The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking, trekking, and climbing the world

Hikes & Scrambles in the Highlands of Scotland

One doesn’t associate abundant sun with the Scottish Highlands, so the fantastic weather I experienced during my first three days was bound to end. As I type this blog the rains are pelting down and the fine weather is just a fading memory. . .

With Maggie on three days and by myself for another week, I explored some of the best of what the Glencoe area has to offer the walker as I hope the following photos will attest.

Glencoe Lochan, a short walk from the Village of Glencoe. There are many easy paths to explore around the village.
A pleasant broken scramble on A’ Chailleach. It was a great afternoon warm up with Maggie, featuring plenty of escape routes and unlimited easy to moderate scrambling options to choose from. The long, steep descent on the “grassy” slopes was less enjoyable.
Hidden (aka Lost) Valley from the trailhead on the A82. The eastern and central of the Three Sisters that overlook the Pass of Glencoe from the south are seen here.
Waterfalls along the stream as I headed up into Hidden Valley, a pleasant morning excursion even with clouds and light rain.
After an hour I reached the “hanging” Hidden Valley, seen here. The view towards the headwall and Bidean nam Bian – at 1150m the highest point around Glencoe – was completely obscured by clouds.
On returning to the trailhead, I took this atmospheric shot looking west along A82 and the Pass of Glencoe
Buachaille Etive Mor, the Queen of Scottish Mountains, from the A82 trailhead a few miles out of Glencoe. Its highest peak, Stob Dearg, is seen on the left. I did a hike with Maggie and a solo scramble from this trailhead. The hike was a traverse of several peaks on Bucky. The normal ascent route up the Coire na Tulaich towards the obvious col is clearly seen here.
View north from Stob na Doire toward Ben Nevis, the large round dome. All the exciting scrambling and climbing on the Ben is from the north while the Pony Track is along this southern side.
Aonach Eagach, the most famous knife edge ridge scramble on the Scottish mainland, as seen from Stob Coire Altruim (zoom). The 3 1/2 km notched ridge is just begging to be traversed. Sadly, the weather never did cooperate enough for me to attempt it.
Looking back east along our Buachaille Etive Mor traverse route from Stobna na Broige. A very pleasant hike with fantastic views on a sunny day.
After a descent from the ridge, the River Coupall provided a great place to cool our feet.
A slightly different angle on Buachaille Etive Mor’s Stob Dearg from the A82 trailhead. Here I did a scramble called the Curved Ridge, which began with an approach around the base of the cliffs to the left here.
My first attempt on the route missed the Curved Ridge altogether! It ended near here with some sketchy scrambling on steep, loose rock. Rather than continue, I retraced my route and eventually made the summit by the Curved Ridge proper. I descended by the normal hiking path.
Stob Dearg summit view east toward Rannoch Moor
Stob Dearg summit view north with the dome of Ben Nevis in the distance
A final tough hike I did went up the Coire nan Lochan to the eponymous peak at its head. Here the central and western of the Three Sisters are seen from the trailhead along the A82.
View up the Coire nan Lochan with some of the many waterfalls.
Pool and waterfall along the Coire nan Lochan
View toward the A82 with the east end of Aonach Eagach. I saw six red deer (what we call elk), but they were feeding too far away for a good photo.
View of the Three Lakes from the beginning of the eastern ridge of Stob Coire nan Lochan. Many walkers chose these picturesque lakes as a worthy objective for the day.
Higher up all was in the mist. Here I am looking up the eastern ridge approach on Stob Coire nan Lochan, my objective for the day. The summit is far away in the mist. . .
Some misty scrambling along Stob Coire nan Lochan. Nothing difficult, but route finding can be tricky descending in the fog.
Exciting view south from the summit of Stob Coire nan Lochan towards Bidean nam Bian
The Vagabond Hiker on the summit of Stob Coire nan Lochan (1115m). I relaxed on the summit for nearly an hour, but it never did clear.

Some great hikes and scrambles, but in almost two weeks I feel that I have barely scratched the surface of what the Glencoe area, let alone the Western Highlands, has to offer. I never did climb Ben Nevis (less than an hour drive from my cottage to the trailhead), largely because I wanted to do it by The Ledges, a moderate scrambling route, rather than join the conga line along the Pony Track, and the weather just didn’t cooperate. Well, there’s always the next time. . .

Now its back to the sunny south of England for 10 days until my next adventure, with Maggie in the Spanish Pyrenees. Until then, keep hiking.

The Vagabond Hiker

The Isle of Wight Coastal Path

Last week with a few days to spare I took the ferry from Southampton to Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, to walk part of its Coastal Path. Having only 3 days, I chose a counter-clockwise semicircular loop from Cowes along the Solent in the north to Ventnor on the English Channel in the south. This segment has some of the most dramatic scenery and least developed areas on the isle. Although the weather wasn’t very good (this is England, after all!), the 42 miles were enjoyable nonetheless. Here are a few photos I took. . .

