You may notice that Knowle Ramblers is affiliated with HF Holidays who specialise in walking holidays in the UK and abroad. Members Anna and Ian recently returned from a holiday in Glencoe at an HF property and wanted to share their experience.
We are not beach people and fancied a change after two “once in a lifetime” holidays abroad. Having experienced the HF properties with the Knowle Ramblers weekends, we thought we would give HF a try. We had a great time. We chose Glencoe because Anna had never been to Scotland and Ian rarely so. We decided to use the guided option (rather than self-guided walks), in part because Glencoe is essentially high hill walking and a “right to roam” area, and it became clear this was a good choice as several of our walks had long sections without any obvious pathways and the National Trust in Scotland has a policy of not waymarking. The other advantage was that we got dropped off at the start in a bus and picked up somewhere else so we were able to travel some distance rather than do circular walks.
We drove up, stopping at Carlisle (to be frank, not recommended) to break the journey and also to pop across and visit Hadrian’s Wall, which Anna had not seen.
The next day we had a leisurely drive up to Fort William, via Loch Lomond and as we were in plenty of time we had a quick wander around Fort William. We learnt of William of Orange’s fort built to suppress the natives.
We were welcomed to the property and we found that we had a lovely room which had recently been refurbished in the large 19th century mansion. HF holidays are a social experience and you will get talked to whether you like it or not! We met a group doing the West Highland Way with HF who where based at the hotel for the last section. We also met A LOT of Dutch people. HF have an arrangement with a Dutch travel company and at least a third of the guests were from the Netherlands – all with embarrassingly perfect English. There were several Americans guesting too.
Every evening, there is a briefing to allow you to choose an appropriate walk. Glencoe is slightly exceptional in that the walks are either easy or hard with not a lot of opportunity to do something in between, due to the nature of the surrounding countryside. We also had the copious admin of packed lunch selection and meal choice for the next evening. HF provide good quality packed lunches with lots of snacks as well as sandwich or salad box. Breakfasts had lots of cooked options if a full English is a bit daunting, and the evening meals were good and varied.
Day one we took a ferry across Loch Linnhe, a drive of 10 miles or less and were soon walking up the unspoilt hills from Strontian. The guides with HF have good local knowledge (or can revise their briefing notes) and it turns out that Strontium was discovered here – named after the village. Weather was great and we did about 7.5 miles and 1700 feet of climb (we skipped the last mile or so of road walking with a friendly bus driver).
Day 2 was a different experience. The weather closed in. We did a walk opposite the Three Sisters where the rain soon started. “No such thing as bad weather, just bad gear!” Fortunately we were all well kitted out and did the walk without anyone getting blown down the hill.
Though we only walked 6.5 miles, we climbed about 3000 feet. We all got soaked, which gives us the opportunity to tell of the HF drying rooms – boot racks for everyone, hangers, dehumidifiers and fans, even newspaper for stuffing soaked boots, in a large changing room that made light work of the 40 odd sets of wet gear that the walkers returned in.
The third day’s walking was from near the base of Ben Nevis (this week did not have the option of Ben Nevis, but from experience, the heights around Ben Nevis are a better experience than the highest UK mountain). The weather was sunny, and we walked up to the Devil’s Ridge. We had good views of Ben Nevis in the distance and the other walking group who did a higher walk around another ridge before joining our track.
8 miles and over 3000 feet of climbing, a hard day rewarded by a beer in Kinlochleven.
The next day was a free day so we drove to Oban for a touristy wander. Others did walks or cycled around. Oban was quite a pretty town, with its own Colosseum.
Refreshed, we walked above Loch Leven, very near our hotel, starting a couple of miles away, 8 miles and over 3000 feet of climbing. It was an easier walk than some even though in principle we had graduated to a level 3 walk. Sunny but windy, good views around the hills and loch and back again to Kinlochleven and more rewarding beers.
Our final day’s walk, we split, Anna doing an easier walk as she had slipped and sprained her wrist slightly, and Ian did the level 3 walk, two 3000 feet peaks. We set of about a mile away from our hotel on the other side of the loch, and soon were walking through pleasant woodland, though the rain started. When we reached the start of the climbs to the peak, the wind was buffeting us around and the leader was close to abandoning the climb, but we went for a look and found that the higher we got, the less the wind was funnelled and it was quite mild at the top, though misty. Then the sky cleared and it was off with enthusiasm to climb the next peak, returning to the hotel, wet, but pleased with our 11.5 miles and 4,500 feet of climb. Rewarding beers were required.
So, the next day we said our goodbyes. We broke our journey in Glasgow on the way back which gave a manageable drive home after sightseeing and meeting rarely visited relatives.
In summary, a hard week’s walking in the stunning environment of Glencoe. The leaders inspired confidence and were all entertaining characters. The accommodation was very good, as was the food. Our only advice would be that, unless you are confident walkers, Glencoe is not an ideal first HF holiday as the walks are either strenuous or tame with little in between, Being dropped off and picked up made for much more interesting walks and we would not have seen so many aspects of the Glencoe range without the help of the HF guides. A very satisfying break.