Morven B&B Durness

... vantage point out onto Loch Lomond (left), and a look up to the peak of Conic Hill (right)... Conic Hill was also decidedly wetter and more bog like than Ben A'an, plus there was numerous rabbit holes, particularly adept at tripping you up. This part of the track was part of the West Highland Way - instead of heading to the summit ...

Today, I was planning to go to the youth hostel at the castle, but the Land Rover had other plans!!!

Oh dear, game over! I popped out to start the Land Rover this morning at around 9am and the engine was smoking like a trooper and sounding a lot worse than it normally does. I called the AA at around 10:00 and they turned up at at around 10:45 from a local garage. He told me that the engine is fairly terminal (piston problem ...

... wet I can see how it would be particularly difficult, but perhaps because this section comes at the start of my day, whereas everyone else does it at the end, it's not overwhelming.

Rob Roy is the focus of the legends for this stage with both Rob Roy's Cave and Rob Roy's Prison on the path. The path to the cave is full of huge rocks and after a few minutes I opt to turn back as I'm pretty sure ...

... will be the opportunity for a hot shower at the end!

By the time I reach Beinglas Farm, a campsite just outside Inverarnan, and discover that the link path has turned into a thigh-deep stream necessitating walking back through the campsite, I retire to their bar/cafe for a bowl of hot soup and a cup of tea! Refreshed, I head to the Drover's Inn on the main road to see the famous taxidermy menagerie (including a "haggis") and catch the bus back to Crianlarich ...

Hereth begins my life in Scotland! For the moment I am staying in a tinsy little place named Blairhoyle (yeah, you might have to Google that one), that maybe isn't worthy of being called a "place", it is just out in the sticks, but its rather ...

Liz & Alec, who gave me a lift last night, turn out to be heading back to Kingshouse this morning so offer me a lift straight back to the start of my walk through the winding valley of Glencoe. The sky is already looking ominously dark so it's on with the waterproofs and I batten down the hatches with my rucksack cover before venturing out across Rannoch Moor.

The rain starts almost as soon as I hit the moor. It's relentless and the headwind ...

My planned rest day in Fort William has been scuppered by a real lack of accommodation for the next couple of days. The only way I can find anywhere to sleep on Friday night is to walk 23 miles to Kingshouse and then head off the West Highland Way (WHW) by taking a bus to Glencoe.

This section of the WHW has a reputation of being challenging due to the "Devil's Staircase" - a steep climb outside Kingshouse. Doing it backwards I've made it harder for ...

... to Smoo cave. We took the boat trip into the back cave. Very interesting, the guy obviously loved his job. Another trip to Cocoa Mountain. Excellent hot chocolate but I've had better, we had sneaked in a trip yesterday too. Back to the cottage but we had a nice coastal walk to a beech nearby to paddle in the cold water. The sun had really just come out which was perfect. A seal watched us for a while, we think we were on it's beech. Audrey made copious amounts of fantastic pasta.

... al pie del acantilado, y nosotros, inocentes, decidimos participar en la lucha sin darnos cuenta que donde más protegido se está del viento es en la parte de atrás. Breve cena, fría, por ausencia de cacharros para cocinar, y una visita al animado bar del camping, donde compartimos espacio con los Blue Angels, unos moteros muy auténticos. Si el viento no se lleva la tienda mañana proseguiremos nuestra aventura.

... lamb pie, and Stace has Cauliflower, Broccoli and Cheese. They were sensational and definitely the best pies I've had outside Tassie. It was middle of the afternoon, so after a wee look around the small town and the playground (!) we continued on our journey to Durness, wanted to arrived by nightfall to see some sites. But first I had to stop and get a view of what has become my favourite mountain in Scotland - Suilven. It's a mountain shaped like a dorsal fin ...