Scotland Trip
I woke up too hot last night, and when we got up this morning George's windows were condensation free for the first time this holiday. Being too hot at night is rarely a problem in a Campervan in April, and we normally have to spend 5 minutes mopping the inside of the windows after we get up each morning. However, the reason for the warmth was that it had clouded over, and whilst it was still pretty good weather for Scotland in April, it wasn't anywhere near as nice as the last few days.
We took our time over breakfast, and then set off towards Lochinver. We had some tentative plans to go up Quinag - the third and final Inverpolly hill from the Trail 100 list, but changed our mind when we saw that it was well in the cloud and the visibility was pretty poor all around. I think we were both quite relieved in a way as our legs were a bit shaky from yesterday's efforts. We've made a new rule this week about the Trail 100 hills that they're only to be done in good weather conditions, otherwise we could be anywhere, which defeats the object of the list.
We caused a bit of chaos in Lochinver trying to find somewhere to fill our jerrycan with water, and eventually found a tap at the harbour, only a few metres past a sign that said "no public access". All the harbour men were more interested in the canoe, so we didn't have any problems getting 10L of illicit water.
We settled into the drive south to Fort William, or rather south east then south west, as the quickest way by far was via Inverness. Combining a rest day with a travel day is good, as you get to enjoy the journey and admire the scenery without feeling like you should be doing something more energetic. The weather improved the further south we got, and it was soon back to the clear blue skies and sunshine that we've become used to.
We drove down the west side of Loch Ness, down the A82, which looked perfectly straight on the map but was actually one of the most bendy roads we've driven down all week. We didn't spot Nessie, despite Claire's eyes being focussed on the loch for the whole journey. I was looking at the bendy road most of the time you will be pleased to hear.
We had a wander round Fort William (I thought it was best to get the outdoor shop reconnaissance done while we had a bit of downtime), and then stocked up at Tesco Express. More of the same - wine, chocolate, bagels, bacon, cream cheese... There were even more odd balls in there than in Tesco at Aviemore. One woman appeared to be on the verge of death (staggering and struggling to breathe, but told her friend she was OK and carried on looking at the Danish pastries), and another was talking to a houseplant in her trolley in quite an angry tone of voice.
We urgently needed to make use of campsite facilities tonight, as yesterday had been a pretty sweaty day, so we've stopped at Linnhe Campsite, a few miles outside Fort William, alongside the water at the join of Loch Eil and Loch Linnhe I think. We've got a hard standing pitch with electricity overlooking the water (which is a section called The Narrows that is swirling in quite a dangerous manner). You obviously pay a premium in the Cairngorms, as it's cheaper here for what seems to be a better site in an nicer location on the waters edge. We've booked in for two nights, and have taken the canoe off the roof and put the pop top up.
Our legs are feeling a lot better now, and we both feel much cleaner. We're watching the sun set across the water with the mountains in the background and eating minstrels.
Just to make sure our legs don't stop hurting completely, we're going up Ben Nevis tomorrow, the hard way.
Posted with Blogsy
No comments:
Post a Comment