Late Afternoon Glen Nevis

Some more cloud today but still bright and dry. Bright spells through the afternoon.

We had thought to go to Glencoe yesterday afternoon, but other things got in the way so we went this morning. To get there we drove South, went through Fort William, passed the Corran ferry, went over the Ballachuilish bridge,and went along by Glencoe village and up to the visitor centre.

At the visitor centre there was an exhibition of prints by Hamish MacDonald. We like his style and the vibrant colours he used. His subjects were often Scottish coastal places we know well.

Hamish MacDonald (1935-2008) was a Scottish impressionist and colourist painter from Glasgow, Scotland. His paintings feature mainly landscapes and coastal scenes, with some still-life. His work features in several major collections, including Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Paisely Art Gallery and the Duke of Edinburgh.

From the centre there are views of the Glencoe mountains and access to a few forest trails. We fetched Maeve the Deerhound from the car and had a wander round one of the trails. Back to the car so we could drive up the glen to one of the car parks which look over to the three sisters on one side and the Aonach Eagach ridge on the other.

The south side of the glen is marked by a succession of distinct peaks: Buachaille Etive Mòr is followed to the west by Buachaille Etive Beag, then by the Three Sisters, shoulders of the Bidean nam Bian massif which itself marks the western end of the glen. By contrast the north side of the glen is a stark wall of mountain, the Aonach Eagach ridge. The Ridge is crossed at the eastern end by the Devil's Staircase, an old military road opposite Buachaille Etive Mòr. To the north of Buachaille Etive Mòr, there is Beinn a'Chrulaiste. The western end terminates with the conical Pap of Glencoe (Sgùrr na Cìche), above Glencoe village, at the point where the glen opens out to Loch Leven.

From the car park we took the old single track road down to Glencoe village, stopping on the way down at The Clachaig Inn for lunch. The Inn has been a favourite of walkers and climbers in the area for many years.

After lunch we drove back up to Fort William and took the turn for Glen Nevis. Neither of us had been in the glen before so it was something of an adventure. We stopped at the "Braveheart" car park, built for the trucks and vans when scenes for the film were being shot in the area. This car park is half a mile before the Ben Nevis visitor centre (and the start of the Ben Nevis path). From the car park there are several forest walks. We decided we would take Maeve on one of the easier circular trails which went through woodland then along the road to the visitor centre before turning uphill and off road again to join a section of the West Highland Way very close to the end of its 92 miles which lead to its finish in Fort William. There is another walk from the car park which is interesting us as a possibility for later in the week should the weather hold.

From the car park we drove further up the glen making our last stop for the day the car park near the lower falls at Polldubh. We left Maeve in the car and wandered over to have a look at the falls. We took some pictures from the road bridge which crosses the falls and then had a look at the falls from just downstream. We had noticed a sign for a riverside path leading up further into the glen from the road bridge along to Paddy's bridge. The path was closed due to there having been dangerous rock falls and landslips upstream (being attended to by a contractor). We climbed the locked gate and had a wander along the path for a while and were rewarded with amazing views of the mountains in the upper part of the glen. It has to be said the whole of the glen is a succession of amazing views of the mountains making up the Ben Nevis massif with its neighbour to the northeast, Càrn Mòr Dearg, to which it is linked by the Càrn Mòr Dearg Arête. Both mountains are among the nine in Scotland over 4,000 feet (1,200 m). Aonach Beag and Aonach Mòr are also on the Nevis massif.

We did stop on the way back down the glen just to look. The sky had changed, the clouds opened, and one side of the glen with its peaks was lit up with late afternoon low warm light.

We had a quick stop at a supermarket on the way home for things for a very light dinner and mainly for dog food. Maeve was treated to a big bag of meat "scraps" from the cold meat counter. She has been eating well this week and we are keen to keep that going.

E-PL5 f/6.3 1/250 sec. ISO-200 14mm

Extras:

Glencoe

Two fo the Three Sisters, Glencoe