The Pap of Glencoe

Monday 24th July 2006

I was unsure where I wanted to walk on this day, so when I realised I wouldn't get to Glencoe in time for the bus to Kinlochleven I decided to abandon the Mamores and just go up the prominent Pap of Glencoe (aka Sgorr na Ciche). Starting from the road half way between the youth hostel and Glencoe I took a path that climbs up the side of the hillside just as it started raining, so maybe it had been a good choice to not do the Mamores. After the usual hard slog I eventually made it through the bogs onto the top of the ridge with the distinctive pap before me. The actual top is almost entirely made of rock with plenty of opportunities for a bit of scrambling available, which naturally I took full advantage of.

The views from the top were, as expected, sensational, despite cloud encroaching in many places giving me clear views of Loch Leven all the way from the Ballachulish bridge to Kinlochleven. I didn't linger long at the summit, however, as I had a dream of catching the bus to Fort William at 12.39 so turning west I headed off the pap. At the bottom of the rocks there was a large expanse of heather that descends the hillside all the way down to a wood and my plan was to follow the path through the heather to the wood and then follow a path through the wood. The path through the wood was there, it is marked on the map; what wasn't, however, was a path through the heather. So instead of an easy march down the hill I had to wade through deep heather down a steep hillside. I do get myself into these scrapes!

Eventually I got down to the bottom and joined the path through the wood, but of course all hope of catching the bus was now gone and it had starting raining again. The rather poor path eventually deposited me on the road just outside Glencoe with an hour and a half to wait for the next bus. Still it gave me a chance to say goodbye to a truly magical place. Heaven really does exist on earth; it's in Glen Coe.