June 19 - Glenfinnan to Acharacle

A long, tiring day. Made even more so by the constant morning rain, gravel road, and 20% climbing. But I get ahead of myself...

Our first road for the day was a 15-mile stretch of what the Scots call "forest track", I think we would call it forest road or fire road. It was rough, sometimes very rocky, but always beautiful. It was also quite exposed, and we were concerned that a tough headwind might make it a long day for us. Fortunately, though, it didn't seem to bother us much.

Loch Shiel

The forest track wound alongside Loch Shiel, which has to be one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. Just gorgeous.... At the end of the unpaved section was a hiking trail up to an overlook that provided outstanding views up and down the loch.

Leaving the Loch Shiel area, we rode on rolling terrain down through the sleepy village of Polloch, turned the corner away from Loch Shiel, then immediately had to climb out of the valley on "one of the steepest and most difficult hills in all Scotland", as our tour guide Ian called it. Well, he wasn't kidding. This puppy was a mile and a half long, and averaged around 18-25%. This was easily the hardest hill I have ever seen. Whew! It took me about an hour of riding and pushing (yes,
I got off and walked. But I feel no shame!). Two members of our group managed to ride to the top, but the other nine of us could not ride the entire way.

"The Hill" (the orange speck just around the bend of the road is Beth G making her way up the slope.)

After screaming down the other side, we coasted into the tiny hamlet of Strontian, where the metal Strontium has been mined for ages. I found a small store where I could get tea and scones, and settled in to watch a kids' soccer game. Joining the melee was a shepherding dog, probably a Border Collie, and this dog really wanted to herd the ball. It was making all the right gestures to show that it had the instincts to herd, but the only thing here that it could control was the soccer ball. It was quite amusing.

Tonight's overnight accomodations were in the Acharacle Hotel, pronounced a-KHA-ra-cle, which just happend to be on the shores of Loch Shiel. The same loch where we had started that morning. All that stiff climbing, and we end up back at the same exact elevation.