The geology of Glencoe is so complex and varied that I almost dare not speak of it. It is famous for being the first recognised caldera volcano and my first thought on looking around was how? It is not obvious to the lay person that this landscape is a collapsed cauldron and the geological events that have occurred since, such as the movement of the land from the southern hemisphere to the north and the numerous collisions with continents that happened along the way, have deformed the circle and made it a mangled ellipse. The subsequent ice ages have sliced a deep valley through the caldera walls, further obscuring the landscape. The Glencoe mountain resort on the very eastern edge of the caldera, is maybe not the best place to appreciate the geology. On today’s route the West Highland Way heads down the glen, following the scrape of the glacier on its slide to the sea, until the route turns to climb the Devil’s Staircase. However the top of the Devil’s Staircase lies under the peak of

Today’s walk is going to be a long one in comparison to the rest of our itinerary.   At nineteen miles with nearly two thousand feet of elevation gain it takes the prize for the most demanding day. Despite this I am excited because we will be staying overnight in the spectacular and historical setting of Glencoe.    To give us the best possible start we arrived at breakfast just as they are laying out the buffet items and we are left to our own devices to collect our food and push slices of bread through the crazy rolling toaster that never actually manages to toast two sides evenly or at all.  The restaurant itself could sit hundreds of people and had long draped tables down each side, all set out as if for a massive banquet.   About half an hour into our breakfast, the hordes from the coach parties descended. The queue increased exponentially and soon it rivalled ‘ The Queue ’, as it had become known, in London for the lying-in-state of the Queen. Queuing is often regarded as a pecul

Old hands will remember what happened on the Pennine Way when my brand new boots started shipping water, were fire damaged and then fell apart. On my return from the Pennine Way I argued the case with the shop and got a refund. Some weeks later I bought a reassuringly expensive German make, they were made of leather, lithe, bold and handsome, and came with a two year guarantee.  Some time later on a Thursday practice walk the three of us had got together. We were walking along the Essex coast line and both Chris and Jerome were bemoaning the state of their boots because of cracks in the leather that appeared to be letting in water. Later that evening as I cleaned off the mud I found to my dismay that similar cracks were occurring. This was two months beyond the guarantee period.  So I went to buy some new boots, this time from a manufacturer which, based upon my own experience, I could trust to be longer-lasting. The first occasion I walked with them I was surprised to get a blister on

To quote Stephenson and Gould in British regional geology: the Grampian Highlands, fourth edition, 2007 when discussing the features you might expect to see in this part of Scotland,  'Metagreywackes, siliceous psammites and fine-grained quartzites are interbedded with the predominant well-foliated green schists containing abundant chlorite, epidote, biotite and albite porphyroblasts.' Well, quite, I couldn't have put it better myself.  When I was young we lived in London and I would often head in the school holidays to the museums in South Kensington. The big draw these days is the Natural History museum but back then dinosaurs weren't quite as popular as they are today and much of the ground floor was a series of somewhat lacklustre dioramas that were populated with a cast of vaguely unsettling stuffed animals.   Around the corner in Exhibition Road was the Science museum which became a big favourite with me mainly due to the number of interactive displays. The joy

It’s difficult to know exactly what to make of Rob Roy. Sir Walter Scott’s famous fiction painted a rosy outlook of his exploits, making him seem like some clannish Robin Hood. Chroniclers of history ignore the myth and either regard Rob Roy as a brigand and blackmailer, faithful to the Jacobite cause, while others argue that Rob Roy had been wronged and had no option but to live a bandits' life.  As with so many stories the truth may mostly depend on your viewpoint and if, like me, you have no allegiance to either side, then it becomes possible that both accounts can co-exist.  Whatever the real story may be, it cannot be denied that for a short period Robert 'Roy' McGregor (Robert the Red or Rob Roy) was the laird of Inversnaid and the West Highland Way crosses through it. No doubt, if descendants of the Wild McGregors, as they were known -  and I'm sure it didn't mean they had legendary parties  - were still in possession of the land today there would be a paymen

Balmaha was bursting with holidaymakers. Cars were double and triple parked in the car park next to the visitor centre and more were nosing around looking forlornly for a space. Every table at the front of the Oak Tree Inn was occupied and it was only by heading through the pub then around the back to beyond a marquee that we found a quiet spot to sit and quench our thirst.   The pub was still working to covid rules, which meant ordering and paying via an app and hoping that the drinks would arrive at our far distant table some time in the near future.  As we meandered through the pub looking for a table we spotted that those who were dining were staring glumly at some pretty workmanlike food offerings and we were glad that we had stocked up on lunch items earlier in the Spar shop in Drymen.   One of the good things about finding a pub was that it enabled us to use the facilities. The West Highland Way this morning had offered panoramic views and anyone wanting to do ‘a wildy’ - as a n