Trip to Scotland 1983: Four and half months in the Highlands and Islands

[DCampbell16B]

The purpose of my trip to Comrie was to visit the Tartan Museum. In keeping with my past entries I won't describe details of how clothes were sewn, or how the backs of target were constructed. But I see in my notes to contact or meet one P MacDonald. @figheadair would that have been you in 1983?

[DCampbell16B]

2 July

95p to Newburgh
85p fish & chips
15p tea
95p bus back
£2.50 gloves
£2.99 windbreaker (the non-waterproof one...)
£1.08 food
5p phone

[The wallet I used was a long bookfold one to carry travelers checks, cash, and passport. Walking to get fish and chips I had my jacket over my shoulder since it was warm. Getting on the bus I noticed it gone. I ran back and found it still lying in the road. It could have been a bad day.]

I made the bus to Newburgh. Had a layover. Day clear, breezy, cool. Newburgh looks about the size of Owego (NY where I grew up and still live). Very quiet ( because it was Sat morning?). Everyone very friendly, busdrivers wave, talk to passengers. Passengers on the local bus know each other and talk.

Need to get vitawheat, shortbread, jam, OS map of Pitlochry. [Went to a leatherworker by the name of Morris.] He said the fire at Inverary little was lost. Antiques carries out by chains of rows people and kept in homes out of weather until the castle rebuilt.

[DCampbell16B]

10p shower hot water
£1 bus
£2.60 hostel
£1.58 map
£1.80 food
80p fish and chips

Went to church. Was told it was Perth Holiday Fortnight so only 40-50 in church. Was invited to a meal with the pastor and wife. Cold turkey, boiled and fried potatoes, carrots, cauliflower and cheese sauce, blackberry cake with whipped cream [feast for me!]

[More bouncy bus notes]

Left Perth 2:30 cool, cloudy, threatening but no rain. To Cupar yesterday [not sure what I meant?] 3-4 ruined castles/keeps on small back roads.
Main route, no stops to Pitlochry
Mr Thomas of the Perth church usually wears a kilt to church, speaks Gaelic. Saw 2 men on the way out of town wearing kilts.
Heading over the Highland line for good. Unlike going to Comrie you can really see entering the hills. This is near the road to Grandtully.
Pitlochry reminds me of Waterville [VT]. Same Alpine. Little traffic, quiet except for wind, busses and birds.

Tomorrow cash traveller's checks, post a card and printed matter [I shipped home printed flyers and a couple small books in two packages. Only one made it. I know better how to pack things now.], freight the suitcase ahead [to Crianlarich].

Went window shopping. Need matches!
Bedroom and dining room look over Pitlochry and Creag an Fhithich.
You'd better check food, last town in [is?] Kinnloch Rannoch til Loch Tay? Killin? and you may not get food after!!!

Food, now have some spam, 2 boxes vitawheat, shortcake, need some small cans of food, matches.
Meths [methylation spirits] white spirt, down main street by tourist[?] shop and flower shop.

[My plan was to hike across Rannoch Moor to Glen Coe. Hence the following entry]
Well, if you get out on the moor and starve, you've no one to blame but yourself. Watched cluds whip over Creag an Fhithich and across Pitlochry. I'm here. I still can't believe I intend to do this. The immensity of the area has finally hit me. Also it's desolateness.

Card to McDuffie [my graduate professor]

I can lay in bed (top bunk) and look out picture window and see from the Linn of Tummel, the north slope of Creag an Fhithich to Carn Beag.

[I had cans to open and forgot a can opener] The hostel warden gave me a Swiss Army Knife from lost and found to use for a can opener. [I still have this].
Caisteal Dubh before breakfast?

[DCampbell16B]

Not much to speak of. Only 2 sections [stacks?] standing in the middle of a hay field.

[News on the hostel telly:] 40 men hurt, brawl with Scots Guards who were taunted about kilt.

[Shipped suitcase to] Henderson, General Merchant, Crianlarich.
Pack weighs 76lbs [about 35kg]

[I didn't have hiking boots. I had black Oxfords for any dress situation, kilted or not. For most walking and hiking (for now) I wore sneakers/trainers which were really running flats. A very thin sole and no heel.]

****[At this time I can only post by phone. I won't have access to accompanying photos for a few days. I will add them back to where they belong for the future, and also put them together for any who just might want to catch up.]**

Left Pitlochry at noon. Garry Bridge, small waterfall other side I couldn't get to.
Saw the Queen's View down Garry and Pass, Soldier's Leap. Ford at the River Garry (camp) look over Blair Castle. Hill which I took a picture of 5 min ago has a cloud over top now.
Nice footpath by Killiecrankie. Evening camped on bank of River Garry above River Tilt. [Asked a local man and he pointed over there by the river and said no one would bother me.]
~£2 to camp at a caravan site [not spending the money]
Evening gorgeous. Warm, no breeze. People walking around, locals and visitors. Now understand why always talk about the weather. Everything is based on it. Work done when the weather is good, but if very good enjoy. Watched a game of bowls at Blair Atholl bowling club (lawn).
Today did Pitlochry to Blair Castle.~8miles. Tomorrow maybe same. Depends on how long [I spend] in Blair Castle. May only walk from noon. Check map and estimate 10 miles. Not too tired but very sore. I keep moving to keep from freezing up. Rannoch Moor is looking very difficult at this stage and I am having second thoughts. Perhaps call Killin Hostel and warn them. Weather bad , could get stuck, then trouble. Estimate fastest time based today 16 miles/day. Will get better wt time but... Sun just going behind hill 9:08. Waded Garry to practice pipes.

