A long journey north.

The Scottish winter has been pretty tough so far but at last a break in the weather caused Mike and I to meet up with Ian on the west coast. For various reasons revolving round orthopaedic surgery, I had not been far north of Glasgow since early 2013, so I was rather looking forward to this trip.

We had a much easier drive than Ian who was travelling over from the north east.Our route over Rannoch Moor and...

 ...through Glen Coe was thankfully clear of snow. Mike took these photos as I was keeping my eye on the road.

 The mountains were looking in great condition.

 I took up sea kayaking because I was finding mountaineering increasingly difficult due to painful dislocations of my knees. I had last been high in these hills in early 2001 when I climbed one of the gullies high in the summit cliffs at the head of the corrie in the middle of this photo.

Unfortunately my knee dislocated twice during the climb of SC Gully and so it became my last winter climb. It had also been one of my first winter climbs in 1973. I have missed getting into the winter hills. I spent last winter...

  ...learning how to climb stairs...

...after my second knee operation.

 Anyway it was too late to go out on the water so after we met Ian, we decided  to nip up a little hill...

 ...called Ardsheal Hill. It is only 263m high but I was really quite pleased to get up (and down) it.

 Being on the shores of Loch Linnhe it had wonderfull views to the NE and...

 ...the SW.  The islands of Eilean Balnagowan,...

 ...Shuna and Lismore looked very inviting. We made plans while we descended in the winter gloaming.

You can follow our winter adventures in stereovision by also following Ian's blog.

Meall a' Bhuiridh

Here is news of performances of a new musical composition accompanied by a display of fine art photographic images inspired by the Glen Coe ski hill. The music is by Spad and the photography by my daughter Jennifer.

Photo Jennifer Wilcox

Photo Jennifer Wilcox

The performances are as follows:
1st March 2012– Glasgow, The Universal, 9.30pm (Tickets £6 and £4 consession)
3rd March 2012 – Glencoe Ski Centre, 6.30pm (free!)

The commission was supported by Creative Scotland.

Being a cheapskate, I thought I might head up to Glencoe on Saturday the third and go for a paddle in Loch Leven  then go for a a meal in either the Isles of Glencoe Hotel or the Clachaig before heading up to the ski centre. Anyone fancy coming?

A lone kayaker was dwarfed by the scale of the landscape.

Sunday, the first of March, dawned with the summits of the distant hills of Ardgour to the west catching the rays...


...of a sun still hidden below the icy mass of the Mamores to the east.


We were soon paddling round the islands of Loch Leven below the shapely curves of Sgorr na Ciche.


From the islands we made our way down to the tidal narrows of Ballachulish and practiced ferry gliding in the current.


We stopped for lunch in Alison's Bay. At sea level the flowering gorse bushes were full of spring promise but on the summits the slopes were still in the grip of winter.


A lone kayaker was dwarfed by the scale of the landscape.


This was a gentle day of only 11km but what scenery!

This was the Scottish Canoe Association luxury weekend. It was organised by Lena Michie. Thank you Lena! :o)

01/03/2009

A decent burial, in Glen Coe

We landed on Eilean Munde, Glen Coe's Isle of the Dead, under leaden grey skies.


There are graves of Stewarts, McInnesses, MacDonalds and Camerons. Even when the clans were in conflict, Eilean Munde was seen as neutral territory and the island is where warring clansmen were laid beside each other in death.

It is said that McIain, chief of the Glen Coe MacDonalds was buried here after the infamous massacre in 1692. It was planned as a premeditated murder of an entire clan by Campbell of Glen Lyon, who was on the Government side. At the time, the clans had been warring for hundreds of years and the MacDonalds were no saints, having just three years before, laid waste to the crofts and stolen the cattle from Glen Lyon on their way back from the Battle of Killiecrankie. The Massacre of Glen Coe attracted widespread loathing and condemnation throughout Scotland because Campbell of Glen Lyon and 128 of his men had being staying in Glen Coe as guests of MacIain for the previous 11 nights.

