Day 6) Bridge of Orchy to Kingshouse, West Highland Way
Monday 5th September – Bridge of Orchy over Rannoch Moor to Glencoe wild campsite at the foot of Glencoe. (13 miles/21 kilometres)
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Rannoch Moor viewed from a cairn on the shoulder of a hill approaching Inveroran hotel. We walk in continual circles at the top to give the midges the slip.
A lovely official wild campsite just past Inveroran hotel.
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The military road of the Way climbs to the 1000 foot high plateau of Rannoch Moor. Mountain tops emerge around us.
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This really is getting close to true wilderness. Except for the track that traverses it, Rannoch Moor is 50 square miles of bogs, lochs and streams, surrounded by wispy mountain peaks.
The surrounding mountain peaks give a real sense that Rannoch Moor is indeed an elevated plateau.
We’re second last to leave today out of all those tents. Never mind, our tardiness has not yet compromised our mission and we’ve got the nice long summer days! We climb away over the shoulder of a hill adjoining Bridge of Orchy to a cairn at the top with a fair view of the great barren humps of the upcoming Rannoch Moor. We pace around the cairn in circles to escape the midges, while we give our teeth a morning brush, and then descend to the Inveroran hotel where we’re directed to a water tap at the back by a somewhat unfriendly hotel employee. At this stage, Jo becomes desperate to pinch a loaf, and we select the only concealed position we can in some nearby woods. As soon as Jo is in a compromised position, swarms of specialised crevice-biting midges issue forth and give us a real run for our money! The situation becomes genuinely intolerable as Jo is swarmed and given a good biting; as soon as we can, we run from the woods flailing around with our packs and bog paper and head for the Forestry Commission gate which marks the start of the climb onto Rannoch Moor. A sign on it warns that camping is not permitted for the next 10 miles and to turn back if you have doubts about your ability to walk that distance in a single stint. The military road over the moor was to make for quite easy walking, but we find ourselves overheating to begin with on the gentle, but continuous upward climb. As we progress, wisping clouds and surrounding peaks generate a real sensation of being elevated high up on a plain.
We stop for a break on the mounds above the River Ba.
The little rocky gorge of the River Ba marks the half way point across Rannoch moor.
One can make out the great triangular silhouette of Buachaille Etive Mor in the background through the mist.
We are excited to approach The Great Herdsman of Etive (Buachaille Etive Mor) as neither of us have seen this striking mountain before.
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The path slopes down off Rannoch Moor and we can identify Kingshouse Hotel, beside our target for the day, at the foot of Glencoe.
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The path traverses the valley floor and draws perpendicular to Buachaille Etive Mor.
Indeed, Rannoch Moor is the UK’s highest moor. Our spirits have been consistently high, and we have reached a kind of travelling equilibrium, with lessening rucksack-related pains and legs going into a kind of automatic mode. We went beyond the call of the path again to ascend the cairn at the highest point on the moor, bumping into a group of 5 students at the bottom who had passed us at Conic Hill (continual overtaking and undertaking other groups is a feature of walking the Way). We lunch on the cairn and the continue to increasingly dramatic mountains and the crossing of the Ba Bridge, a minor rock-lined ravine at the mid-point of the moor. Despite the area’s notorious reputation (and contrary to our own previous experiences in crossing parts of it), the weather remains clear throughout the day. Rounding the corner, we catch our first views of The Great herdsman of Etive and the Kingshouse Hotel. The “Great Herdsman” (Buachaille Etive Mor) is a truly magnificent triangle of rock which divides Glencoe and Glen Etive, and makes a wonderful backdrop to the final walk over the head of Rannoch Moor to the wild campsite.
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Always good to have the woman put up the tent.
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Always good to slap on midge repellant ASAP. Kingshouse is without reserve the worst campsite we have ever encountered for midges.
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Always good to have the man do the cooking.
Food consumption is belatedly moved inside the tent.
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View from our tent - before some friendly Belgians helped us move it to higher ground away from the worst of the midges (before we all, including the Belgians, ran to Kingshouse Hotel to seek refuge).
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Kingshouse is 10 out of 10 for midge severity. We made it 12 out of 10 by initially locating the tent beside long grasses and water, and in a hollow sheltered from the breeze.
Upon our arrival, the designated site is already becoming busy. Like idiots, we ‘forget’ our better intuition about midge avoidance, and find a ‘nice spot’ down by the river amongst the grasses. As it turned out, this was to become the most intense hotspot of what would prove to be a midge massacre area. At first there were no problems, though as we prepared Mediterranean couscous and sausage we were forced to retreat to the tent, which thereafter became enveloped by a dense swarm guarding the vestibule – unlike anything we’ve ever seen. It became literally intolerable to leave the tent for water and washing, and even running at full speed would not shake them!
You can see why this is a particularly bad campsite.
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Can you see all the little black dots? They're all midges ready to attack as soon as we come out, and they look much worse in real life.
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They're really swarming outside the tent.
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Sunset over Glencoe.
A group of Belgians kindly helped us to effect an emergency move to higher ground, though the new spot also proved nearly so midge ridden that erecting the tent fully was difficult and we all ended up running to the bar at the nearby hotel! Unsurprisingly here lurked virtually all of the would-be occupants of the wild campsite! As the sun set, the midges died down somewhat, permitting a return to fully erect the tent. However, these little biters had previously colonised the insides of the tent in droves, having gained access by swooping in when we made quick entrances and exits through the zipped mesh door. We removed these by sweeping the inner tent walls with a repellent-covered hand and were able to fall asleep fairly quickly, to the background cries of other campers (some of whom were genuinely a little freaked out by the sheer density of the encircling swarms). Today was a great lesson in why head nets (which are readily available) need to be standard equipment during the midge season.
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