[DCampbell16B]

£1.20 Blair Castle
£1.17 lunch
£1.00 supper and breakfast: 2 apples, orange, 2 crisps, 4 rolls, choc ice
85p tea
26p tip
[I'm not transferring all purchases. Some I can't read my writing, some don't make sense, and some are most uninteresting]

More in papers about Scots Guards in fight.

Broke camp and packed in about 45 min, taking it easy. Very light rain this morning. Weather reports not good. May try to catch ride after Struan.
Castle is ½ to ¾ mile from A9. Had I known, I'd have left pack in the village. 1 blister left foot, front on inside ball of foot. Poked with needle and wore extra pair of socks. A nuisance, but not really painful yet.

YOU IDIOT! You sent $1000 travelers checks in .. sporran to Crianlarich!

Blair Castle has impressive collection.

Walked to past Struan, picked up on B847 by couple and daughter (father from Glasgow) and put right in Kinnloch Rannoch. [He was very quiet, wife and daughter quite outgoing. They said they were Brummies as if that explained it]

Tea at Dunalister Hotel. Can sit here and watch Schihallion. Scones still warm. Even extra hot water to dilute dregs if pot.
Michael Douglas [?]- two more experienced "walkers" talked a while with me, particularly social gospel. Probably see them on the morning bus, 7:45. Gave them each a roll. Gave me ⅓ banana. Weather threatening. Schihallion has disappeared and reappeared.

Been a short shower, now over. Very impressive drive down by Beinn a'Cheallaich. No tree cover, very large.

Campbell east end of Loch Rannoch. Fly only.
Played pipes on the shore of Loch Rannoch.


Beautiful country, desolate, depressed, dangerous even, but beautiful.

[I remember playing for a while on the shore. When I quit there was cheering from what must have been a hotel or gathering or something further up the north shore.

That night was one of the two worst I remember. It was so pleasant I only set up the fly and climbed into the sleeping bag. A tourist family was walking by on the road above me, only saw me at the last moment and waved. I just grinned stupidly and waved back.

I should have set up the tent. All night the midges were at my face, despite any repellent. And it was hot, but I couldn't get out of the bag without getting covered with the wee things.]

[DCampbell16B]

Comrie looking west


South Shore Loch Rannoch

[DCampbell16B]

Cleared up this morning. Slept badly last night. Also midges. Schiehallion easy to see, no clouds. Also mountains at end of Loch Rannoch. Have snow in the corries. Very beautiful. Washed face, neck, arms in Loch this morning. Temp of water must have been at least 2-3 degrees above freezing. Bus to Rannoch Station [post bus. First time I used it]. [The post bus carried mail, ans could carry a few passengers, delivered milk, sometimes even animals. Filled a need to the remote villages.] Packed and got to town 45min. Easier with fly.
Killichonan the first Highland town. Houses strewn over the hillside, not on road. Driver says lots of people here still speak "Perthshire" gaelic. Water brown, just like the pictures. Sky clear, a little hazy. Can see Scheihallion from the forestry road.

[The road dead ends at Rannoch Station. You can look north or south along the rail line. Or back behind you, but the bus is gone. Or head to the moor.]

Map of Rannoch Moor from the Ordnance Survey Map for Pitlochry and the Trossachs

Rannoch Moor crossing, Loch Laidon. Foreground Leathad Mor, in rear Beinn a' Cheachain, to right Beinn Achaladair.

Loch Laidon and Ben Achalader

Drank the brown water and gratefully. [I wouldn't do that now. Who knows what sheep lurk above?] What a gorgeous day. Breeze to keep the midges off. Sun sparkles on Loch Laidon.

Back toward Loch Rannoch. I tried to shade the lens from the sun. [click for larger view]


Wet feet, peaty soil, some slips (3). Bad falls. [The trail was pretty dry, but when I stepped even 6 inches or so off the trail (when I got unbalanced by the 76 pound pack) I was immediately up to my knee in peat. Then I had to figure out how to get myself out. It usually meant dropping the pack, getting leg out, getting on the trail and hoisting the pack again.]

Rested on a rock. Can still see Rannoch Station. Going is wet and rough. Plenty of Heather. No blossoms. Almost past path by going through gate [not sure what I meant]. Tigh na Cruaiche by 11am.

Schiehallion from the west

[Looking over my shoulder I saw a dust cloud approaching me. If I had been in the States I would have called it a dust devil. It was a hiker. She was an Israeli who had finished her national service and was walking around Britain. She left me in the dust.]

RAF fighter flew by at my eye level. Was past me before I even knew he was there.

On the west side of Rannoch some Heather is starting to bloom.

Glen Etive to the left. Am Buachaille Etive Mor center, Glen Coe to the right.

4:10 between lodge and Kingshouse Hotel. Air very heavy.
5:05 Kingshouse Hotel. Must find out if you tip for a cup of tea. [I had the place to myself. Just as well as I must have been a sight after that.] Saw some of the Glen Coe Mountain Rescue team at hotel.
Fate seems to have pointed me to Glen Coe village. If I don't make it I'll camp for the night and decide which way in the morning.
Given lift to Glen Coe Hostel almost immediately (3rd car). Took me to the door. Got in. Met a couple of English chaps who had been over Aonach Eagach and were pleased they made it and horrified they went. Went to pub, drank Pepsi. Met the English chaps and the Israeli girl. Discussed cultural differences. Had shower.