Off to the Highlands

Loch Broom from hike

July 24, 2010

Robin and Nicci were kind enough to fill me with pancakes and bacon and then send me off to Waverly Station to catch the 0833 train to Inverness. Not noticing that 2 trains were parked on the same rail, I almost boarded the train to Aberdeen were it not for a very kind lady who pointed me back a few train cars. While waiting for the doors to open so that I could board the right train, 3 folks with daypacks that looked ready for hiking and suitcases walked up, and they were 3 members of our group, Fran, Jen, and Tom. There’s an interesting method of showing that seats are reserved – a little ticket with the seat number and date is fitted into a slot on the back of a seat. Fran gave up her 1st class ticket to sit with us, an act that eventually got her a free cup of coffee from the steward whose future was probably not to be as a Starbucks barista. We settled into watching the scenery as we crossed the Firth of Forth and headed north.

Stand of birches as seen from one of a couple of unplanned stopsEntering the Grampians

Kirkcaldy, Perth, Pitlochry – where we entered the Grampian Mountains – past Aviemore and the Cairngorms, a lovely place where I’d hiked in 2005 – and then to Inverness. As one is wont to do on 3 hr train trips, one visits the loo. In this case it was a space that had a circular sliding door to accommodate wheelchairs. Entering it was easy enough and Jen provided us with instructions when she returned to her seat. Tom then went back there and after a couple of minutes I happened to glance in that direction to see if there was a line, but all I saw was an elderly Scottish lady with her hand over her mouth, eyes wide open in surprise. Turns out that the automatic lock was finicky and basically didn’t work, and she opened the door on Tom. Woops.

But the loo wasn’t done with us yet. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere we came to a stop a couple of times – there wasn’t a rhyme or reason and it didn’t appear to be to allow another train to pass, but I didn’t think much of it. During this time it was Fran’s turn to visit this technological wonder and see if the door would lock, but she had to wait for a young man traveling in 1st class to be done. He seemed to move quickly away from the sliding curved door as I later recalled, disappearing behind the doors into the next section, much like the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain.

All of a sudden we heard a banging and loud knocking on the door as the conductor yelled through the door, “Madam, you cannot hit the emergency stop button! It causes us to stop and this wastes time! You must open the door immediately! Let me in! Do not hit the emergency stop button!” After about 15 seconds Fran emerged from the fancy loo, hands in the air saying, “it wasn’t me – I didn’t hit the button!” Now we knew why the previous occupant left in such haste. He had.

Despite the unscheduled stops, we arrived on time and since it was still early so we grabbed a bite to eat at The Filling Station amidst many kilt-clad bagpipers and drummers – there was to be a parade and several WWII veterans proudly wore their kilts and regalia as part of the celebration. I didn’t find out exactly what was being celebrated, but it was quite well-attended by people from all over the area. I will never tire of hearing bagpipes being played in practice or in concert, the music enhanced that day as the notes echoed off the stones of the plaza.
After walking back to the station we met the remainder of our group – Rachel, Larry, Jessie, and Steve. Angela found us all together and off we went for the first hike of our adventure! The first adventure was packing the back of the van and then arranging ourselves, and we got rather good at this for the duration. Sitting in front with Steve and Angela provided some time to discuss hiking in Ireland which Steve had just done, as well as some of our PNW hikes that I’d done with a friend of mine, Gary, who had done 2 different hiking tours with Angela.

It was grey and 50 degrees in Ullapool, not unlike the unseasonally cool summer we’d been having in Seattle. We drove along Loch Broom to the location of our first hike, the dark color of the loch reflecting the changing shades of pre-storm light in the brooding skies. Angela identified many plants for us along the way including the very prickly gorse. There is a local drive to plant stands of native trees in a park-like setting along the route, which was very pretty. Angela also pointed out gneiss outcroppings and the peak of Stac Pollaidh that we planned to hike to tomorrow, weather-permitting.

Before turning in at the Riverside Guesthouse, a comfortable B&B with great breakfasts, we had dinner at Ladysmith. This was the beginning of a series of dinners for the entire trip that more than satisfied our hikers’ appetites. It was a delightful restaurant.