Wigtwizzle - Norman Smith's Travel Blog.: loch lochy

After breakfast I took the back road out of Banavie to Spean Bridge but turned off it part way along to take me to Clunes on the banks of Loch Lochy. Took some good moody shots of the Loch with the distant Grey Corrie hills as a backdrop before heading along The Mile Dorcha (The Dark Mile) to Eas Chia-aig waterfall at Loch Arkaig.

The dark mile got its name from the fact it is a narrow wooded valley which gets very little sunshine, thus the walls are all thickly covered in mosses. Legend has it that when Bonnie Prince Charlie fled Scotland, he buried a stash of gold in this area, which the French had sent him to finance the 1745 rebellion and, to this day, it has never been found.

I then retraced my tracks and headed to the coast, stopping off at Arisag for a coffee in the harbour tearoom. It is an unlikely place to have a cafe but in my opinion, it serves the best cappuccino I have ever had. I have been there twice now and each time it's been top notch; very strong and very frothy.

There isn't much roadside parking on the Coastal Trail now but I managed to get the last parking spot at Camas Rubha a Mhurain where I did a bit of beach combing and photography but didn't even attempt to get in to the Camusdarach car park as it was crammed full. It was be expected as it was July and the height of the holiday season so it didn't bother me too much as I like my beaches quiet.

I timed my arrival at Mallaig just as The Jacobite steam train was departing so got a good photo of it and also managed to get one of it crossing the distant Allt a' Mhama viaduct as it enters Loch nan Uamh.

Not wanting to waste such a nice day, in the evening I had a drive down Glen Nevis to both the Upper and Lower Falls. A fitting way to end a lovely, if hectic day.

Loch Lochy

The Dorcha Mile

Eas Chia-aig Waterfall

Traigh

Camas Rubha a Mhurain

The Jacobite

Loch nan Uamh

Glen Nevis

Upper Falls, Glen Nevis

Glen Nevis

Lower Falls, Glen Nevis

What a day of two halves. A morning spent watching the cloud breaking over Loch Lochy, revealing the Nevis Range in its full glory, plus a visit to Eas Chia-aig waterfall and The Mile Dorcha near Loch Arkaig and then a frustrating afternoon trying to visit the beautiful Silver Sands of Morar and Arisaig.

When I left the hotel, Loch Linnhe and Fort William were shrouded in mist, but the forecast was good, so I revisited an old favourite, Eas Chia-aig near Loch Arkaig. The two lower falls of Eas Chia-aig can be viewed quite easily from the roadside, but for the more adventurous, a path climbs up through the forest to the upper falls. There wasn't too much water coming down, so I just took the easy option, parking up and walking along the road to see the lower falls.

I had an unexpected political rant with a young couple parked up in an old VW camper van, regarding the state of the country and the shower who are trying to govern it. I would hasten to add that we were all on the same side, but it felt good, albeit quite surreal, getting things off one's chest in the middle of nowhere whilst being surrounded by such beautiful scenery. You would have though politics would have been the last thing on our minds, but I think it was me asking them if they lived in their camper van permanently or were just holidaying which started it all off, as this led to the homelessness issue and progressed to the current situation in general.

After viewing the waterfall, I walked back along the road to the Mile Dorcha, or Dark Mile. This is a deeply wooded section of road in the steep-sided valley, flanked by walls and trees carrying an incredible thickness of moss. Obviously, the place sees very little sunshine and is consequently very damp, which allows the moss to take over. This area's other claim to fame is as the alleged hiding place of a consignment of gold landed by the French at Arisaig for the Jacobites in 1746. It was reportedly hidden somewhere near Loch Arkaig, but the hiding place, it is said, has never been found.

By now the sun had burnt the clouds off, so I got some fabulous photos of Loch Lochy, looking across to The Ben Nevis range of hills.

The afternoon was spent on a fruitless drive along The Road To The Isles, which runs from Fort William to Mallaig. I had wanted to visit the coastal sands which are normally very peaceful and beautiful, but I think that this year, due to the travel restrictions, everyone has flocked to the area so it was absolute chaos. The one narrow coastal road was gridlocked at one point due to inconsiderate parking.

I eventually managed to squeeze through but couldn't stop, so I headed back towards Fort William, having a short drive along the Ardnamurchan road to a small village called Glenuig where I called for a pint and sat in the beer garden adjacent to Loch Ailort.

It was a complete contrast to the earlier shenanigans, so for the foreseeable future, I think I'll leave the Morar coastline for out of season visits.