Scotland: Ardnamurchan

Pronounced ARD-na-murkan, just to get that out of the way is the western most part of the main island.

Its easy to say, "but that isn't the western most part!, BUT if you notice all the land to the west of that red dot are islands.  Ardnamurchan is in fact the western most part of the United Kingdom main island.

Now in case you are wondering, NO, this was not on my itinerary.  I was planning to go to the island of Mull right below that red dot, but unbeknownst to me, there was a huge event on Mull and all the ferries were completely booked.  Bummer.  So we queried our host Graham and he suggested Ardnamurchan and a drive way out to the lighthouse. 

To get there we took a wee ferry across on of the lochs shortening our time going out to the point.  You just drive your car right up on the ferry and 8 minutes later you drive off having saved yourself an hour of driving.

Nearly all of the roads in the Highlands are either 2 lane or single track roads, there are usually no shoulders, oh and the road is curvy, hilly, and done on the left.......with a stick shift.

Bob and I kept on finding little fun stopping areas to not only explore, but to give Bob a rest from the stressful driving situations.

Now, Ardnamurchan, in spite of it being this "cool spot" on the map is the remotest of remote places accessed by a single track, pot holey road.  The lanscape is inhabited by little farms, and sheep.  Lots and lots of sheep.  We drove for hours determined to reach the lighthouse, but equally overwhelmed that 2 miles took forever.

Single track driving is challenging because when you meet another car you have to use passing places, communicate via lights, and just be well mannered.  All while driving a stick shift.  God Bless Bob.

We made it out to the cold, rocky, and remote light house to find a wonderful coffee shop and snack bar.

I even met a cute friend.

This is a functioning lighthouse but the conditions out there are rough.  I cannot imagine operating and maintaining this place.    It was quintessentially Scottish.  Cold, wet, and rocky.

We geared up for the drive back home and decided mid trip to detour to a distillery.  It was disappointing, that due to COVID, almost all whiskey tastings and tours were on hold. Cest la Vie, we bought a bottle and went on our merry way!

We decided to take the long way home to go through Fort William and see the Glenfinnan Aqueduct on the way.  I was SO excited to see this because its a HUGE part of the Harry Potter Series of movies.  Its the Hogwarts Express route to Hogwarts!

The ancient structure is fascinating up close.  Its this huge monolith rising out of the landscape and is still in use to this day!

Only thing that could have been better was to see a train make its way across while we were there.

We finished our long drive day in Fort William with some Cider, Beer, and Cullen Skink soup.  SO, SO GOOD.

It was A LOT of driving, but such a fun experience and a great way to rest our legs from 2 days climbing!