For breakfast, I decided to make an attempt at getting us kicked out of the country.
Found this gluten free haggis and added some eggs
Robbie Burns might turn in his grave at haggis'n'egg breakfast burritos, but they were magnificent!
With happy, full bellies and lightening skies, we decided to go for a quick wander down the trail that led toward the mountains from the layby in which we'd parked up for the night.
Who could resist going exploring?
The path crosses a little burn (Scottish word for a stream or creek) that drains into Lochan na Fola
As we wandered along heading toward Buachaille Etive Beag (translates to "The Little Shepherd/Herdsman of Etive") - a ridge with multiple peaks, with the point of Stob nan Cabar showing in front above - the path drew up alongside beautiful River Coupall, with stunning falls along its red granite course
Yowza
Walking through the glen (valley) between the impressive peaks, the path just followed the river
..and we started to get ideas.
We found a spot where a shoulder of rock jutted out into the river, providing both an entry and a seat.
I think you can see where this leads
Had the two moka pots of coffee not had their intended effect, we were definitely wide awake after stepping into the frigid water!
The word "bracing" definitely applied
Call it our Scottish baptism, as it hadn't yet rained on us
A few minutes were enough, though - Tank said he was losing the feeling in his toes!
All with good cause, though!
We hadn't brought a towel to dry our feet, but fortunately we had both worn wool socks, so we just popped them on and immediately began to warm up again.
She's just over that ridge, with Stob Mhic Mhartuin looming in the distance beyond
With all things battened down for movement, it was back on the road west again on the A82.
With me snapping photos like crazy
Tank was feeling more comfortable in the driver's seat after a proper night of sleep, so we were able to relax a bit more and take in the views.
Though some of the narrower sections with rock walls adjacent were a bit stressful
We also didn't have very far to travel to our final destination for the evening, and stopped multiple times to have a look at things.
Like the Meeting of the Three Waters
Tanker for scale
The Grampian Mountains rose all around us, glowing green and streaked with flowing streams and beautiful waterfalls everywhere.
The Three Sisters of Glencoe
Seeing it approaching, we stopped in at the Glencoe Visitor Centre for a poke around.
Neat wooden sculpture at the entrance
It was fairly busy, though, so we just used the toilets, hit up the gift shop, and got on our way.
I didn't buy this, but I already heartily agreed with its sentiment
Soon we came to the actual town of Glencoe, where we departed from the A82 to take the B863 along the southern shore of Loch Leven.
Our first look at the loch
We followed its shore east for most of its length
The B road was narrower and wound through more curves than the A82, but Tank was getting to know how Mindy handled by this point, and there was much less traffic.
She ran like a champ for us!
Arriving in Kinlochleven, we headed straight to an old stone building we'd heard about almost a year beforehand, with hope high in our hearts.
It seemed promising that there were only a couple of vehicles in the lot outside..
When I'd read that the National Ice Climbing Centre for the UK - with the world's biggest indoor ice climbing walls - was only 45mins from the Ben Nevis area, I knew I wanted to give it a shot. However, I'd been completely unable to get their availability calendar to load properly for me, so had no idea if we'd be able to swing it. We walked into Ice Factor at about 1:40pm on a Monday afternoon and inquired if we'd be able to do an ice climbing "taster" session, which was an hour of instruction and climbing with all kit provided. I mentioned that we hadn't been able to get the calendar to load to book ahead, and received a smile from the gent at the desk that made me ask if it was a common problem: he told me with good-natured resignation that "things in the Highlands work either slowly, or not at all". We were absolutely delighted, however, when instructor Harrison said he was available, and we could start at 2pm! The staff did make sure we had more appropriate clothing than what we were wearing (shorts/knicks and tshirts would not be great in the -2c/29f ice room!), but we assured them that we had a campervan full of warm clothing to change into, and popped outside to do just that.
Into pants, long sleeves, a sweater, and a vest, with a tubular gaiter over my ears (for both warmth and to make sure my rings wouldn't catch on anything), and a pair of gloves in my pocket, then back inside for one more wee before getting into kit.
First a climbing harness, then on with the heavy boots with crampons already attached
These ain't no microspikes - proper mountaineering/glacier kit
Helmets on, then into the ice room where we were provided with our ice tools and Harrison got us acquainted with their use.
Ready to give it a whack!
We started by just placing and swinging the tools into the ice from the ground, then Harrison taught us about footwork and had us start to take a few un-roped steps up off the ground to get comfortable.
I won't go into details of technique, as I'd hate for anyone to think they were ready to go climb ice based on something they read here
Tank had an issue with one of his crampons coming loose, so I got a bit of extra practice while he and Harrison went to sort it out.
Tank with it in his hand here - wouldn't that make it a crampoff?
With a new boot and crampon on, it was go time!
Tank preparing for his first ascent
I had an absolute ball with this - I quickly learned that it was much easier to place my tools in an existing hole in the ice and give a swing with them only when necessary, and got the hang of pushing my hips into the wall to move up. We both did the short little teaching pitch first, with an easy rappel/abseil down.
Touching down from my first climb
Then we moved over to a much taller pitch near the front wall, where we each climbed as high as we wished.
Tank was killing it
My forearms were screaming
The most hilarious part was after I'd rapped back down, I mentioned to Harrison that the ice at the top had almost no existing holes, and I'd needed to swing my ice tools a lot more (rather than just placing) them in order to make progress, to which he responded "Most people don't get up that high.."
Tank decided that two pitches was enough for him, but Harrison gave me the opportunity to try a third with a bit of a twist to it. I was happy to give it a whirl!
He was also kind enough to get a photo of the two of us in the ice room at the end of our session - I definitely think an hour was plenty for a first try, at least while still a bit jetlagged; my forearms and wrists were quite worn out from gripping the ice tools. Harrison was a fantastic instructor, though, and I was overjoyed at having had the opportunity for such an awesome experience!
Highly recommended if you're ever in the Kinlochleven area - I hear they have a second location in Glasgow now, too
Emerging from the ice room felt like walking into a tropical rainforest, so we quickly stripped off our insulated vests and sweaters, thanking the staff profusely for accommodating us as we wandered back out to the van. The weather outside didn't seem to warrant changing again, though, so we stayed in our trousers and long sleeves as we got back on the road.
..and what a road it was!
I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to wrap my head 'round the views in the Highlands
..or seeing road signs written in both English and Gaelic.
We made a stop in Fort William to hit a couple of outfitters - I'd been looking for a light rain jacket that wasn't quite so full-on as my Gore Tex Pro hardshell for a few years, and figured where better to find one than in Scotland's outdoor playground town? - then carried on to our final destination for the day.
Where we'd be spending the next few days, actually.
We got ourselves pitched up, and looked up past the van toward one of Scotland's most iconic views.
No photo can ever do it justice
We'd have more dealings with that enormous hunk of rock later. For now it was time to have ourselves a bite of dinner, and prepare for the challenges the next day would hold. We'd need some good sleep to take advantage of a weather window that had opened for us, and so after a hearty bowl of pasta it was off to brush our teeth and get ready to turn in.
Cozy dining in our tiny home
Fortunately, the incessant bleating of the sheep across the river wasn't enough to keep us from sleeping, and my new rain jacket kept me perfectly dry on the rather damp walk to and from the toilet block. I fell asleep easily with hope for a dry day on the morrow...but that's a tale for another day.
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