There’s something quite wonderful about seeing favourite but familiar places for the first time all over again.
Linda had never been to Glen Coe which is obviously a travesty and something I had to fix as soon as we could get away.
A couple of Saturdays back we had the whole day and even with patchy weather forecast we got up early and hit the road north. Not in the truck though, the recent flat battery incident and the “smell of diesel” means the two of them are not yet friends. They will have to accept each other at some point, I don’t care how many tears there are.
So, with me driving the “hot hatch” erratically and often sideways (power steering is for the weak and I can’t get used to it) it was with some relief we stopped to try TJ’s, the new diner at Tyndrum.
It feels very new, a little uncertain, a little unprepared but the pancakes and bacon with syrup were magic. I hope it has a future, Tynrum is the go-to A82 stopover place these days and more competition in the village is a good thing, the regulars have gotten complacent and expensive.
I stopped at all the tourist spots, the low cloud made it all look dramatic and it was grins all the way. I haven’t been on my own for a wee while and it was good to breath the air, feel the rain on my face and find a parking spot really close to the door of the now rather swanky Glencoe Visitor Centre.
As well as having a very welcome customer hat drying area in the shop the whole place has been transformed since my last visit. The exhibits were interesting and the film was very good although the sound mix is not good, they need to turn the music down when the narrator is talking.
We took a wander around the waymarked trails which I’d never done in my life. Lovely wee walk and it takes you just high enough and away from the road that you get new views of the hills. Even in the swirling cloud and rain, it was lovely. And no midges. Alright.
It was still really early so we headed north for lunch in Ft Bill. It was pissing down which felt very normal for the familiar grey high street.
Had pizza in the Nevisport cafe for the first time in my life which was rather nice. Got the windae seat and watched the local neds filing through the underpass on their way to McDonalds on the other side of the roundabout with their hoods up and heads down. Ah, feels good to be back.
Old Inverlochy Castle is a much overlooked local place of interest. Sill raining so we had just a quick run around and two of the towers are closed for works which is a shame.
With half the day still to play with I had a think about what else to do. Aonach Mor stuck in cloud, so no Where Eagles Dare reenactment on the gondola, no proper rain gear so no Glen Nevis. We’d drive for a bit and see what popped up.
Ended up at the Eas Chia-aig waterfall at the end of Loch Arkaig. Nice wee drive in the roller skate, as I will now call the hot hatch and as ever, the killer midges were waiting in the car park. In all my travels in this wee country I have never know midges like the ones here. Every trip here I have been grievously assaulted.
It is lovely though. Even if the horrendous desolation through the glen from the hydro scheme still lurks unrepaired just beyond the trees above the falls.
The moss along the Mille Dorcha is as long and hairy as ever but forestry work has burst holes through the old stone wall killing some of the growth and also letting light into the area for the first time in many years. I wonder if this will see the demise of the mighty moss?
From here it was a meander down the road, no hurry and it wasn’t without yet more distractions.
One of which was the Falls of Falloch as we got close to home. The rain really brought out the best in the waterworks.
We don’t get a lot of days to go and out and play, but we do fill them up when we get there.
