Friday 23rd July 2004
At the end of the last day of my first walking holiday in Scotland I was sitting at a vantage point looking out over the railway depot and the Moray Firth towards the Black Isle and realised that I really like Inverness. It’s a good city, which is why I deliberately ended my holiday there so I could visit it again, and I was sad that I was leaving. Before that, I had taken a train to Garve on the Kyle line and headed off on a walk up Ben Wyvis. The first stage was to walk to a series of cascades along the river that culminate at the tourist stop of Silver Bridge. I had been inspired to visit this stretch of river, Black Water, after seeing it on John Butler's End-to-End web site. I don’t know if it’s just me but I wasn’t particularly impressed by it all, even though John was rather enthusiastic. C’est la vie. This picture is from his web site.
From there I proceeded up the farm track opposite (and I only had to climb over two gates!) up onto the flanks of Little Wyvis. I didn’t go to the top which is a pity because it would have given me a purpose to the route that I had taken. When I eventually ran out of track I found myself at the top of a cliff with a wide boggy morass at the bottom where I had thought to walk. Coming to my senses I retraced my steps to the western slopes of the hill and began a precarious descent to the valley bottom and eventually I reached the bottom wetter and muddier than I had been. Immediately I started to climb the good path on the other side all the way up to the southern end of the enormous Ben Wyvis ridge, on An Cabar. Time was advancing so I quickly headed off to the summit of Ben Wyvis, Glas Leathad Mòr, and finally I reached the trig point at two o’clock. My train back to Inverness was due at 16.42, but a long way from where I was crouching in the shelter against a bitterly cold, gale force wind, and so with heavy raindrops falling I rushed off the ridge.
At the end of the last day of my first walking holiday in Scotland I was sitting at a vantage point looking out over the railway depot and the Moray Firth towards the Black Isle and realised that I really like Inverness. It’s a good city, which is why I deliberately ended my holiday there so I could visit it again, and I was sad that I was leaving. Before that, I had taken a train to Garve on the Kyle line and headed off on a walk up Ben Wyvis. The first stage was to walk to a series of cascades along the river that culminate at the tourist stop of Silver Bridge. I had been inspired to visit this stretch of river, Black Water, after seeing it on John Butler's End-to-End web site. I don’t know if it’s just me but I wasn’t particularly impressed by it all, even though John was rather enthusiastic. C’est la vie. This picture is from his web site.
From there I proceeded up the farm track opposite (and I only had to climb over two gates!) up onto the flanks of Little Wyvis. I didn’t go to the top which is a pity because it would have given me a purpose to the route that I had taken. When I eventually ran out of track I found myself at the top of a cliff with a wide boggy morass at the bottom where I had thought to walk. Coming to my senses I retraced my steps to the western slopes of the hill and began a precarious descent to the valley bottom and eventually I reached the bottom wetter and muddier than I had been. Immediately I started to climb the good path on the other side all the way up to the southern end of the enormous Ben Wyvis ridge, on An Cabar. Time was advancing so I quickly headed off to the summit of Ben Wyvis, Glas Leathad Mòr, and finally I reached the trig point at two o’clock. My train back to Inverness was due at 16.42, but a long way from where I was crouching in the shelter against a bitterly cold, gale force wind, and so with heavy raindrops falling I rushed off the ridge. Once I regained the valley floor the sun came out and during my descent beside the Allt a' Gharbh Bhaid it turned into a glorious day. Typical, and so I had a very pleasant walk in sunny weather following the burn down to the main road and then a quick walk beside the road for over two miles back to Silver Bridge. I still had to rush as the deadline quickly approached, and indeed on the final stretches into Garve I started either running or walking very quickly, although as it happened I got to the station with plenty of time to spare. With such a gloriously sunny day I enjoyed the whole journey to and from the mountain, but not on the windy ridge. In the evening I went back into the city centre and started buying loads of souvenirs of my holiday in Scotland. Despite the rain I had enjoyed my holiday and a fortnight walking in Scotland was now a regular fixture in my year.
When I finally reached Inverness I headed straight for a bookshop I remembered from previous visits for a browse of their enormous collection. Later, after a look around the rest of Inverness I tried to find a supermarket, eventually finding Safeway (now known as Morrison's) behind the station, and bought my dinner and lunch for the next two days. When I tried to find the hostel I had a few difficulties because although I knew the general area I didn't know precisely where it was. After over half an hour's wandering I asked at a newsagents and was told that I’d almost walked straight past it as it’s close to Safeway! Once finally at the hostel I had a shower and a lovely dinner before heading back out again into the city centre for a wander around the lovely city of Inverness. When I tried to get back to the hostel I had a familiar problem: I couldn’t find it! Retracing my steps I suddenly remembered that it was on Victoria Drive, which is a rather vital piece of information. The next day I was planning on catching a train to Garve and try to walk up Ben Wyvis. If the good weather I was enjoying since I left the West Highlands continues I hoped I will have no problems, we’ll see.