We came over to the mainland from Skye by ferry to Mallaig, the terminus of the Jacobite Steam train. The Glennfinnan Monument and the Glennfinnan Viaduct were on the way to our next place, so we had to stop. The viaduct is well known to Harry Potter fans and is the first and longest mass concrete viaduct in Britain.

We walked about 15 minutes in from the main road to find a good spot to take a photo. While we were waiting for the train, we entertained ourselves by taking photos of Lil’ Fox. Doug is really liking the portrait mode on his new phone.

We were not alone. Here’s a photo of some of the crowd leaving after the train had passed. We walked down the path to the other side of the viaduct in time for the second train to pass. (Okay photo, but no room for it here.)

We had booked a cottage in Ballachulish, a village just west of the community of Glencoe. Here we are walking back with our groceries. The cottage is managed by the guest house and is just around the corner out of the photo. Note the restaurant and bar across the street, just past Bill’s head in the photo.

Here’s a view from in front of our place on a day with better weather.

And here we are sitting on the deck of “laroch.” You can see our cottage across the street. (Between Bill and the other gentleman in the photo.) Even though we had cold beer in our fridge, we couldn’t resist stopping after our hike.

Now about the walking (as they call it here.) We chose to do lots of short hikes, but the Glencoe area is better noted for longer treks, like the West Highland Way. We started out at the Glencoe Visitor Center and did a short loop trail right from the door.

This is the view up the valley from the bridge over the River Coe on the trail to Signal Rock.

This photo was taken from our lunch spot up Glencoe, one of the most famous and iconic of all Scottish Glens. (We walked a short way along the path to Glen Etive by the Lairig Eilde.)

This one is taken from the same spot, looking west down the valley.

Here’s a view of Wendy walking along a path, which according to the sign was “Glen Etive by the Lairig Gartain.” We didn’t go the whole way.

We turned the car around and headed back to Glencoe. It was still early, so time for a short hike at Glencoe Lochan, a lake built by Lord Strathcona for his Canadian wife to help her feel a little bit of home. It did feel a bit like walking in Stanley Park in Vancouver.

Here’s a taste of our second afternoon walk just minutes from our place in Ballachulish, with good views up to the highlands of Glencoe.

And an interesting variegated broom growing wild.

The next day we hiked on a forestry commission trail near Inchtree…

and over to a view of the falls.

After our lunchtime ale in North Ballachulish, we walked on a trail from the old ferry and back along the shore of Loch Leven.

This time our afternoon walk was up the hill behind the town. This is a self-closing gate because of its angled construction. We saw quite a few of them in the area.

A good view of Loch Leven.

The forests here were so evenly spaced because they’d been planted probably about fifty years before.

We stumbled on to a ruin in the forest.

On our way to Glasgow in the morning, we stopped to take a last look at the Highlands.