A very varied ride today. The weather wasn't what was forecast (again), but this time, not in a good way. A wet blanket of grey cloud and drizzle was draped over the mountains as we set off to the Ardnamurchan peninsula.
A grey Loch Linnhe blocked our path, so an indirect route seemed best Ten miles on the Road to the Isles, five stars on Trip Advisor, but only one star was awarded by us for a rather straight and boring road.
Our route then followed the remote A861, a scenic 80 mile road whose two ends are only 15 miles apart.
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| Loch Eil |
Ten damp miles along the other side of Loch Eil bought us to our elevenses stop, at Camusnagaul, almost back where we started, but the other side of Loch Linnhe.
No cafe, so we went for the slightly mushy bananas, washed down with cool water. The drizzle kept threatening to stop but never managed it. Another ten miles down Loch Linnhe and it was lunchtime at the Inn at Ardgour. It was closed, so lunch was a Tescos sandwich, sitting outside the inn and watching cars and massive logging trucks manoeuvre onto the small Corran ferry.
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| Loch Linnhe |
As we toiled over the pass to Loch Sunart, appropriately, the sun came out. By teatime we were at the village of Strontian (where the element Strontium gets its name from), sitting outside the Sunart cafe in the warm sunshine. It was so hot that Dave nearly took his arm warmers off. The cafe was closed, of course, as it was 2.58pm and the cafe closed at 3pm. We made do with Paradise slices and chocolate crispy squares from the shop - Strontian was the first place with a shop for about 45 miles.
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| Loch Sunart |
The last ten miles winding along Loch Sunart were gorgeous, if hilly. Heathery crags alternated with moss-carpeted stone walls protecting us from precipices. Occasionally we'd get a glittering vista of the loch through woods of oak or silver birch.
Dave's puncture reappeared. But with only a "few" miles to go, and only a few stops to pump it up, we arrived at Salen, our destination, just in time for a pint and an early evening meal at the Salen Hotel.
Sitting outside in hot sun, we had amazing views down the loch, if you craned your neck and crossed to the other side of the road. Also a few midges were gathering for their evening meal, so we finished our pints and reluctantly ate inside.
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| View from the Salen Hotel |
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| Happy customer |
Salen is only a small place. It has just one B&B, called Salen B&B - about four doors down the steep hill from the Salen hotel. A warm welcome, a hot shower, all was well. Well, mostly. There's no TV reception (no big loss), no mobile reception, and the internet is intermittent. The electricity has gone off a couple of times. But it's not raining. Yet..
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| Front garden of Salen B&B, with water feature |
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| Interesting elevation chart...? |
Judging by the lack of cafes, nobody seems to eat-out in Scotland, or perhaps there's no body to eat out!
ReplyDeleteHope you have better weather for your trip to the lighthouse. Hilly?