Bealach an Sgairne (almost)

 


Bagpipes and drum’n bass was the atmospheric soundtrack accompanying our drive out to Morvich, courtesy of an old Martyn Bennett album “Bothy Culture” dug out of the recesses of my iPod (groovy 1990s tartan techno, if you are not familiar with this artist/ genre).

We laced on our boots, still cold and damp from yesterday, and set off up a good quality track leading through a series of gated deer enclosures and then eventually bearing into a lovely valley, Gleann Choinneachain. Trips off the tongue. This was a gentle but steady climb, and we worked up quite a sweat as the wind dropped and the sun came out for a sustained period, daring us to peel off the layers and face instant metereological retribution.




The aim had been to get up to the high pass, which beckoned seductively up ahead, and gain a view over to the  mountain ranges and lochs beyond. 




The guidebook warned that the river would need to be forded at some point in order to reach the final stretch to the top, something which “ought not to be a problem other than in times of spate”.  


The churning waterfall composed of burns draining from the slopes and corries of snow-capped Ben Fhada sure did fit the textbook description of “in spate”, and we could not find the conveniently arranged stepping stones to get across to the other side. Each promising chain of rocks had a missing link or submerged step, with a high probability of mishap and dunking in glacially cold waters.




Thwarted by an early finish, we got back in the car and went for a quick reccie up the A87 to Loch Cluanie to find the starting point of tomorrow’s planned walk, as this will require a taxi drop off. A pit stop for cake and coffee seemed almost obligatory, in the circumstances. 


Tonight’s dinner offering, sponsored by the Plockton hotel, competing eaterie to the Plockton inn 200 yards up the harbour road, was a vatful of creel caught local langoustines (Em) and a wild boar & haggis burger (me). The snug bar and championship ale capped a fine day.


Joff x

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Spices and burning tires

Image
  A bad night, but a pretty good day. We took our time this morning, dumped our suitcase at hotel reception and set off to explore another bit of the city. Our first target was the area around the Marché des Capucins. Another hotch potch of narrow streets, widening for the market place. This area has a very north African feel. Shops selling spices by the bucket load and halal stores.  Via many a plane tree-lined street, we ended up at Parc Longchamp, with its fantastically grand and fountained entrance. The two wings of the building host the natural history and fine art museums respectively. Heading back towards the hotel to retrieve our luggage, we had a pitstop for a bite and an alcohol-free beer. Joff is supposed to be avoiding alcohol, and I don't need to be rendered any more sleepy than I already am. Lovely and refreshing. Luggage safely in hand we set off to walk the half hour to our bus stop for Cassis. We had allowed plenty of time to find it, so we hit a cafe nearby. ...
Read more

Sails and a siesta

Image
A slow day, incorporating a late breakfast and the two-minute walk to our nearest beach. Turns out that the sea temperature is no warmer than the water in the calanques, ie blimmin’ cold! It looked so inviting that we still managed a couple of dips to cool off. It’s funny how the noise for ‘OMG it’s cold’ is a universal language.  The main town beach is by the harbour. The one near us is much smaller, and soon filled up. We were entertained/disproportionately irritated by the obligatory and seemingly endless posing for selfies. What’s the universal language for grumpiness at the extreme narcissism on display? An eye roll, maybe? A late lunch on our balcony watching the busy sea traffic. There’s some kind of sailing festival on, so the town is the busiest we’ve seen it, and there was a sound check earlier for a covers band playing 80s hits, so we have that to look forward to? Joff was delighted to find a rugby match on telly, and I enjoyed a snooze before we headed down for some din...
Read more

Nous sommes arrivés à Marseilles

Image
A long day travelling, but everything went very smoothly. All train connections from Taunton to Paddington to St Pancras to La Gare du Nord to La Gare de Lyons to Marseille were all made with time to spare.  The TGV is aptly named, and we hurtled south through France as if pursued by a very hungry velociraptor. With a jet pack. We arrived in Marseilles shortly after 8pm, and enjoyed our trot down to the harbour to the Hotel Belle Vue, which indeed it is. We are in a room overlooking the water, which is lovely, though it’s pretty busy out there even at 11pm on a school night. We were both pretty tired and a bit peckish, so we dumped our bags and parked ourselves outside a café serving cold beer and tapas. We ordered modestly and it was just right. Our weariness just about permitted a short leg-stretch part way round the bustling waterside in the balmy air before we succumbed to the lure of our room. Em x
Read more