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From a very young age, Rannoch Moor had always inspired me to visit it on many occasions but never to venture too far from where the road terminates at Rannoch Station. Being brought up in Kinloch Rannoch, my parents on many occasions took us on day trips on the West Highland Railway from Rannoch Station to Fort William and occasionally included the extended journey up to Mallaig if the pennies stretched that far.
The journey from Rannoch to Corrour was always my favourite as I viewed the landscape from the train window; the open moor, the lonely lochans, the solitary tree as well as the impressive high hills that created a stunning backdrop. One day I vowed that I would walk in this area to experience the stunning scenery and the loneliness and solitude of the moor. The walk across the moor from Rannoch Station to the Kingshouse Hotel at Glencoe was one such walk.
Another reason for re-kindling this walk was to tackle it in memory of my dad who had recently passed away. In his younger years, my dad had loved this area and had on one occasion walked across to the Kingshouse and back with a colleague in one day, a tremendous feat considering that the path was mostly unrecogniseable across the wet, and boggy ground with no decent track until they reached the Black Corries Lodge. In addition, they tackled this route towards the back end of the year when daylight hours were at a minimum.
By all accounts, the walk over to the Kingshouse was uneventful and straightforward and on arrival they just had time to grab a quick nip and a pint from the public bar before setting off back to Rannoch as time was critical. It was on the return journey that my dad's colleague began to tire badly, removing his boots on one occasion and refusing to walk another step. It took great persuasion to get him to move again and as the darkness began to descend, my dad was beginning to get worried as they were not equipped to spend a night on the cold, unsheltered moor. In complete darkness, my dad was on the point of giving up when he finally glimpsed the solitary light of the station master's house at Rannoch Station. This provided the stimulus to keep going despite the fact that they were both on their last legs. A round trip of 22 miles was achieved in this one day.
Dad told me this story many years ago and since then I have always wanted to do this route albeit over two days instead of one with an overnight stop in Glencoe. My dad's adventure deserved much respect and showed how fit he was at the time. I hopefully would experience some of the conditions and difficulty of route that they went through many years ago.
To accompany me on this epic walk, my daughter Bernie, her husband Steven and their dog Angus had expressed an interest in joining me. I had driven up early that morning from Strathearn to Rannoch meeting up with Bernie and Steven at the Loch Rannoch Lodges where they had spent the night. The drive up the north side of Loch Rannoch was pleasant and although the distant hills of Glencoe and the Blackmount were covered in a duvet of grey cloud, the lower ground looked fine and clear.
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- The three amigos and Angus the dog at start at Rannoch Station
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- Bernie and Steven at Rannoch Station
Parking at the 'end of the road' at Rannoch Station (must be the only Scotrail car park where there is no charge), the midges were out in abundance in their millions looking for new blood for breakfast. A solitary stag also made its presence as it quite tamely crossed the car park oblivious to the two trains at the station and the busy car park. From this point, a good track sets off from the station heading across the moor to the iconic shape of Buchaille Etive Mor which didn't look like it was 12 miles away! We had timed our arrival at the station perfectly as two trains, one heading north and the other south were pulling into the station. Within a few minutes, both trains would be setting off in different directions returning the station to the isolation that it has for most of the day.
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- Stag at Rannoch
As we set off on the Right of Way (RoW) track, the sun came out lighting up the way ahead and partially lifting the shroud of mist covering the distant Glencoe Hills. Hopefully the day would stay this way, well, until we reached the Glencoe side.
From the station, the walking is easy and straightforward as you follow a good, well-drained track passing Dubh Lochan on your left. Shortly after, you pass the last settlement before you head off into the wonderful wilderness of Rannoch Moor. You have a sense of isolation and vulnerability as you now enter the dense forest on the northern side of Loch Laidon. Just before you do, it is worth taking the short detour towards the eastern shore of Loch Laidon where there is a lovely sandy beach. Yes, I know it's hard to believe this but it's true. Apart from the squally showers and midges, you could imagine you were at a Mediterranean resort (well maybe not quite!).
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- Bernie and I at the sandy beach, Loch Laidon
The walk through the forest is long but far from boring as the monotony is kept to a minimum by the rich damp forest smells, the pleasant and warm pockets of the sun's warmth and the numerous burns that require to be crossed. Occasional forest breaks give you good views across Loch Laidon to the isolation of Rannoch Moor and to the distant Bridge of Orchy and Blackmount Hills.
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- One of the many burns you have to cross in the forest section
The end of the forest is finally reached at a large forest gate. The southern part of Loch Laidon can now be seen as well as the open moor. The good track thankfully continues for about another kilometre through rocky terrain with sporadic clumps of mainly deciduous trees. There are many examples of rowan trees growing out of large granite rocks - truly a Scottish landscape.
