Easter 3
- hiking scotland
Today’s theme is water.
It is Easter Saturday and the weather is shite. So we go for a lovely low level walk, the Kinlochleven - Blackwater circuit (click). It is a slow climb over 5 miles up to the Blackwater dam, across the dam, and back on the other side of the river. The glen was dammed over a hundred years ago, combining three lochs into one huge reservoir, to provide hydro-energy for Kinlochleven’s aluminium smelter.
Walking out of Kinlochleven I get us lost right away, but not for long. We follow Glen Leven on a wet path in light rain alongside the river Leven, and we see huge pipes on the other side of the glen coming down the hill to Kinlochleven, and waterfall after waterfall. We stop by the most beautiful waterfall of them all for a rainy lunch. A few streams need to be crossed - usually not a problem, but on a watery day like today at least one of us loses her boots. For some reason the moods are high, and we find ourselves singing, jumping between earworms, catchy songs about rain, umbrellas, boots, bridges. We cross a very dodgy foot bridge.
Most of us are quite soaked when we reach a boggier bit. We finally see the dam, but it is oh so far away! When we finally reach it we climb over the gate to walk across it, ignoring the signs that prohibit it. Our Scottish friends seem to enjoy the rare sight of Germans breaking the rules immensely.
The dam is almost one kilometer long, and walking on it I can almost feel the weight of the water to my left, only held back by a bit of concrete. I wonder where I would rather be if the dam broke. On it, or below in the glen.
On the other side of the glen we follow the path back towards Kinlochleven for a bit, but then we decide to walk on the covered concrete aqueduct, a conduit which takes the water from the dam all the way to the top of the big pipes we saw earlier, above the village. Every once in a while, there is a little gap in the cover and we see the water rushing very fast under our feet. The conduit follows the shape of the hills and is quite exposed at times, giving us great views across the glen, and onto the waterfalls under which we walked just a few hours ago.
I am very wet now. And cold. While I am enjoying this walk very much I am looking forward to a hot shower and a cup of tea. When we reach the pipes, the conduit ends and we join the track again. Four and a half years ago, Kat and I came down here on our last leg of the West Highland Way (klick and klick).
Back at the cottage someone makes pizza - not me, I do nothing. We turn on all the heaters to dry our things and after dinner we check out the pub again.
It is Easter Saturday and the weather is shite. So we go for a lovely low level walk, the Kinlochleven - Blackwater circuit (click). It is a slow climb over 5 miles up to the Blackwater dam, across the dam, and back on the other side of the river. The glen was dammed over a hundred years ago, combining three lochs into one huge reservoir, to provide hydro-energy for Kinlochleven’s aluminium smelter.
Walking out of Kinlochleven I get us lost right away, but not for long. We follow Glen Leven on a wet path in light rain alongside the river Leven, and we see huge pipes on the other side of the glen coming down the hill to Kinlochleven, and waterfall after waterfall. We stop by the most beautiful waterfall of them all for a rainy lunch. A few streams need to be crossed - usually not a problem, but on a watery day like today at least one of us loses her boots. For some reason the moods are high, and we find ourselves singing, jumping between earworms, catchy songs about rain, umbrellas, boots, bridges. We cross a very dodgy foot bridge.
Most of us are quite soaked when we reach a boggier bit. We finally see the dam, but it is oh so far away! When we finally reach it we climb over the gate to walk across it, ignoring the signs that prohibit it. Our Scottish friends seem to enjoy the rare sight of Germans breaking the rules immensely.
The dam is almost one kilometer long, and walking on it I can almost feel the weight of the water to my left, only held back by a bit of concrete. I wonder where I would rather be if the dam broke. On it, or below in the glen.
On the other side of the glen we follow the path back towards Kinlochleven for a bit, but then we decide to walk on the covered concrete aqueduct, a conduit which takes the water from the dam all the way to the top of the big pipes we saw earlier, above the village. Every once in a while, there is a little gap in the cover and we see the water rushing very fast under our feet. The conduit follows the shape of the hills and is quite exposed at times, giving us great views across the glen, and onto the waterfalls under which we walked just a few hours ago.
I am very wet now. And cold. While I am enjoying this walk very much I am looking forward to a hot shower and a cup of tea. When we reach the pipes, the conduit ends and we join the track again. Four and a half years ago, Kat and I came down here on our last leg of the West Highland Way (klick and klick).
Back at the cottage someone makes pizza - not me, I do nothing. We turn on all the heaters to dry our things and after dinner we check out the pub again.
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| Today’s wet walk. Also Buachaille Etive Beag at the bottom, and our cottage in Glencoe (red triangle) |
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| A little birch wood |
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| A very good waterfall. One of the best. |
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| River crossings |
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| Glen Leven |
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| A dodgy footbridge |
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| The Clachaig Inn, seen from our cottage |