I was lucky enough to spend my birthday in the Highlands. Our plan was to check with the stationmaster in Fort William to see if anyone had cancelled their reservations for a compartment on the Jacobite train. It runs from Fort William to Mallaig, crossing the Glenfinnan viaduct. This was made famous (well, more famous) by being on the Hogwarts Express route in the Harry Potter movies. We had looked at booking tickets to ride, but the compartments were all sold out, leaving only regular seats. The kids decided they would rather watch the train cross the viaduct if we couldn’t get our own compartment for the real HP feel. Unfortunately, the stationmaster said they were full, so we hopped back in the car to head out to the viaduct and await the train.
We parked and made a short visit to the visitor center before deciding which vantage point we wanted to walk to for the best views. We decided on the short road that lead into the glen, and didn’t involve a steep climb. Our timing was perfect and we heard the train approach as we reached an open vantage point. The train made it’s slow crossing across the viaduct and we watched as it chugged up the hill, around the bend, and out of site.
The original claim to fame for Glenfinnan is being the location where Bonnie Prince Charles raised his standard and established the Jacobite Rising. There was a monument erected to commemorate this in 1815, with the Unknown Highlander statue being added to the top in 1835. We took a short hike on a loop beside the monument, then sat for a spell on the benches surrounding the monument. I later read that the tower has a slight lean to it, which can be seen in the pictures. I originally thought my photo editing software had gone a bit wonky, since the vertical monument and the horizon never quite looked right. We spent some time in Fort William on the return trip, getting some shopping in before returning to the house.
The next day we made a short trip to Invergarry for some authentic Highland Games. The largest group of participants were kids who ran races of varying sorts. There was one Scot in kilt who took the caber, hammer and put events seriously, with a few other guys giving it a shot. The pipe band and the dancing competition where the highlights, but we also got to watch a dog/owner show and a demonstration of birds of prey. We met a girl from Knoxville traveling around solo and talked with her for awhile. A stag party showed up for the hill run dressed as matadors (with the groom being the bull), and provided some laughs with various besotted antics.
Cade and I decided to make a short hike up to Suidhe viewpoint, which we passed every time we headed south from Whitebridge. The view was excellent and the wind was strong. The clouds were at times within arms reach as they rushed by. Greene and I finished the day off with a short walk around the house, visiting the stream and taking in the views of the surrounding countryside.
From Tennessee To Texas to Saudi Arabia 