Mid morning on Tuesday, Sept 13th we departed the Lakes District and headed straight for the border. In less than an hour we were in Scotland. Our route took us around the east side of Glasgow and the full length of Loch Lomond. We were headed for Fort William through Glencoe. We had good weather and made good time, arriving at Black Rock Cottage, which is just at the eastern opening of Glencoe, about 2 PM. The cottage is an iconic photo and I'm sure you can see why.

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We explored around a bit. Found a nice waterfall, and then headed down the glen.

_8502688 Glencoe is a narrow river valley that just says "Scotland". The viewpoints are either right on the road or a modest climb.

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After driving through Glencoe we headed up to Ft. William for the night. 

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Next day we chased trains. The Jacobite Steam train runs from Ft. William to Mallaig on the west coast. It crosses a magnificent arched viaduct which of course, had to be photographed. If you're a Harry Potter fan this scene was used in the movie as the Hogwarts Express.

 The train stops in Glenfinnan which gave us a chance to leapfrog ahead of it and get another picture coming through a little valley.

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Glenfinnan is the spot where in 1745 The Young Pretender, Bonnie Prince Charles, raised his standard in the last Scottish Rebellion. A monument was put up at the head of Loch Shiel. This is the view from the viaduct.

We found this sweet little church, St Mary & St. Finnan, just a short walk from the viaduct. It was built on a shelf overlooking Loch Shiel, in 1872. Queen Victoria visited it a few years later and wrote in her diary, "I thought I never saw a lovelier or more romantic spot, or one which told its history so well". 

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We then got to see the second train come by. This time we watched from near the parking lot so we could get back on the road quickly. 

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We had already had a good day but we were not finished. Just up the road is the great castle of Eilean Donan. But we will save that for the next post.

But we do get to play another round of "What's this mean". Here's the sign:

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Please rest assured that we took great care at this crossing lest we collide with a heavy plant. The consequences of that would be dire.