On Saturday we watched the mizzly weather outside and faffed around inside all morning. Then, when the clouds began to lift a little in the west, we decided to catch the train from Fort William to Mallaig which is supposed to be one of the most scenic railway journeys in the world. Despite arriving half an hour early, we had received duff information from our campsite; the timetable had changed and the 12:48 train now leaves at 12:12. So we watched it leave the station, as we drove in to the car park, doh! Decision time, as we were already on the road, “let’s follow the train and drive to Mallaig instead”. Decision made.
The train tracks and the road wind through a valley that leaves Fort William and heads west past Loch Eil, followed by Loch Eilt, before opening out on to the west coast. It is a lovely drive and we felt we benefitted from not being on the train as we were able to stop at whim and take in the views slowly. We enjoyed our first outdoor picnic in months, sitting above the silvery sands of Morar, before strolling down on to the beach for a walk along the water’s edge.
In Mallaig we plodded about with ice creams in hand and looked out over the harbour to Skye and the inner Hebridean islands of Rum, Eigg and Muck; brilliant names.
On the drive back, we paused to peek at the curved 21 arch viaduct near Glenfinnan which was used in the filming of the Harry Potter movies. Then we walked over to the head of the beautiful Loch Shiel and the rather dramatic Glenfinnan Monument which marks the spot where Bonnie Prince Charlie raised his flag to rally the clans in the 1745 Jacobite Uprising.
As it was Saturday (though for us, I have to admit, we usually never know what day of the week it is !), we decided to go out for dinner and have someone else cook for us. So we strolled to the local ‘howff’, the Glen Nevis Lounge Bar, situated almost next to the campsite and enjoyed a steak pie with veggies, surrounded by cabinets full of antique, silver, toddy kettles; hmmm, must find out what makes them different from an ordinary kettle…..
On Sunday morning we peered through the curtains to check out the weather. Yes, it looked reasonable, for Scotland that is, there were mountain peaks around us that were actually visible. The decision was made and I decided today was going to be the day I would hike up Ben Nevis. Laura had decided her knees would probably not be up to it and was going to spend a leisurely day in the campsite having what she calls a catch-up day.
By 9am I was on my way, with sandwiches in my backpack, and numerous layers of clothing either packed, or being worn, to cope with the all too familiar sudden changes in weather conditions that the Scottish Highlands are notorious for. I hiked along the road to the YHA to take the path that joins up with the main mountain track.
It was a steep climb, almost straight up on the lower slopes. Once on the main path, traffic increased and there was a steady stream of hikers on their way to the peak. The track was very varied, some parts in good condition with rocks neatly laid, but other areas were very uneven and had obviously suffered a lot of damage from heavy rainfall. Even with having to pick my way, I made very good time and enjoyed the ever-present fabulous views as I climbed higher. Eventually, arriving on the saddle, the walk became a much easier gradient. I arrived at the halfway point after 1½ hours, half an hour ahead of the schedule given by the Ben Nevis Visitor Centre.
Now the path became far rockier and steeper again as the track made its way through the large scree area, remnants of huge rock slides of another age. As I approached the top of the scree I started to enter the snowline.
As I climbed higher, the snow became deeper; for the last few hundred metres I was walking purely on snow. By the time I reached the summit the depth was about 30 cm.
The main path was well trodden so I only had to be careful of not slipping in the icy conditions. I was rather pleased to have reached the summit in only three hours. I decided to eat my sandwiches and after taking in the fabulous views, headed back down.
The icy conditions were more of a problem on the descent, especially the steeper sections and I used my walking pole to full effect. It wasn’t long before I was back below the snowline and I made good speed the rest of the way.
Much to the surprise of Laura, I was back in the campsite 1½ hours ahead of my expected return. I drank a big mug of hot chocolate and then enjoyed a hot shower before sitting down to look at the many photos I had taken along the way.
We woke up to our first frosty morning on Monday, but it was clear and sunny so we could see the fresh snow on the surrounding peaks. We left the campsite and headed north out of Fort William, encountering our first major traffic disruption only a few miles up the road. Unfortunately, there was a truck on fire on the A82 and the police diverted us on to a very winding, single lane, minor road towards Spean Bridge. We managed to create quite a queue of traffic behind us, as there was nowhere we could pull over to let cars pass us, and just before we re-joined the main road we passed a van lying on its side in a ditch and a man sitting beside it looking thoroughly peeved. I’m glad Rodney was driving a lot more cautiously than him!!!
On the main road, we double backed towards Fort William because our plan for the day was to ride up the side of Aonach Mor on the Nevis Range Gondola, the UK’s only mountain gondola. When we hopped off at the top of the gondola station at 2,150 ft (655 metres), it seemed strange not having our skis with us! We walked up the path to the right for lovely views up the valley to the snow clad north face of Ben Nevis and over Fort William and the lochs beyond.
We then backtracked to the café at the top of the gondola and warmed up on tea and scones. When we left the café, a little flurry of snow surrounded us as we walked toward the ridge on the right. By the time we reached the top, a cloud was still hanging low over us, but then the sun broke through and we could see a long way down the glen to Loch Lochie and over to the Grey Corries. It was beautiful up there and I could see why Rodney really enjoyed being on the top of Ben Nevis yesterday.
We had hoped to drive back in to Fort William to get a nut from the auto spares shop because we had lost one and the exhaust pipe was now rattling. Unfortunately, the road was still closed and we couldn’t face the single lane diversion again, so we headed north east along Glen Spean towards the Cairngorms. We managed to get a free nut in Kingussie (thank you Mr Mechanic), then with an Indian ‘heat at home’ meal on board we drove up through Glenmore to the Cairngorm ski centre. Appropriately, it was now snowing! For our third backtrack of the day we drove back down to the Glenmore campsite on the shores of Loch Morlich near Aviemore.
It’s darn cold outside tonight and we hear there’s more snow forecast……watch this space…..
