Rannoch Moor, Glen Etive and Glen Coe

Having left the road through Glen Orchy and turned northwards towards Glencoe, the next feature of note was Rannoch Moor which is a huge area of wilderness with the A82 running along its western side. It was cold and wet by that point in the journey and even so, Rob stopped for a while to take a photo but soon gave up. Much more time is needed here and in the right light there would be amazing photo opportunities. Not today though.

Just past the Glen Coe ski area there is a left hand turn which takes you to the head of Loch Etive. It’s a single track road with passing places but Rob discovered not everyone knows what this means. On two occasions cars didn’t stop even though they were within a car’s length of one. The second car reversed back but the first continued on, trying to squeeze past. Rob’s Volvo survived but the other car looked as though the front wheel had dropped into a ditch ... best to pretend not to notice and carry on. The car wasn’t there on the way back so maybe it wasn’t as bad as it looked.

Rob spent quite a bit of time in this valley, mainly because it had stopped raining for a while. Once again it was very picturesque and although he realised he’d been here with Julie around 2011 (or was it 2010?) he didn’t remember the waterfalls here, nor the slightly pink rock surrounding them. Having photographed a couple of waterfalls and spending time talking to two wild campers (what they were doing, they were very pleasant) it was way past when Rob should have left, so after checking out the Skyfall location he returned back along the valley and then through Glen Coe to Glencoe (are you following this?) and then southwards along the coast road back to the Lodge.

At the end of the day there were a few photos to be had but the drive was well worth it whatever. It was raining again as Rob went to dinner but then it didn’t matter by then. The forecast for tomorrow isn’t all that good ... it’s a day of travelling to get to Skye where the rumour is it’s full. Rob’s a little nervous as to where he’ll be sleeping tomorrow night and wonders, if it’s pouring down, if it’ll be the first night spent in the back of the car.Read more