Tyndrum to Kings House.
Start. Tyndrum.
Route. Tyndrum - Clifton - Bridge of Orchy - A82 - Mam Carragh - Inveroran Inn - Victoria Bridge - Forest Lodge - Lochan Mhic Pheadair Ruaidhe - Ba Bridge - Ba Cottage - Blackrock Cottage - A82 - Kings House Hotel.
Notes. Day five, the start of a twenty mile hike to the Kings House Hotel, the aches and pains of yesterday washed away as was the sunshine by the inclement Scotish weather, I peered out of the window into grey emulsion, low cloud and heavy rain greeted me, this was the Scotland we love! Clad in gortex we dropped our luggage off at the reception, before leaving Tyndrum it was to be breakfast in the Green Welly Stop, something substantial to fuel our traverse of The Rannoch Moor.
Sufficiently fed and watered heads down against the weather, we headed up the glen passing Tyndrum Cemetery with an old military road under foot, the good surface carried us up the glen, our companions on this climb were the main road and railway, sometimes visible through the murk, the views would normally be dominated by Beinn Odhar then later Beinn Dorain, I'll take the guide books word for that, all I saw was low cloud through rain spattered spectacles. Bridges carried us over swollen burns as we ascended to the head of Strath Fillan, I seem to recall passing under a cattle creep, higher than the last one, but as everything was steaming up I may be wrong. We soon reached the little station at Bridge of Orchy, the way followed the lane to the A82, we crossed the main road to continue down a narrow lane, with tarmac under foot we crossed the River Orchy at it's famous bridge, loved by poets, painters and photographers. At this point I thought I'd best take some photos, the camera steamed up instantly, the pictures were bloody awful. From the bridge we ascended through forestry before crossing the moor to descend to the Inveroran Inn, this historic building's played host to many a weary traveller throughout it's 300 year history, it was the days half way point, a good place for refreshments, In the dry I took the opportunity to replace the GPS batteries and dry the camera off.
On leaving the Inn somebody turned the lights on, we squinted into brightness, better weather greeted us. The tarmac lane that passes the inn guided us round the head of Loch Tulla, we crossed Victoria Bridge before reaching Forest Lodge, the last bastion of civilization before Kings House. A sign announced we'd reached the Drove Road to Glen Coe, a gate allowed access to said road. In 1803 Telford was commissioned to improve the old military roads through the Highlands, this track is known as Telford's Parliamentary Road and was the main route north until 1933, it's surface was hard and unforgiving under foot but it carried us across The Rannoch Moor in style. Nine miles of stunning walking, who cared that the sun wasn't shining, this moody, misty traverse was something special, the weather gods smiled on us yet again. All too soon we descended passed the White Corries Ski Centre our destination the Kings House Hotel above picturesque Glen Coe.
Seen across the the head of Strath Fillan, Beinn an Dothaidh.
Allt Tolaghan (burn) near Inveroran.
Loch Tulla as seen from near Victoria Bridge.
Viewing the tree clad lower slopes of Mam Carraigh with Beinn an Dothaidh and Beinn Dorain under cloud.
The Mountains of Lorn seen through Glen Kinglass.
The Drove Road to Glen Coe, the start of our nine mile traverse of The Rannoch Moor.
Moody views across Loch Tulla, their heads in cloud, Beinn an Dothaidh, Beinn Dorran and Beinn Odhar.
The long lonely road across The Rannoch Moor, this whole area is called Black Mount, it's more bog and lochan than mountain.
Lochan Mhic Pheadair Ruaidhe with the slopes of Meall Beag dropping in from the left.
The River Ba from Ba Bridge with Meall Beag dominating the horizon.
Ba Bridge marks the halfway point of our traverse of the moor.
The River Ba looking west.
Atmospheric views over The Rannoch Moor.
Another stunning view, with all that water around it would be inadvisable to leave the path.
Wet. boggy but beautiful.
We've gained a little height now, I'd love to tell you what I'm looking at but I haven't a clue, the trees are possibly the Rannoch Forest but equally possibly not.
The Rannoch Moor's a massive basin, with two thousand foot peaks rising on one side and three thousand footers on the other, I've heard this called The Wall of Rannoch.
Because I can't name the hills and I should be able to, here's another piece of useless information, did you know the last ice age in Britain started here.
Marking the highest point on the traverse of The Rannoch Moor a cairn stands a few yards off the path, up hill, I've ascended to the said cairn to check out the views.
Another view over The Rannoch Moor, if you're getting bored here's another snippet of useless info, did you know The Rannoch Moor is so big you could take the whole of the English Lake District and dump it in the middle, you'd still be left with plenty of room around the edge.
The cairn above the moor with wonderful views to the east.
Yours truly resting the legs, soaking up the views after a long day on the trail.
A classic view, Blackrock Cottage looking to Buachaille Etive Mor.
The best room in the house, the view from our bedroom window in the Kings House Hotel, Buachaille Etive Mor guardian of Glen Etive and Glen Coe, the Shepherd of the Glen.
As night falls, views down beautiful Glen Coe the most stunning stretch of the West Highland Way, see you in the morning.