J&J's European Adventure

14 August

Nevis Range

Today was outdoor adventure day. We took a bus to the base of Aonach Mor in the Nevis Range, which is at a major ski area. Major for Scotland, at least. In the summer, the gondola mostly hauls bicyclists to the top so they can careen down a couple of paths to the bottom. There are two hiking trails at the top of the gondola, and open access to the upper part of the mountain that is serviced by T-bars during ski season. We climbed up the slopes, past the tops of the highest lifts, and found the summit at 1221 meters.

In addition to the physical exertion of climbing 1884 vertical feet over open, tundra-like rocky terrain, the actual finding of the summit was an achievement in itself, because we were in heavy clouds most of the time. We hoped to get a good view of Ben Nevis, Scotland's tallest peak – 1344 meters – but it was several miles away and we could only see about 100 feet. We took pictures anyway.

As we were coming down, we took a slightly different track and walked right up to a HUGE, sheer drop-off. We didn't nearly fall off or anything like that, but it was certainly a big surprise! Without the clouds, I'm sure the view would have been awesome. It was still pretty good, but impossible to photograph. We took 2.5 hours to go up, and 2 to come down. It's entirely possible that we could have chosen a better descent route, as we wandered off onto a bunch of moss-covered, loose, large rocks on a very steep slope. Despite it all, we made it back okay and rode the gondola down in plenty of time to catch the last bus to town.

We had sundaes at McDonald's for supper while we used their free internet to check email and send pictures. This area is the ancestral home of the McDonald clan. When McDonald's opened their first store in Paris, it was greeted like another German invasion. I suspect they got a warmer welcome here.

We crossed the 900-mile walking mark today.

Daily miles: 7.35

Expenses: £68.08 (room, Nevis Range)

Fort William