"Weeping Glen" of Glencoe

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Today is travel day, from Oban to Isle of Skye......on the way, I will be stopping at Glencoe. Better know as "Weeping Glen," even though the tragedy that happened here is more than 300 years ago, it is not forgotten by the Scots. More on this later.

I made arrangements to have breakfast early today, at 7am, so that I can get a early start. Like yesterday, I put the croissant & cheese sandwich and some fruit in my backpack for a snack. It was a beautiful day with hardly any clouds, of course, that could change any minute. The drive to Glencoe took about 1 hour, since nothing is open this early, I decided to do a short hike to Signal Rock. The trail was muddy since it had rained the night before. After the hike, I went to the Visitor's Center to get more information on a longer, more strenuous hike called the Devil's Staircase. The lady at the Visitor's Center said it would take about 3 hours to hike up and back. It took an hour just to find the parking lot for the trail-head. The map I purchased wan't helpful and I couldn't ask for directions because everyone I met either didn't speak English or didn't know. Finally, I found the parking lot, then my biggest fear was that the car tires would get stuck in the mud. Who knows how long I would have to wait for help if that happened and I had to catch a ferry that evening to the Isle of Skye.

Once I was satisfied with the car parking, I started the hike. About 20 minutes into the hike, I realized that I didn't have any water. Considering, I didn't drink very much water since I came to Scotland except at mealtime, I kept going. It was a hot day for Scotland, probably in the 70s, when I left New York, it was in the 90s. I made it to the summit and back to the car in 2 hours and I was not thirsty at all, so I was quite happy about my decision.

I went back to the Visitor's Center, parked my car there and ate my sandwich. I decided to walk to the village on one of the hiking trails. As I was going on the trail, I met some people who said that they couldn't get to the village from that trail. Not wanting to waste time, I went back to the car and drove to the village. I visited the small but informative Glencoe Folk Museum. This museum, in a small way, displays and narrates the events that happened on this site.

Here is a brief history of the glen: In 1692, the MacDonald clan sheltered and fed the government Redcoats (lead by the local commander Campbell) for 12 days even though they were the enemy.....Highland hospitality. Then on the 13th day, the Redcoats were ordered to rise early and kill their sleeping hosts, violating the Highland hospitality code. According to my guidebook, 38 men were killed, hundreds fled through a blizzard, and 40 additional villagers (mostly women and children) died of exposure. All because the MacDonald's leader was late in swearing an oath to the British monarch.

The lady at the museum said that one of the pubs in the village has a sign board that reads: Campbells will not be served. Needless to say, no one buys the Campbells soup here. In fact, I first heard about these events from a lady at my Scottish Country Dance group in Elmsford, NY. When she told me the story, she made it sound like it happened yesterday. It is still that fresh in the minds of Scots, so all Campbells be warned.

By now, it was 3pm, so I walked to the nearby cafe and had some tea and scone. It is about hour and half drive to Malliag to catch my ferry at 7pm...........I allow an extra one hour for getting lost, taking the wrong turn, etc. So, I left Glencoe at 4pm and made it to Malliag by 6pm, since I was taking the car on the ferry, didn't have to worry about parking.

As a side note, for Harry Potter fans, the area around Glencoe and Fort William is used in the filming of lots of Harry Potter movies. The locomotive sightseeing train from Fort William to Malliag is the train used by Harry, Ron and Hermione to get to Hogwarts......the real train is called the Jacobite Steam Train which traverses over the Glenfinnan Viaduct.

It was a easy ferry crossing, and it took me more than an hour to find my B&B in the tiny village of Camus Cross. This B&B is far from where where I wanted to be in Isle of Skye, but it was the only one I could find where the price was reasonable.

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Photos

The Great Glen Way
Part of the Devil's Staircase hike encompasses The Great Glen Way, similar to our Appalachian Trail

Glencoe Folk Museum
This museum has exhibits on the Glencoe Massacre

Glenfinnan Viaduct
Made famous by Harry Potter Movies (not my image)