This is one of the days I’ve been waiting for. A chance to revisit one of the coolest drives I took as part of my trip last year. Glencoe is a town, but it’s also a stretch of countryside/highway that winds through a valley with towering peaks lining the road for miles and miles. It’s where they filmed a bunch of the exterior countryside shots for Skyfall when Bond returns to his family home at the end of the movie.
The only problem was, last year it snowed pretty hard as I drove through this stunning valley. It was still gorgeous, possibly more so than on a non-snowy day thanks to the giant flakes that were whirling around the car as I drove and added an extra dimension to everything. It was a great drive, but there was no way I was going to stop and take any photos. It was A) super cold, and 2) the camera lens would’ve just been smacked with a giant fluffy snowflake and no pictures would’ve been possible.
And so I planned my return drive, hoping for the chance to experience this glorious drive again, but this time with an opportunity to document it properly. I’ve already missed out on Snowdownia thanks to the rainy weather, but I checked the forecast and while it was supposed to be cloudy Tuesday morning, it was expected to clear up and be sunny by 2PM. And this worked out perfectly, I planned to go drive some of the west coast before looping inland towards Glencoe.
And so, I began the journey. It was a beautiful, if slightly cloudy day.
A Road Has No Name
Once again, to see the best part of the countryside, I dragged my Google Map route right into the heart of the green blob of a national park. And once again Google Maps let me know that I was about to embark down “Unnamed Road”. Legitimately, I have had some of the coolest and most interesting parts of any roadtrip on unnamed roads. I highly recommend it.
Today the unnamed road took me through Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park, along the side of a valley. This valley was not only cut down the middle by a river, but was sliced perpendicular to the central river by waterfalls that rushed to meet the central waters.
Unmarked Grave
To the side of the road at one point was this weirdly conical mound with some rocks jutting out of the top. It seemed too perfectly round and cone-shaped to be natural? But there were no signs or indicators that it was anything of note. So either it’s just a coincidentally naturally-occurring phenomenon, or there’s some ancient dead king buried on the side of the road.
#NoFilter
After winding down out of the valley towards the north end of the park, I turned a corner and encountered one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen thus far: an amazing cobalt-blue lake. These pictures don’t have any filters, I’m not doing any color-correcting to make up for low-lights or anything. This is how blue the water was. It was stunning:
Oh Hell No
And then as I made my way along the western coast heading up north towards Glencoe, the clouds rolled in, and the rains opened up into a torrential downpour.
The clouds moved in as I continued to make my way north, riding lower in the sky, heavy with unspent rain. It was actually pretty cool looking as I ascended through Argyll Forest Park, the low clouds obscuring the tops of the mountains.
Help Me Oban Town Coast, You’re My Only Hope
Once I reached the coastal town of Oban, the weather seemed to have flipped again, and the sun peaked from behind the clouds to shine on the waters between Scotland mainland and her western islands. It was nice to look out over Ardmucknish Bay and see for miles out over the islands. Fun side note: I was barely able to take these pictures, the wind was so strong it slammed the car door back on me and whipped the camera lens cap around like a deadly weapon.
Sandcastles In The Sand
Randomly sitting on a little island in Loch Linnhe is Castle Stalker, which I’m just assuming is an old English/Scottish word for something else and not at all creepy. Though… it looks kinda creepy.
But… It’s Sunny Out
As I pulled over to the side of the road in Lettermore to grab this picture, everything looked pretty good. There were clouds in the distance, but the sun was shining and Loch Linnhe was still gorgeous.
And then, literally as I closed the car door after getting back into the drivers seat, the heavens opened up and torrential rains appeared from nowhere.
And continued to pour down for the next two hours as I drove through Glencoe for the second time. It was all still just as epic and monumental as I remembered. As I’ve said on here before: SO COOL.
But that tricksy devil Mother Nature seems determined that I not be able to document Glencoe or see the tops of the mountains lining the valley through the clouds.
I shall not be thwarted, I still have a chance to try it at least one more time on this trip.