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- Emerging from the forest section
The track finally ends at a turning circle without any vehicles. From this point, you are now well and truly onto the loneliness and wilderness of the moor proper. In bad weather this could be an extremely uncomfortable place to be. However today, apart from the squally passing showers, this isolated place was a pleasure to be in. Although isolated, this place had one form of modern amenity - a line of electricity poles heading across the moor to probably service the Black Corries Lodge some distance away yet. One saving grace in bad weather would be to just follow this electricity lifeline until you reached Glencoe or Rannoch Station in the opposite direction.
From the turning circle, a faint path can be seen weaving its way between the power line poles eventually swerving away from Loch Laidon as it continues its course across the moor to the Black Corries Lodge. Good views of Loch Laidon and its many isolated islands relieve the monotony of the boggy trudge across the moor.
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- Now onto the exposed moor
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- The power line across the moor
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- One of the many islands on Loch Laidon
Short but heavy showers now made the trudge across the moor a pain although the views down to a distant Loch Laidon kept the spirits up. Buchaille Etive Mor could now be clearly seen giving us the impression that we didn't have far to go. This of course was far from the truth. After about 4km, we eventually reached the start of good track. It's probably only a matter of time before this final section of the moor is bulldozed to make the walk across to Kingshouse a dawdle.
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- Start of the good track near the county boundary between Tayside and Argyll
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- Is this the Menzie's Stone?
We were now close to the county boundary between Tayside and Argyll and we looked for the Menzie's Stone marked on the OS map but could not find it as every large granite rock in the vicinity looked impressive. Near the track turning circle, we stopped for lunch. We met a guy who was walking across the moor on the way we had come and he was heading for a distant Loch Rannoch where he was spending the night.
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- Small lochan passed before the Black Corries Lodge
From here, the good track undulated its way across the moor passing a small but quaint lochan before reaching the Black Corries Lodge which was completely surrounded by a high fence and plenty of tree cover. A polite notice on the gate leading to the Lodge requested walkers to follow the path around the lodge grounds to respect their privacy. When dad and his friend walked here they probably walked passed the Lodge main door. In bad weather, this out of place civilisation is most welcome indeed. It looks so out of place in such a wild and remote location.
The rain came on heavy now and although the walk on the track was easier, the rain was directly hitting you face on. In the distance we could see another small patch of forest, then further on could be seen the white building and outhouses of the Kingshouse - journey's end for today anyway. We still had some way to go though.
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- Good view of the 'Buchall' with the Kingshouse away in the distance
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- Track following the river Allt Chailleach
Approaching the forest plantation, we observed a herd of wild goats who were feeding on dry hay from a farm shed. Apparently these goats stem back to Jacobite times when they were reared for their meat and milk. Nowadays they seem to just roam on the plentiful land of Rannoch Moor and surrounding hills.
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- Wild goats
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- The Blackmount Hills
With the Kingshouse now within sight, we maintained a good pace to at least get out of this dreich rain. The track eventually followed the Allt Chailleach river which was pretty active with its swollen water from the surrounding hills and all the rain. Shortly after this we arrived at the short tarmac road which would take us to the Kingshouse Hotel, a welcome site. Plenty visitors and walkers were at this popular place being close to the route of the WHW. The quaint bridge was crossed where there was also an information board describing the history of this area. Good views of the 'Buchal' are observed from here; all great picture postcard stuff. Below the bridge two guys were erecting tents for an obvious overnight camp - good luck to them I thought. Within a short distance from the hotel, a young stag was seen wandering around the grounds and eventually settled down in a nearby forest plantation out of the constant rain. This gave us the excuse to visit the 'climbers' bar' to partake in restoring the fluids before our taxi arrived to take us to our overnight accommodation in Glencoe Village. This bar was an invaluable place to get out of the rain as well as to dry our jackets etc. Of course the beer is also good as well as the hot food available which goes down well after a long walk like we had just done. I was in no hurry for the taxi to arrive!
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- Journey's end at the Kingshouse Hotel
Typically the weather cleared up on the taxi ride to Glencoe Village giving us great views of the high mountains on either side of the Glencoe pass. I was looking forward to getting a good shower and a meal before retiring to bed to hopefully get a good night's sleep before heading back to Rannoch tomorrow.
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- Lodgings for the night in Glencoe Village
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- Room with a view - Loch Leven
I thought about dad at this point for his 'day trip' to Kingshouse and back. How they completed this marathon walk I do not know. I was completely knackered on reaching the halfway mark (12 miles) and could not contemplate returning across the moor today. Total respect for a well-loved and missed dad.
