Glencoe and Speyside - Day 8

We decided to go home today. After packing up we drove as far as Kingussie. where we took Oscar for a short walk.

We then went to Café Aroma in the High Street for a cooked breakfast, which was very good.

We then drove home, uneventfully.

Glencoe and Speyside - Day 7

We decided to climb Ben Rinnes (840 m). We drove to the car park at the base and started walking up the well marked path.

Unfortunately the whole hill was in cloud so we didn't see very much all the way. It didn't take us long to get to the top though.

As we descended it started to clear a little, but the summit was in cloud all day.

We still had half the day to go, so we drove to Dufftown to decide where to go next. We went for Little Conval and Meikle Conval, 552 m and 571 m respectively. It turned out to actually be quite a long hard walk.

On the way down we passed a field where loads of game birds were being bred.

After getting back to the campervan we drove to site. Later for dinner we had salmon, new potatoes, peas and sweetcorn.

It rained very heavily during the night.

Glencoe and Speyside - Day 6

We went on a circular walk today, taking in the three villages of Dufftown, Craigellachie and Aberlour.

First it was uphill and then through the forest and over the moor to Dufftown. On the moor the spiders' webs were covered in dew.

In Dufftown we had a coffee in a café.

Dufftown is the centre of the Speyside whisky industry, including the Glenfiddich and Balvenie distilleries.

This is Balvenie castle.

We went past the entrance to Glenfiddich distillery.

We sat at Dufftown station for our lunch.

The next part of the walk was along the old railway track to Craigellachie. Today we had many foraging opportunities, including red and golden raspberries, wild strawberries and blaeberries.

At Craigellachie we stopped at the old Telford Bridge.

The path to Aberlour was on the Speyside Way, but was also an old railway track.

From Aberlour we completed the walk back to the site, about 25 km in all.

Later we had chilli and rice for dinner.

Glencoe and Speyside - Day 5

Moving day today. We packed up and left the site and headed for Speyside. On the way we stopped at Grantown-on-Spey around lunchtime. We bought a couple of pies from a baker (lasagne and chicken & haggis) and ate them sitting in the village green.

We then went for a walk up the Spey and back through Anagach woods.

We then drove on to our next site, Speyside Gardens just outside Aberlour.

After setting up we went for a walk down into Aberlour, where we had a drink at the Mash Tun pub.

We then walked back to the site, where we had ratatouille for dinner.

Glencoe and Speyside - Day 4

We drove up to one of the car parks in Glen Coe itself. The cloud had come down overnight, and the tops were covered.

We walked down from the car park and across the bridge over the river, then started the climb up to the Lost Valley.

Before too long we reached the lip where you can see down into the valley. there was still a bit of cloud around.

We walked down then up to the end where we sat on the rocks and had a sandwich.

As we started to walk back, the sun really started to burn through the clouds. By the time we got back to the entrance it was all clear.

We made our way back down to the campervan.

This was only a half-day walk, so we decided to drive a little north and go to the Inchree Falls near Onich. This is a circular walk through a forest to the falls, then up higher through an area where trees have been felled quite recently.

There were views over to the Corran ferry.

Back near the car park Oscar had a look for squirrels at the hide, then shaded himself from the heat under the van.

To finish off the day we decided to go to the Corran ferry, cross as foot passengers, have a walk and a drink at the Ardgour Inn then come back again.

Later for dinner we had sweet and sour chicken.

Glencoe and Speyside - Day 3

We drove round to Glen Duror, about 15 miles away, and parked at the small car park there. We then walked up a forest track as far as a bothy, which was the birthplace of James of the Glen, on whom the Robert Louis Stevenson classic novel, Kidnapped, is based.

From there we walked down to the river where we sat and had our lunch, then walked back out to the campervan.

It was quite a short walk so we had plenty of time left. Since it was very hot and sunny we decided to go to the beach, Cuil Bay just down the coast a bit. It was quite a spectacular location, and Loch Linnhe was flat calm.

We had a bit of a paddle and a sunbathe. While there a couple of harbour porpoises swam around in the bay.

Before going back to the site we went to the Clachaig Inn for a pint in the sunshine.

Later we had a barbecue, with sausages and burgers. It seemed the hot weather was too hot for midges, they weren't really a problem.