Today happens to have been a fairly difficult day. Traveling with kids is no joke at the best of times, and after a few months of it, patience is wearing thin! We've done really well in general, but it's understandable that everyone's capacity will go o…
Today happens to have been a fairly difficult day. Traveling with kids is no joke at the best of times, and after a few months of it, patience is wearing thin! We've done really well in general, but it's understandable that everyone's capacity will go on shrinking with time under certain circumstances. I have to remind myself often often often to go gently and have grace.
So maybe today is a good day to look back on one of our family's favourite days of our trip so far. This will be my last post about our trip to Scotland - it was the day we went on an adventure up to Glenfinnan. This was a three-hour drive up through the Highlands.
Part of my secret thought in taking this day trip is that it would be a good opportunity to see some pieces of the West Highland Way. Out of Kate Davies' books, her West Highland Way book is probably my favourite. When I received it, I took a few days just reading it and finding the spots mentioned on Google Earth. I knew that walking it was out of the question, but when I realized the road to Glenfinnan parallels the trail for much of the way, I got excited.
We drove through Milngavie on our last day in Scotland, which is where the trail starts.
Then I walked these few feet of the West Highland Way when we stopped at Milarrochy Bay.
We waved at Conic Hill while we passed.
But, on our Glenfinnan day, we struck north more seriously. We left early in the morning so as to avoid getting stuck behind any campers. We got gorgeous weather for this morning drive. We passed the eponymous Beinn Lomond:
And continued north through two of my favourite colourways.
(Tarbet and Ardlui are two blue shades of Milarrochy Tweed.)
Passing through a ridge of volcanic crags, we start to see the highland scenery in proper. This is Beinn Dorain, caressed by a passing cloud...
Then we turned west toward Glencoe, and the Munros just get more and more dramatic.
I'm not sure which of these pictures depicts Buachaille Etive Mor, but I loved all of them. Having just come from the alps, I knew I wouldn't be able to help comparing the scenery. This series of glens certainly competed for drama.
I particularly wanted to stop here at the Three Sisters viewpoint. Unfortunately we were on a bit of a schedule on the way up, and an accident closed this road on the way back. Still, I got some beautiful shots even in passing on my phone, while the morning light was perfect.
At Glencoe we parted ways from the West Highland Way, and took a very short ferry across Loch Linnhe. (Can spot the ferry?) Kate and Tom had recommended this as a sort of back way to get to Glenfinnan that avoided Fort William.
On the other side of the ferry is the Corran Point Lighthouse. Can I please take a walking tour of Scotland that involves staying in all of the lighthouses that have been converted into rentals? Please and thank you. Yellow Stevenson colouring and all.
The back roads that took us up to Glenfinnan gave us our closest possible look at the multitude of Scottish Blackface Sheep that we'd seen on this trip. That's because these little country roads went not only past, but through the sheepfolds.
These sheep are quite popular among shepherds in this part of the world because they are low-maintenance and independent. Getting so close, I couldn't stand it anymore - I wanted to spin some of their wool!
So, why drive to Glenfinnan? The carrot at the end of this journey for the kids was the Glenfinnan Viaduct. Our family are all big Harry Potter fans, and the Glenfinnan Viaduct is featured in no less than four Harry Potter films, with the Hogwarts Express upon it.
You can still take rides on the steam train purported to be the Hogwarts Express. Four times a day, the steam train crosses this viaduct, and four times a day Harry Potter fans gather to watch it pass.
Arriving at the car park about forty minutes early, and making the short trek up to the viewpoint, we were joined by well over a hundred people from around the world. I tell you, it felt more like church than church.
The weather was well and truly Scottish - it mizzled and sunshined no less than three times while we were out there. But we got to see the steam train! For video thereof, you'll have to tune into the Wool Circle next Tuesday. The small visitors' centre had a helpful visit all about Bonnie Prince Charlie, and the campaign for an independent Scotland that began and ended near here.
I also got my first up-close and personal look at Scottish Heather. I had no idea it was bright purple. But it's definitely in the same family as arctic heather, which sports white flowers in smaller clusters.
From Glenfinnan, we drove another half hour west, this time to the end point of the West Highland Way. Ben Nevis is that point, and I wanted to get as close as we could. To do so, we rode on the only mountain gondola in the UK, which had a sticker inside announcing it was made in Olten - the town in Switzerland we had stayed just a couple weeks earlier!
This long gondola ride gave us some nice views of the downhill mountain bikers. That is a sport I really enjoy watching. Anyway, the gondola takes you near the top of Aonach Mor, where there's skiing in winter and downhill mountain biking in summer. Up there, the biome was even more tundra-like, complete with bog cotton!
Up at the top, you could take two short walks to nearby viewpoints. The kids were willing to take the shorter walk, about twenty minutes, which gave us a nice view of the valley and of Aonach Mor.
Aonach Mor
Ben Nevis, however, was more obscured. I really wanted to see it, having read about it in Kate's book, and gosh darn it I came this far. So Jared took the kids back down the gondola for ice cream, and I walked in to the other viewpoint. The clouds persisted, but they cleared enough at a few moments that I got a picture of what I think is Ben Nevis! It was shockingly windy up there; one of my favourite anecdotes from Kate's book is about the young meteorologists who measured the wind by standing on top of their hut, leaning into the wind, and measuring the angle of their lean! Having stood on a large rock to get this picture, I believe it.
I can say I saw the highest point in the UK.
The kids had not yet had enough Harry Potter themed shopping, so we found a tiny HP shop in the Fort William train station. I got a Butterbeer, which was, predictably, cream soda with some glitter in it. I liked the glitter.
I now had a serious problem. We had driven for about three hours so far, and I had mistakenly failed to grab an extra ball of yarn for my project. We had at least three hours of driving left to go, I had spun through all my rolags, and I had no knitting. This would Not Do. Thankfully, there was a yarn shop in Fort William.
I knew I had some free needles in my purse that would do for boot socks, so I snagged the first ball of DK-weight wool that appealed to me. Amazingly, the store was also selling roving from Scottish Blackface Sheep! I was so pleased to get my hands on some. I only grabbed 100g, and I'm already wishing I had gotten more, haha!
(When we got back to the flat and I pulled out my sweater, I had to laugh. Quite unintentionally, I had matched my new boot socks perfectly to my sweater.)
The drive back down south from Fort William was a bit of a trial. As I mentioned, there was an accident near Glencoe that closed the way we had come, so we and everyone else had to take an alternate route which involved one-lane bridges.
However, we did get to see some glens and hills that we wouldn't have seen otherwise.
Our route still took us through Tyndrum, which holds the Real Food Co. This had been recommended to me as the best fish and chips in Scotland, so of course we had to try! After our long day and long drive, it really was quite good.
Seven hours of driving, incredible mountain sights, rain and sunshine, a steam train, and wooly souvenirs. It was an amazing day, and we were all really pleased we had made the trek. It felt like we crammed a week's worth of sights into one day.
On the last day of our time in Scotland, I finished clue 2 of the Goff Mystery Knit-Along (avert your eyes if you don't want to see it!)
It was very pleasing to complete a whole section of this pattern in the country where it was created. The West of Scotland is definitely a place for adventure, for enjoying the outdoors and the history of others who have walked it. I would love to come back and explore more one day. But for now, I'm so thankful for the time we got there. Slainte, friends.
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