The beauty of a road trip is that no matter how carefully you plan, no matter how meticulously you map out your itinerary, you never quite know what's waiting for you round the next bend. What's more that's exactly how it should be. Welcome to the undiscovered country, day 2 of my recent trip around the North Coast 500.
NC500 Day 2 – Applecross to Ullapool
The day had a much loser format to it than the previous one. A long and winding 123 mile drive skirting the lonely coast and lochs of the west coast of Scotland. There was no fixed format or hit list of places to visit today, apart from Torridon. Which, being a hill-walker, I've read a lot about and wanted to take a closer look at. So having bid a long and lingering farewell to Applecross on a grey and murky morning...
Torridon
Its difficult to define Torridon, as the name refers not only to the small village that bears its name but the surrounding area of hills, lochs and countryside. Such that no two people will actually agree where its physical boundaries lie. Anyone who lives, as I do, in the English Midlands Black Country will know how that feels. What most people will agree on however, wherever its boundaries are, is that it has some of Scotland's most magnificent mountains in a breath-taking setting that inspires awe and wonder.
The small village of Torridon itself contains a hotel, youth hostel and public bar (The Torridon Inn). So anyone wanting to base themselves here, pull on their walking boots and explore the area, is well catered for. My primary interest however lay in the Torridon Countryside Centre and Deer Museum.
Torridon Countryside Centre
The centre provides a gateway to the National Trust for Scotland's Torridon estate which, accquired in 1967, covers some 6,500 hectares or 16,000 acres of mountain landscape including Liathach, 1,054m (3,456ft) and Beinn Alligin, 985m (3,230ft). Here you can watch a short video about the Trust's role in managing the estate and its wildlife and browse its gift shop.
Deer Museum
Walk a quarter of mile down a quiet track and you will find yourself at the Deer Museum. This boasts a large collection of deer skulls, antlers and other relics, including a rather gruesome collection of deer parasitises. It provides a serious and scientific background to the management of the deer in the deer park opposite (and scattered more widely over the landscape).
Carry on past the deer park and a former deer stalkers cottage (now a Trust holiday cottage available for rent) and you will find yourself on the shingle shores of Upper Loch Torridon. Where you will find a wildlife hide to enjoy the wide variety of birdlife along the shore and on the loch itself.
Dognapped
It was after leaving Torridon that the real 'fun' started. A couple of miles from Kinlochewe, there's a small parking area popular with walkers on the single track road that makes the perfect spot for a quick photo opportunity. So I pulled in to take a few shots, as I did I noticed a small dog trying to get into a car as it pulled off.
Doing a quick double take I had to ask myself had I seen that right? Has someone just driven off and left their dog in the middle of nowhere? It then began sniffing around a couple of empty cars, was it owner out on the hills lost and injured and it had returned alone? Whatever the case it was certainly friendly as it flitted backwards and forwards across the single track road, trying mine and other cars, much to the annoyance of passing motorists. Several of whom abused me for failing to control my dog! As I made several phone calls for advice before finally agreeing to meet the Highland Dog Warden at a cafe in Kinlochewe.
Once at the cafe it rapidly transpired that the dog belonged to a local gamekeeper and had penchant for wandering off and making 'friends' with passing tourists, whence it was rapidly reunited with its owner. Apparently it's a fairly regular occurrence with this particular dog, fooling 3 or 4 tourists a year into taking a similar course of action to me. Perhaps its something that should be covered on the NC500 website for those of us who come from areas where dogs do not enjoy the same freedom as in the Highlands?
Loch Ewe
Moving swiftly on to Gariloch and beyond one comes to Loch Ewe. An imposing sea loch that played a critical role in WWII, serving as an assembly point for Arctic Convoys. Ships from the British, American and other ports gathered here before sailing to Murmansk. Its said that at its peak over 200,000 tonnes of shipping used it daily and you could walk from one side of the loch to the other, across the ships, without getting your feet wet! A large unexploded WWII anti-shippng bomb lies at the bottom of the loch. Which is still used by NATO.
Ullapool
Final stop of the day was Ullapool. Which, despite being a small town of 1,500 inhabitants, is the largest settlement for many miles around. Founded on the east shore of Loch Broom, in 1788 as a herring port and designed by Thomas Telford. The harbour today provides ferry links to Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides. The surrounding area played a vital role in developing our understanding of plate tectonics and there are still regular international geological conferences held here. It also has wonderful loch side campsite where I stayed overnight.
So that was day 2, more scenery than you could shake a stick at, a dognapping, a poignant reminder of WWII and Victorian geology, what would tomorrow bring?
Skippy goes to Scotland Index
Part 1 Getting there
Part 2 North Coast 500 Inverness to Applecross
Part 3 North Coast 500 Applecross to Ullapool
Part 4 North Coast 500 Ullapool to Lochinver
Part 5 North Coast 500 Lochinver to Durness
Part 6 North Coast 500 Durness to John O'Groats
Part 7 North Coast 500 John O'Groats to Inverness
Part 8 The Jounrey Home (Samye Ling Monastery)
Postscript