We were fortunate to have a short visit to Glencoe planned between Christmas and the New Year where we would be staying at the Kingshouse Hotel. The forecast for the days that we would be there was nothing special for this time of year, wind and lots of rain, how this was to change.
On the day we travelled up to Glencoe the weather was bitterly cold, and as we travelled further into Scotland snow became more evident, when we got to Loch Lomond the road verges were white with snow, but the roads remained clear.
As we began to gain height after Loch Lomond on the way to Crairnlarich we passed several snow ploughs, which was a worry but exciting at what may lay ahead, when we reached Rannoch Moor the conditions were unbelievable, thick white snow in all directions, with the islands in Loch Ba looking exquisite, being covered in snow which contrasted against the dark background, sadly we were unable to stop to take any photos as the roadside lay-byes and parking areas were buried by snow, so we had no option but to reluctantly continue driving to our destination.
When we got there, we faced the most challenging part of the journey, getting form the A82 to the hotel car park, a distance of several hundred meters. This road was compacted snow, which had layer of ice formed on the top if it which made driving a very interesting! We checked-in and took stock has we unpacked, was it really practical to drive out in the conditions bearing in mind that we needed to get to the A82 from the hotel, then were reliant on finding parking spaces from where we could take photos. We decided that the logical option was to stay put and enjoy the Hotels hospitality.
We arose early the next morning to go and get an early breakfast from where we tried to glimpse what the conditions were like outside through the dining room windows. Once breakfast was had (it was gorgeous) we took a stroll outside only to find it was freezing cold and that the car park was still covered in a layer of compacted snow and the road from the Hotel was looking quite treacherous. So after considering our options we decided that the photography options would be on foot and local to the hotel. So off we went to get changed and wrapped up for what was in front of us.
As I went for a walk around the area close to the hotel, before I trudged up to the Cauldron Falls where I spent some time taking shots of the falls and looking down the valley towards the Buchaille Etive and Beinn a Chrulsaiste, from this view point it could be seen how much the snow had been washed away by the falling rain through the night. I spent a couple of hours setting up compositions around the falls before I set off back down to the hotel where we had a bite to eat and a lovely hot cuppa to warm us up before we got in the car to head up to Rannoch Moor to see what the conditions were like, hoping for these to be as good as they were the day before.
Frustratingly I had to drive past the place where I wanted to stop on Rannoch Moor due to a bloody lorry being about 6 foot off my rear bumper, not to disappointed, the 1-mile detour wasn’t that bad. At the parking area I set off looking for some compositions as I have never visited to this place before.
I soon realised that trudging over heather that was covered in 9 inches of snow was quite hard, I was soon huffing and puffing like the old man I am becoming.
I followed the stream round the headland hoping to find a good composition, unfortunately this was not to be, so I retraced my tracks back to the road then decided to trek along the road to the next inlet,
I again headed for the water’s edge to try and pick out any compositions, I soon became frustrated again as the background was blending into the flat sky’s. I didn’t spend too long here as I was struggling to get any decent images.
We decided to head down the valley to get to Lagangarbh Hut that sits on the lower slopes of the Buchaille Etive Mor. Unfortunately, even though the distance travelled was only a couple of miles from the hotel, the rain was belting down, there was no way that I was getting out to try and take a photo in these conditions. We sat in the car for 20 minutes or so before we called it a day.
During the evening we got to really appreciate the staff of the hotel, they were so friendly and helpful, nothing was any issue to them. The food service and drinks were excellent.
The next morning we arose with the same plan as the day before, an early breakfast and then assess the conditions to what we will do. After another hearty and thoroughly enjoyable breakfast, we waited for the light to improve only to see that the heavens had opened again.
I decided to head down the valley of Glencoe as I was looking to photograph the large waterfall at the meeting of three waters, and to try and get the shots at the hut that we didn’t do the day before. I pulled up at the hut, but new immediately that the constant rain would make this a nogoer, so I continued to the falls where I parked up and began waiting for the light to improve.
After a 30 minute wait the light was still very dark, due to the heavy cloud cover and the constant heavy rain, so even though I was intending to get under the bridge to take the photo, the very dark conditions would not allow me to get the shutter speeds that I was looking for, yet again another location was a washout, there was now nothing more to do, other than head to the a few hours relaxation before we began out long journey home.
The conclusion to this short trip up to Glencoe is that we had a very enjoyable stay at the Kingshouse Hotel, we can highly recommend this hotel for its location, facilities and its staff, who we found to be excellent throughout our stay. The photography was a little disappointing, especially when you consider how lucky we were to arrive in such wonderful snow-covered conditions, but just to be out and about in these weather conditions was a joy.
Until the next chapter, thank you for reading, and viewing this blog and photos.
