Loch Lomond, Glen Coe, and the Highlands

After a quick stop to buy a decent road map we drove through to Loch Lomond - where we stopped to snap some spectacular lakeside shots - feeling for the first time that we had really reached the fabled Highlands.  If that was special what came next was breathtaking - Glen Coe.  Widely regarded as the most beautiful Glen in Scotland it more than lives up to its reputation - with soaring mountain peaks, deep and mysterious shaded valleys and the constant feeling that you are about to round a corner and meet a Highland Clan in mid-battle (Glen Coe is also famous for the massacre that took place in 1691).

It was in Glen Coe that we encountered a battle of our own...to find accommodation for the night!  It turned out that we had arrived the night before the start of the Hibernian Challenge (a grueling race over 3 mountains in 24 hours) which had attracted adventure sports fans from all over the world - who had filled every B&B, hostel and hotel in the area.  Not too phased (yet) we drove on to Fort William (stopping briefly to have a look at Ben Nevis - at 1344m it is the highest mountain in the British Isles but we were sufficiently worried about finding a place to sleep that we barely had time to glance up at it) - which also turned out to be fully booked (the 'No Vacancy' signs became very tiring!).  After 40 miles and three and a half hours of searching we found a youth hostel with one room left open - the Loch Lochy Hostel (see seperate review) in Laggan - suffice to say that we didn't say a word about the smoky rooms or poky beds - we had found a spot to sleep and we were happy.

Lochs, Glens and No Vacancy Signs