Highland weekend – 14-17 Feb 2003

We had an idyllic time in Scotland. The flights to Glasgow and back were easy going, no missiles flashing past. On Saturday, we took the car ferry with Tom and Jo from Gourock to Dunoon and drove to Puck's Glen just north of Ardbeg on the A880. There are some lovely forestry walks uphill with an endless series of waterfalls tumbling down narrow gorges.

Waterfalls

Water cascading over the gorge sides froze into dripping icicles and the splashes from the waterfalls glazed the rocky paths with ice. Deep in the gorges, sunlight barely made an appearance, but as we climbed higher, the clear blue sky let in the sun and transformed the dark brooding glen into a contrasting world of brilliant light and eerie twilight.

  Icicles       Eerie light  

Eventually, we made it above the canopy of fir and birch trees to find Creag Mhor above us. It was getting late and we were starving, so left the final assault to another day.

          Above the canopy

The going got harder downhill as we took a different path which was narrower, steeper and very icy. It was quite beautiful and magical too. It would be so easy to imagine fairies or the little people flitting in and out of view. An ancient fallen tree crossed the glen and where it rested on the other side, two branches grew upright into new trees.

  Fallen tree

We then took the A815 alongside Loch Eck to the Coylet Inn for lunch, but were 20 minutes too late as they stop serving lunch at 2.00pm. The Inn has a wonderful view over the loch. It was very hard to walk away from the smell of smoked fish and venison.

Before reaching the viewpoint of Rest and be Thankful, we found a small post office which has a sideline as a cafe. In fact, the food was really nice and homemade.

Driving back, we almost hit a big roebuck playing chicken on the road, then shortly after a ewe almost ran into us and just to round things off nicely, we passed a drunk clutching a half bottle of spirits staggering from side to side on the opposite lane. You wonder if they had all visited the same still.

On the dark side of the mountains we passed a scene from an ice world. Everything glistening white, even to the finest twigs on the hazel bushes, traced in a delicate filligree, overlooked by a pale blue full moon.

The journey then took us past Loch Lomond and over the Erskine Bridge back to Gourock.

On Sunday, we had another walk along the banks of the Clyde to the Ardgowan Estate. Rafts of eider duck fed close inshore and redshank and curlew foraged onshore.

Inside the estate, we came across whole banks of snowdrops, before passing the derelict chapel and heading back just before the Inverkip marina.

  Ardgowan snowdrops.

Back at the hoose, much fine wine and food was made reverence to, not to mention the excellent malt whisky, including the Edradour.