Thought I would have a change and, instead of heading north or west, I decided to head south and visit Castle Stalker, Port Appin and Oban. My first port of call was Castle Stalker which in the Gaelic is called Stalcaire, meaning Hunter or Falconer. It is believed originally to have been the site of a small fortified building belonging to the MacDougalls when they were Lords of Lorn, and built around 1320.
The MacDougalls lost their title after their defeat by King Bruce at Brander Pass in 1308 but regained it for a period after 1328. In about 1388 the Lordship of Lorn passed to the Stewarts, the lands including Castle Stalker. It is believed that Castle Stalker, much in its present form, was built by the then Lord of Lorn, Sir John Stewart. On a lighter note, it was used as one of the locations for the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
The cafe building is now closed but they had a mobile unit which served me with a splendid cappuccino and a very tasty breakfast bap as I didn't have anything to eat at the hotel. There was a designated viewing point but the path down was very muddy and slippy so I took a few photos from the top of the banking and carried on to Port Appin.
Port Appin was a pretty little fishing village on a peaceful secluded peninsula between Ballachulish and Oban, which overlooked a host of tiny little islands dotted around Loch Linnhe, with Lismore, Morvern and Mull in the background. You could say it was a photographer's dream.
I had a short walk to one of the attractions of the area, the wooden Jubilee Bridge which was built in 1898 to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee and was designed to provide easy access to the Free Church from Portnacroish nearby and, later, to the Railway Line (Ballahulish to Oban). The bridge spanned the salt marsh, known locally as The Marach and was reconstructed in 2014. From it I got a fine view of Castle Stalker and the distant Morven hills.
I then headed for Oban but didn't stay too long as it was very run down with most of the buildings looking as if they would benefit from a lick of pain. Also my legs were aching a bit as well which didn't put me in the best of moods, maybe on another day it would have appealled to me more.
Instead of heading back up the coast, I decided to follow Loch Etive inland, following The Pass of Brander to Loch Awe and then going down Glen Orchy (which was a new experience for me). What a beautiful Glen it was with the road following the River Orchy for its entire length and had plenty of places to pull over to further explore its delights.
The river also boasted a trio of fine waterfalls in the secluded middle section of its course between Dalmally and Bridge of Orchy. These waterfalls aren’t notable for their height, but each had an attractive setting, with fine rock architecture carved by centuries of fluvial erosion, particularly at Eas Urchaidh.
At Eas Urchaidh they had built a small car park with a picnic area so I stopped there for a late lunch and an explore. Unfortunately there wasn't much water coming down the falls but that did enable me to get quite close to them and take some quite nice photos. I shall have to make a return visit after a spell of wet weather so I can experience them when in spate although I should image great care would be needed as the rocks would be very slippy.
The road finally reached The Bridge Of Orchy and the main A82, so I just followed the busy traffic over Rannoch Moor, through Glencoe and back to Fort William. The final drive along the A82 was very tiring so I was relieved to get back to my hotel and have a nice cold pint of lager.
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