We couldn't check into the hostel until 4PM and we got back to Portree after our first drive about 1PM. We ate lunch and went on another drive. It was still raining a little bit on and off. Our second drive was west towards Straun and we did a circuit out that way. We stopped just before 2:30 and did an hour and a half hike out towards the ocean. It had stopped raining, but started again about 10 minutes into our walk and we got quite wet. It stopped when we got out to the water so we dried out on the way back. It was a lovely walk down a road, across the fields and out to a beach that was connected by a sort of sandbar to an island. Unfortunately, it didn't stop raining until we had turned around above the beach, so we didn't continue walking out to the island.
The scenery is beautiful here. All shades of green hillside, small rocky mountains and hills, water all around. It does rain here a lot though, so it makes it difficult to take good pictures of the scenery. I'm really glad we have a car and are not dependent on just buses and walking for our sightseeing.
We got back to Portree about 5PM, went to the grocery store and then checked into the hostel. This is not a Youth Hostel, it is an independently run hostel and it is not as nice as the ones we were in for the last 2 nights. I think the hostels that are part of Hosteling International are more regtulated than the indepenedent hostel, which is why they have better facilities, but they don't have them in all cities. Also, they aren't as conveniently located as some of the independent ones (sometimes they are a mile or so out of the center), so we don't always stay in them.
We already booked a triple room in the Youth Hostel on Glen Nevis for tomorrow night, and it will be so nice to have a room with just the 3 of us. We are in a 12-bed dorm room tonight and I have a top bunk. Not my favorite way to sleep.
6/22: We left to drive to Fort William about 9:15 and got there about noon. We stopped at a castle by a loch along the way to take picutres and go for a short walk. The Youth Hostel in Glen Nevis (which seems to be a section of the town of Fort William) is nice and roomy. Big kitchen/dining rarea , a TV room, and a quiet room (where people can sit and read). It's so nice to have a room to ourselves after last night (the room really smelled and it was very hot). Young guys kept going in and out of the room, and there were lots of snorers.
After we hiked in, Shari and I went to explore the town and go for a short walk. After dinner, Richard and I went for an hour's walk along the road near the hostel. It was beautiful looking at the mountains and hills across the street. We made plans to climb Ben Nevis tomorrow, which is also across the street from the hostel.
6/23: There is a trail to the mountian right across the street from the hostel but we decided to drive one mile up to the visitor center and start our hike there. A fellow at the hostel said that it was a little longer starting from the visitor center but the trail is a little less steep in the beginning. Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in Britain (4,406 feet). It's a good hike up because it starts right at sea level and it is a 10 mile round trip hike. The weather is very changable on the mountain, just like in the White Mountains at home.
It was pretty nice when we first started out (it does nothing but rain here, so we thought we were pretty lucky to get a good day). Well, halfway up we hit the fog and mist and the weather deteriorated pretty quickly. It started raining, and it was windy and very foggy (you could see about only 20 feet ahead).
Shari and I thought Richard had turned around because we waited for him, but he didn't catch up. We decided to go ahead and we got to the top just after noon, so it took us about 3 hours and 20 minutes to get to the top. We took a couple of pictures and started right back down.
After half an hour going down we ran into Richard on his way up. He was having difficulty because he had cramps in his legs so we told him he should just go down with us because the weather was bad at the top. It is amazing to come down off a mnountain and find pleasant weather down below, which we did. I was also amazed at the number of people still hiking up as we were going down. I'm not sure a lot of them were going all the way to the top because many of them weren't dressed for the weather up there. I'm really glad I did the hike because we haven't done anything significant since Nepa, and I felt really strong today. Of course we only had our little day packs and I'm sure it will be much harder when I'm hiking the Coast-to-Coast trail with my 40-45 pound pack.
We all took a nap after our hike and then Shari and I went tot the grocery store and tried to find an internet. No luck - the visitor center was closed, the Ben Nevis Inn doesn't have one anymore and the one at the hostel is broken. The only other places that have internet are a few pubs in town and Shari wasn't too keen going to a pub so we will try again tomorrow.
6/24: We decided to do a guided walk in Glenuig today which didn't start until 11:30. It was only a 45 minute drive so we went to use the internet before we left Fort William. I got to answer a few emails but I ran out of time and didn't finish writing to people. I really dislke using the internet when I'm under a time constraint and the space bar on my keyboard stuck, which made it even worse.
We had a wonderful 4-hour walk in Glenuig led by a ranger. There were about 12 of us on the walk and it was fun to talk to other people from Scotland and England who were on holiday in the area. We walked along the coast through boggy areas and on rocks, and we stopped for lunch at a beautiful sandy beach with no else around. The scenery reminded Shari, Richard and me of the coast of Maine.
After the walk we decided to drive to Glencoe to stay in the Youth Hostel there. We took the scenic route (sort of by mistake) so we drove for 3 hours instead of 1.5 hours, but we saw some incredible scenery along the way. It was a little tiring because there were a lot of one lane roads, but they are kind of fun to drive on. The Glencoe Hostel is very nice and it is pretty empty so the man at the desk gave Richard, Shari and me a
6-bed dorm room all to ourselves.
Richard and I talked with a fellow, Mike, after dinner, who has hiked all the Munroes in Scotland. A Munroe is a mountain that is 3,000 feet or higher, and there are 284 of them in Scotland. Mike said it took him 22 years to finish hiking all the Munroes. I have one (Ben Nevis) out of 284 done. Only 283 to go (I don't think I will put the Munroes on my to-do list).
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