There is not much room in my office so I spent Friday with my feet resting on my day pack and small overnight bag under my desk. The walking poles (or sticks) were a giveaway of my weekend plans. After fighting a cold for the good part of two weeks, I hoped for a weekend of fresh air in another beautiful location of the Highlands.
The Great Glen Hostel is on a main road in the Highlands, conveniently located along the Great Glen Way and near a number of munros. The hostel also happens to be in great condition. Excellent kitchen. Nice rooms. Convenient drying room for gear. It was home for Friday and Saturday night.
Upon entering my bunk room, I met a woman with a large, weathered pack and a level of organization that only comes with having been living out of the pack for awhile. She has been walking since Cornwall. If you don't know where that is, check out the route from Cornwall to Spean Bridge. She is headed to the north point of mainland Scotland. There were two more women staying in the room that were on solo backpacking journeys of their own. Hence there was some physical therapy, medical treatment (blister management), and navigation advice shared among them...bringing back keen memories of some trips from my past.
I shamefully admitted I rode in a car to the hostel and slipped downstairs to have dinner cooked for me.
After dinner, we met a woman who was on a 9 day trip through the wilds of West Highlands. It is one of those chance meetings that stays with you. She is such a kind and peaceful soul with a love of Scotland's natural beauty. I wish her the best on her walk and in another chance meeting with her along the road on Sunday, was happy to hear that she had ended up being invited into a family home to share dinner/drink on Saturday night. They even gave her shelter in their neighbouring church for the night.
Saturday was a quiet day for me. I explored the area around the Loch Quoich dam.
I have been riding the trains for five months and I just recently noticed that most poles are topped with a thistle. This is the gate along the top of the dam.
Although the day was a wee blustery and all hilltops disappeared in the clouds, the views of the hills descending into the loch was beautiful.
I was shocked at the difference from my last outing. Everything is so much greener and flowers are starting to pop up.
My day ended with a short walk to a tall waterfall.
Saturday I had the bunk room to myself- bit shocking for a Saturday in late May. There were a few more brief interactions with interesting characters at dinner and breakfast the following day.
Sunday it was back into Loch Quoich. My morning was spent deer watching (the hills are teeming with red deer) and wood art along the loch edge. The day was much brighter and the sun was working hard to burn through the clouds.
The rock in this area is brilliant.
After lunch, my friend and I headed up a munro on the north side of the loch. I feel as if I am floating when I am walking in the clouds. Already pouring in sweat (where is that wind I have been prattling on about?), we came out of the clouds into blue sky. Every moment changing. Exposing neighbouring peaks for a moment before hiding them back within the cloudy depths.
I am sure my facial expression did not always match my internal sentiment. It felt great to be pushing my body. Also a bit shocking at how far my conditioning and leg strength has slipped. I am thankful for long daylight hours and a patient friend. It was a real treat to be up on top of two munros with a lovely ridge walk between.
I have now completed 1.6% of the munros in Scotland. While I am not currently aiming to climb all the munros, this statistic re-affirms to me what an incredible accomplishment it is to climb all of them. What is driving me into the hills is my desire to learn as much as I can about this amazing land.
On the descent, a parting view from the locals...
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