’t put in an appearance until we were leaving it.
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Rowardennan
The Way from Drymen climbs up hill through the Garadhban Forest, mostly along forest roads. Some of the trees have been harvested recently, as we could see by the piles of logs beside the track.
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Drymen
When we woke this morning in Milngavie the sky was blue and the sun was shining brightly. The clouds started to roll in as we were eating breakfast, but it hasn’t rained more than a few spits so we have had a great first day of walking. We could have started the day with a “full Scottish breakfast”, but the alternative of smoked salmon and scrambled eggs seemed a much better choice.
Glasgow
Because it would cost hundreds of pounds to catch a train from Oxford to Glasgow we decided to hire a car which worked out much cheaper. Felicity downloaded a GPS navigation app for her iPhone, and it directed us to the centre of town very efficiently.
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Coromandel Walkway
For many years Felicity and I have had an ambition to hike the walkway between Fletcher Bay and Stony Bay at the northern end of Coromandel.
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Te Waihou Walkway
Not far from Putaruru, the Te Waihou walkway leads to the Blue Spring, which supplies 70% of NZ’s bottled water.
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Karamea and Oparara Basin
After completing our tramp over the Old Ghost Rd, we stayed in a rented house in Karamea for three nights and explored the local sights.