Читать книгу Not the West Highland Way. Diversions over mountains, smaller hills or high passes for 8 of the WH Way's 9 stages онлайн

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Next day, sun still shining; Mamores still obstructing the road to Loch Linnhe. Alois, exhausted by so much sunny Scotland, took the bus to Ballachulish. Alone, I cramponed back to the ridge in a breeze stiff enough to be alarming. I’d started at dawn, so nobody else was around. The morning sky was not just blue, but blue-green, with an intensity normally got by improper use of photographic filters. This was like the Alps, except that, as Alois has pointed out, the view had lochs in, and the sub-zero sun couldn’t turn the snow to midday slush. I took a long solitary pause on Mullach nan Coirean, simply being there. South across the Aonach Eagach, Bidean looked particularly splendid. But then, so did everything else.

There are various ways down Glen Nevis. The road is simply horrid, with spruce trees on the left and the dull side of Ben Nevis opposite. The forest track is slightly less horrid, no cars but even more spruce. I took the Third Way, on the wrong side of the river – and found Glen Nevis is a beautiful place. Backlit, you don’t notice the grim spruce. The river chuckles over golden stones just loudly enough to drown out the cars on the other side. Birches make twiggy lacework against the light. It’s all later in the book as Route 12.