We had two days in the Southern Highlands region. With the chances of rain and having done a lot of hiking the previous day (and Julia’s leg and knee still not feeling awesome due to the slip in Norway), we decided to do a driving tour on day one in the Glencoe area.
Our first stop was the Three Sisters valley that showcases three mountain peaks with some lovely valleys and a few waterfalls.
The second part was the Glen Etive drive also known as the Skyfall Road from the James Bond movie. This is about a 20 mile drive on a single lane windy and hilly road (with Passing Places of course) to Loch Etive. It is considered one of the most beautiful drives in Scotland.
The next day it was still off and on spitting and we debated doing the Ben Lomond hike which takes you to the highest point next to Loch Lomond. We opted to do it with a “well we are here we might as well try” type of attitude knowing that there was a high probability we would get wet doing it. We were correct in that assessment but what we didn’t count on was the extremely high winds near the top. Add in the fact that you are in the clouds at that point and mist is blowing sideways at you and it was probably the first time on this trip that we made a serious consideration of turning around. However, we were only about 500m from the top at that point and we decided to brave it unless it started to feel too dangerous (as there were some cliffs). Of the 12km hike, the first 4-5kms had pretty decent views with the biggest challenge being the wet trails. The middle 2-3kms were dreadful as it was trickier paths, in the clouds, wet and very windy. The last 4-5km coming back down weren’t so great either as it rained for a good chunk of it but at least the path was easier on the other side.
The view below the clouds and then about 1 minute later entering the clouds
The marker at the top and view from the top.
Looking back up from whence we came and the view heading down the other side once we got out from the cloud cover.
Trying to warm up the hands on the way back down!