Black headed seagulls seeing me off from Cowes at the start of the first day
Bluebells along the path. They were not yet at their peak.
Rural inland scene walking along a byway. Much of the first day the path was inland, across fields and along country lanes.
Hurst Castle and Hurst Point Lighthouse across the Solent at its narrowest point (zoom)
My hotel in Totland, a welcome sight at the end of the 18 mile first day. A hot shower and restaurant dinner with a glass of wine at the end of each day make inn-to-inn walking very civilized.
View from Headon Warren to the Needles (disappearing into the mist on the right), early on the second day
The Tennyson monument on the eponymous Down, east of the Needles. The poet spent many winters at his home on the Isle of Wight and loved walking the downs.
Vertiginous view to the English Channel from Tennyson Down
View south along Compton Bay on the West Wight coast featuring a foreground of gorse and dog violet
View from near Hanover Point emphasizing the stark contrast between the chalk and sandstone cliffs typical of Wight
Shepherd’s Chine. I had just crossed this deep ravine via steps and a scramble early on the third day.
The Coastal Path meanders through a wood south of the Blackgang Chine
Sea mist rolls in above the South Coast. I took only a few photos this day as the fog occluded many vistas
A misty Flowers Brook on the outskirts of Ventnor near the end of the third day
A Ventnor street view from the top deck of a double-decker bus. I took the bus back to Cowes from Ventnor at the end of the third day.

Next week Maggie and I will be flying to Ireland to get together with my brothers and sister-in-law for a few days on the Dingle Peninsula. Perhaps we’ll do some walking. . .

The Vagabond Hiker

Cornwall Circular Walks

The South coast of Cornwall has a reputation of being less rugged than the north coast, and certainly compared to the section from Westward Ho! to Padstow (see my last post), this was true.  The walks, though, were no less interesting for their more gentle character.  From my cottage near Truro in Cornwall these past two weeks I’ve done several loop walks of lengths varying from five to twelve miles or so. Other than a short walk on Bodmin Moor, all my hikes involved sections of the South West Coast Path followed by an inland return to the start point. The inland portions of the walks were generally pleasant in themselves, by streams, through woods, across meadows, and along quiet country lanes.  The Ordnance Survey (OS) Pathfinder Guide “Cornwall: Outstanding Circular Walks” was invaluable in route-finding for several of the walks.  (At 1:25,000 scale, OS maps cover the entire country with detail similar to USGS Quads). It still amazes me that Public Footpaths and Bridleways crisscross the patchwork of private lands, giving right of way to walkers throughout rural Britain.

As walking options abound within a half hour or shorter drive, I never did get further afield to more well-known spots such as Land’s End or Lizard Point.  In any event, the nearby coast of Roseland Peninsula is indistinguishable from these more famous landmarks, apart from having far fewer tourists. I chose the photos below to capture some of the variety of Cornwall’s landscapes. Enjoy!

Detail of an Early Marsh Orchid, taken near Hartland Quay on Cornwall’s north coast. I should have included this with my last post, but only now got around to identifying it…

The Hurlers, late neolithic or early bronze age stone circles, Bodmin Moor. Bodmin Moor includes Brown Willy, the highest point in Cornwall.

Granite boulders and tree, Bodmin Moor. I loved this wind-blown tree. It reminds me of Tierra del Fuego or Slope Point, the southernmost point on New Zealand’s South Island.

The Vagabond Hiker and the Cheesewring, Bodmin Moor. One of the most amazing rock formations I’ve ever encountered.  Erosion has exposed these stacked granite slabs over the millennia. I got this shot on the first attempt with my timer!

Houseman’s engine house, Bodmin Moor. After farming, mines were the largest employers in this area during the 19th century when this structure was built.

Carne Beach, a few miles south of my Airbnb cottage in Tregony. Red Campion was ubiquitous this past month in both Cornwall and North Devon.

The 19th century John Nash-designed Caerhays Castle and grounds, near Carne Beach

Picturesque Portloe from the South West Coast Path, Roseland Peninsula

Low tide view from near St Mawes looking across the Carrick Roads to Falmouth, the third deepest natural harbor in the world.

Gorgeous wild Gladiolus along the coast path near Boswinger on the Roseland Peninsula

Vault Beach at low tide, looking to Dodman Point, the highest headland on the south Cornwall coast, at 374 ft.

Foxgloves and gorse at Dodman Point.

Chapel Point and (private) beach.  This is one of the most amazing private estates in Cornwall, with 270 degree water views.

A profusion of wildflowers and a classic sailing boat along the coast path near Chapel Point

View from the hamlet of St Anthony across the Percuil River to St Mawes

The wonderfully overgrown St Anthony’s graveyard and church

St Anthony light and sailing boat in the haze (zoom). Definitely not good conditions for photography, but this vista captures what I always thought Cornwall looked like.

View from St Catherine’s Point to Fowey (left)

Flowers making their home in the ruins of St Catherine’s Castle, built by Henry VIII in 1540

The Saints’ Way at its southern end near Fowey, with some Rhododendrons still in bloom. To avoid Lands End, religious pilgrims from Ireland would walk across mid Cornwall from Padstow south to Fowey, before re-embarking.

An impressive beech along the Saints’ Way in the Covington Woods, Fowey

On Monday Maggie and I are off to Bucharest. We will spend two weeks there, divided between the Carpathian Mountains in Transylvania and the Danube Delta, with one day in the capital city of Romania.  Until next post, keep hiking and enjoying nature!

The Vagabond Hiker

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