June 22, 2003
Another rainy day in Scotland. Again, we just drove for the day. We drove down to Fort Williams and Glen Nevis. Eventhough it is rainy the scenery is pretty.
We checked into our hostel about 1:00. We had lunch and then Laurie and I went into town to check what was going on. We thought about the movies, but they didn't have anything playing until night, so we went back to the hostel and laid down. I don't know why, but this weather makes me tired. When we got up we went to the grocery store for dinner. We picked up a roasted chicken. It was the end of the day and I think we got the afternoon special. Two chicken for 5 pounds. We bought the last two. They were very good. One of them was big enough for all three of us. We can have the other tomorrow.
After dinner Richard, Laurie, and I took a walk along the road. It was still misty out. The clouds hung in the green rolling hills. Ben Nevis, the hightest mountain in Scotland, which is only 4406 feet, is right in front of the hostel. We plan to do it tomorrow, weather permitting. They have all kinds of warnings about hiking in bad weather as they do the white mountains. The only thing that worries me is that the trail is not marked. They tell us that we should know how to with a map and compass. I guess we better not get lost.
June 23, 2003
Finally, I was able to take a hike. I haven't really hiked since I left Nepal , about twenty days ago.
The weather looked promising, so we started up the trail to Ben Nevis. We had good views below for awhile, but then the clouds, fog, rain, and wind hit us. It was like being in the White Mountains, where the weather changes within minutes. Laurie and I continued to the top. We thought Richard might have turned back because we hadn't seen him for awhile.
We took a quick picture then headed down because it was cold. We even saw that there was still snow up there and we were only 4400 feet. We ran into Richard. He was having problems with cramps in his legs. We told him not to bother going to the top, the weather was getting worse.
The hike down was tiring. Too many damn rocks. The sky below was a little clearer and I was warm enough to take off my gloves. We stopped, when we were almost down, for lunch. The sun was out and there was a bench. Once we finished lunch the sky got dark and started to rain. Luckily we didn't have far to go.
I meant to mention a person that I ran into I saw him coming up the trail as I was going down. He was dressed like he just got out of church, black polished shoes, pants, vest, and suit jacket. He didn't have a pack or anything. I asked him if he was going to the top. He said he didn't know. I told him that the weather was nasty, trying to discourage him. The man was about 65-70. I don't know how he hiked in those shoes with all of the rocks. I guess the White Mountains isn't the only place where we have people so unprepared for hiking.
It felt good to be out and hiking. I had been getting lazy and have felt like doing nothing. This was an energy booster.
June 24, 2003
We really hadn't decided what to do today because we wanted to wait for the weather. It wasn't raining, but the sky was grey. We knew about a guided hike that was a little bot of a drive, but didn't start until 11:30. So we went into town to use the internet. We didn't have too much time. Once we were done we drove to Glenuig. It was on the coast. It was a nice little drive.
We met Angus, the ranger who was leading the hike. There were about eight others that were also hiking. The walk was along the coast. There wasn't much of a trail. It was very wet and we were trying to make our way through tall grass. Angus told us some history about a village that was there. Parts of the stone structures were still there. There were also some houses still there that are used as vacation homes. There is no road access to them. They have to walk in, but there are beautiful views.
Our lunch destination was at a sandy beach, quiet and peaceful. We could see all the little islands out in the water and also the main coast of Scotland. Scotland has lots of islands, peninsulas, and inlets.
We made our way back to the car. My pants were dirtier today, from the wet marsh areas, than yesterday in the rain and mud. It is a good thing I can just zip off my leg portion and wear shorts.
We left the parking lot and were going to head to Glen Coe. Senioni told us that it was very nice. I thought we would drive around the coast and then get over the river by a bridge. We couldn't, so we had to practically drive around in a loop to get back to where we came from in the morning and then back down to Glen Coe. I couldn't understand why they don't have more bridges. It was a very long drive, but it was also scenic.
The next problem seemed to be to find Glen Coe village. We drove about seven miles out of our way. We missed the road. Once we got to Glen Coe we were trying to find the hostel. We ended up turning around because it seemed too far out. We stopped at a store, picked up dinner, and asked directions. We hadn't gone far enough, so we drove back again and found it. It was a good thing we had a guide for our hike today or else we might have gotten lost.
June 25, 2003
We got some hiking information from someone at the hostel. It took a little bit of time to find the spot, but we did. The walk was on a dirt road up to Lock Lever. Lock's are Scotland's word for lakes. We actually had beautiful weather today. The sun was out, the sky was mostly blue, and the temperature was comfortably warm.
I really wan't in the mood to walk, but it was short enough and the scenery was beautiful.
After the walk we had lunch. We then had about a four hour drive to Carlisle, which is in England. We had a little bit of a time finding a place to stay. The hostel doesn't open until July. We called a B & B
