We travel to Glencoe

Today we go to a campsite at Glen Coe village, about 130 kilometers from here so we are not in a hurry to leave and after breakfast we stick for a long time like we almost always do when we leave here, unless we really have to be somewhere on time. So long that Iain has to do a morning nap in between. But he usually gets up before 6 am to prepare breakfast for hotel guests. But when they have to leave by midday, we also leave for the south.

At Spean Bridge, north of Fort William, the Commando Memorial is very prominent in the landscape. We often come along here and occasionally we stop to look at the landscape, today also. It is already far in June and this time we see no snow on the mountains although that is often still the case in May.

The Commando Memorial is a monument for the British Commandos who trained in this area during the 2nd World War. There is also a Garden of Remembrance where the ashes are still occasionally scattered from deceased war commandments, also from later wars such as those in Iraq.

Teije is happy that he also finds a road here that we have not been to before, along the river that connects Loch Lochy to Loch Linhhe. Occasionally there is a small village but the landscape is especially very green and that is not only because of the melting water.
The roads are narrow but there is hardly any traffic. But unfortunately we do not see any unexpected castles or gate lodges here.

At Banavie we come back on a somewhat larger road near the bend where Loch Linnhe and Loch Eil meet. This is the end (or starting point) of the Great Glen that runs to Inverness, a geological fault line and there are sometimes (very) light earthquakes. It is a natural connection to the north for boats (the Caldonian Canal), cars (the A82) and there is also a recreational footpath, the Great Glen Way.

In Fort William we stop to shop: there is a shop here selling t-shirts with funny texts and Teije always finds something new. In the shopping street are also a few small terraces and the weather is pleasant enough to drink coffee outside. It is striking that there only seems to be Dutch people. Every time we notice that there are always many Dutch around Fort William as if something attracts them here.

In Glen Coe Village we have a log cabin on the grounds of Glencoe Independent Hostel. There is a note waiting for us where we can find the key and soon we are puting our luggae in our cozy cabin. From here we will explore this area for a week, there is enough to see.

In front of us there is a field where you can camp and the whole period that we are here there is a smoky fire. That appears to be especially against the midges, small annoying mosquitoes that can sting quite nastily, but mainly are very irritating. At our cabin we also have some problems with them but a lot less than in the pasture. In the sun we can sit outside for a long time. When the sun goes down on almost the longest day of the year, it gets colder quickly, but fortunately we also have heating inside.