One of 12 posts about my 2018 UK Trip (Glasgow + West Highland Way + Oxford)
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After one final, futile attempt to purchase gloves or glove liners at a local store on the Way, I trudged on out of Tyndrum.
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| salmon chanted "morning!" |
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| nice view, but I was glad not to be camping out |
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| thank goodness, I met the weight limit for this bridge |
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| a bit of blue sky reflected in the rain puddle |
It was a day of damp ground and wet stream crossings. My feet got soaked.
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| rainbow panorama |
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| a bit of heather |
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| a side venture |
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| self-portrait in shadow |
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| an early glimpse of Loch Tulla |
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| a backward glance |
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| the road ahead |
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| rowan tree shaped by the wind |
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| another rainbow |
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| Inveroran Hotel |
I made good time and got to the Inveroran Hotel along with a party of young Germans.
I didn't see a menu, but they'd listed carrot soup as their soup of the day, so I asked for that. The young man behind the bar looked extremely uncomfortable, and exited the room. He came back with an older man (perhaps the owner or manager?), who explained that food would not be available til noon; would I be willing to wait? It was perhaps 11:45, so I said YES, PLEASE! and ordered a Crabbie's ginger beer.
Meanwhile, the place was starting to fill up; I'd arrived and snagged a comfy seat at a small table just before the mad lunchtime rush. All in all, it was quite a pleasant place to dry out and scope out the next phase of the walk. And the carrot soup was utterly delicious. Despite the crowd, they were very gracious and in absolutely no hurry to move me from my comfortable spot; I had to go and ask specifically for the bill when I was ready to go. I tipped with exact change, and the guy seemed puzzled and tried to give me back the money, apparently thinking that I'd overpaid. But from an American perspective, it was merely a gracious gesture of my own (and somewhat more modest than I'd be in the U.S., where tipping is customary and expected).
So I set off toward the wilds of Rannoch Moor, which Wikipedia describes in its inimitable poetic style as "an expanse of around 50 square miles (130 km²) of boggy moorland to the west of Loch Rannoch."
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"Drove Road to Glencoe
No Vehicles
Please keep to the track
Scottish Rights of Way Society Ltd." |
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| another auspicious day |
I passed a few straggling hikers here or there at the start, but for the most part, I was alone on the moors, the land stretching out with hills and grasses and the occasional rock. I kept stopping to make a slow 360 degree turn, taking in the vistas and grinning sans cesse.
From time to time, there were stands of curated woods.
Eventually, at the River Ba, there was a vehicle parked by a bridge. That was actually a little sinister; I saw no sign of the driver anywhere.
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| the occasional patch of blood-red moss |
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| yet another rainbow, but with sheep |
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| false advertising; I was staying in Glencoe |
Kingshouse Hotel was closed for renovations, so Mac's Adventure had its customers all take a detour to the Glencoe Mountain Resort for a van ride to hotels in Glencoe. They made it sound like the van would come on request, but the drive was so long, and the drop-offs apparently so numerous, that it only came round once an hour. And I'd just missed it. (Grrr.) So after a few photo ops, I went in for a piping hot bowl of fries! Sooooo good. And just as I finished up, the van arrived.
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| enjoyed a little weather report with my fries |
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