About 400 people lived in the Glen at that time. 38 men, including MacIain, were murdered and a further 40 women and children later died during a blizzard on the hills as they attempted to escape. However, over three quarters of the clan escaped, some to friends in Campbell lands in Etive. Some of the Campbell solders were so disgusted at this planned "murder in trust" that they forewarned their hosts. Two were lieutenants, Francis Farquhar and Gilbert Kennedy. They were arrested and imprisoned for disobeying orders.


At the crest of the island there is a ruined chapel. Its predecessor was built built in wood by St. Fintan Mundus, who came here from Iona in the 7th Century.


It was was burnt down in 1495 and the present stone structure dates from the 16th century. The last service took place in 1653.


Many of the monuments and gravestones are carved from local Ballachulish slate, like this magnificent Celtic cross.


One Stewart, James of the Glen, was not fortunate enough to be buried in this peaceful spot. Colin Campbell of Glenure was the Government Factor and he took it upon himself to evict Stewarts from their crofts and install Campbells in their place. In 1753 Campbell and his henchmen crossed into Appin by the Ballachulish ferry. They were on their way to evict more Stewarts, when he was shot in the back by an unseen marksman. The "Appin Murder" so outraged the Campbells that they took James of the Glen, the first Stewart that they found, to Inverary Castle. Here their Chief, the Duke of Argyll, sat with 11 Campbell jurors and sentenced James to death, despite having not a shred of evidence. James was hanged at South Ballachulish and his body was left chained to the gibbet until it fell to pieces.

Much as we had enjoyed our visit to this interesting place, we counted ourselves lucky to have a save passage home from Eilean Munde.

P.S. If you are a Campbell, and you are thirsty or need a bed for the night in Glen Coe, it's probably best to adopt a pseudonym, such as Smith. The Clachaig Inn, at the mouth of the Glen, still displays a sign "No hawkers or Campbells". For a neutral account of this emotive part of Scottish history see "Glencoe and the End of the Highland War" by Paul Hopkins.

28/02/2009

Eilean Munde, an isle in a Stygian situation.

Once through the narrows, we found ourselves in Loch Leven (Loch Leamhain or Loch of the elms).


As we paddled on we approached little Eilean Munde which nestled in a corner of the loch under the Stygian heights and recesses of Glen Coe.


Eilean Munde is named after St Fintan Mundus who founded an abbey here in the seventh century.


The island is also known as Eilean Nam Mairbh (Isle of the Dead). It has been used as a burial ground for centuries, the dead are carried over in a small boat.


As we approached, all was quiet and peaceful and even the wind died away.

28/02/2009

An alluring view of a pointed breast and a thunderbolt!

After a brief stop at Rubh a Bhaid Beithe (point of the alluring beechwood), our course turned due east.


We now caught sight of Sgorr na Ciche ,the mountain which guards the west entrance of Glen Coe.


Sgorr na Ciche is Gaelic for "pointed peak of the breast". The Gaels are a poetic lot but they have a point.


To our south the ridges of Beinn a Bheithir (hill of the thunderbolt) rose into the clouds.

28/02/2009

When mountains crumble to the sea.

If the sun refused to shine, I would still be loving you.
When mountains crumble to the sea, there will still be you and me.
"Thank You" Led Zeppelin

Finding an erratic pink rhyolite pebble on the beach at Inchmarnock took my mind to its source. It came from the mountain of Buachaille Etive Mor which sits between Glen Etive and GlenCoe nearly 100km away to the NNE. Its Gaelic name means great shepherd of Etive. It is composed mainly of rhyolite, a pink volcanic rock, which gives excellent scrambling and rock climbing.


This is the Rannoch Wall which has many popular climbing routes.


My friend, John, completes a climb up the face of the Rannoch Wall,


This is an old B&W print I took in 1973. I used an orange filter to darken the blue in the sky. It shows the King's House Hotel, which is situated at the Buachaille's feet. It was one of the old staging inns at which horse drawn carriages would stop after a day's travel. The next inn on the road north is the Clachaig, at the west end of Glen Coe, some 14km away and the next to the south is the Inveroran Hotel, 15km to the south over the Rannoch Moor, near the shores of Loch Tulla. It took a long time to travel in those days.


I wonder how long this pebble took on its journey south to Inchmarnock?