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Going Up and Down in the UK
Day 19: Desolate terrain and stopping traffic

Date Starting Place Ending Place Author Last Update

05-03-11 Oban,
Argyll, Scotland
Fort William,
Inverness-shire, Scotland
ray 07-21-11 13:49:50

 
My route today involved 3 ferries: One to Craignure on Mull, one to Lochaline on Morvern, and one at Ardgour, on the other side Morvern to just south of Fort William. This was the first time I've planned to ride a bike and catch 3 ferries on the same day.

The ferry to Mull left at 9:45. I hit the Subway for 3 sandwiches and then went to wait in the queue for the ferry. While there I got to talking to a bus driver who happen to work for the same guy who owned the hotel in Kendal. I learned a bit more about him and it helped pass the time.

While waiting for the ferry, I got a photo of McCaig Folly behind a line of cars queuing for the boat.

This is an empty ring made to look like Rome's coliseum and it a major Oban landmark.



There were a number of tourist boats in the bay. The one I liked the most was an old sidewheeler. It was out in the bay and I got this panoramic shot of both.



The ferry was a large ship, about the size of the one to Arran Island.



I sat in the lounge and wrote an email trip report to send off later and watched the scenery float by.

There were islands,



a lighthouse,



and lots of water scenes.



This was the actual view I had from my seat.

All in all, the ferry ride took about an hour.

As I was leaving the boat, I got to talking to a Dutch cyclist who was headed to the other side of Mull and the on to the island further out. He often traveled to England as it was a short ferry ride from Holland. I didn't get his name but got this bad picture of him standing in front of the Craignure sign.



The short ride (about 5 miles) to Fishnish was very much like the ride around Arran, rocky shoreline (note that the water is clear enough to see through it),



barren hills,



a golf course,



and pretty scenes.



There was nothing but a ticket office at Fishnish and the boat arrived after a few minutes. In fact I could see the port on the other side of the water which is part of the Scottish mainland called Morvern. It is the white building in the upper left of the photo.



The ferry didn't take long to cross the Sound of Mull and I barely had enough time to eat a sandwich.

There was a bit of commerce in Lochaline, mostly cafes and B&Bs and I didn't stop for anything. This photo taken from the town is back toward the island of Mull and down the Sound back toward Oban.



As I was about to discover, Morvern is a hilly place. The climbing starts right at the ferry port. This view, taken from above Lochaline, shows a bit of Loch Aline, a bay, really and the view toward Oban.



At the edge of town, a new paving project had started that day and I rode through some fresh laid asphalt. This caused me no end of bother as I had to stop and clean my front tire (which has some tread) repeatedly for the next several miles.

Once I was out of town, I was in forest. This photo is an attempt to capture a roadside waterfall.



This one last look back toward Mull was too pretty to pass up.



Morvern is sparsely populated. Once past Lochaline, I wouldn't see another commercial business until I got to the ferry one the other end at Ardgour. I'd see very few homes, as well.

Loch Aline is a couple miles long. Here is the other end of it. Note the hills in the background. I'd have to ride over them to get to the last ferry ride of the day.



After a few miles, I crested a hill and made my through a scrub-filled valley containing a pretty river and a few trees on one side



and far more trees on the other.



Both of these photos were taken at the same spot.

I rode into, what I guessed was, some kind of protected area as I saw picnic tables and parking lots and lots of uncut forest.



I was now riding steadily up on a single track road with "passing places." Very few cars went by and always in clumps. They probably all came on the same ferry! The same would be true in the other direction. For the most part, it was just me and the bike.



The river meandered to and fro, occasionally coming next to the road.



I kept climbing at a steady rate and eventually was passed the trees and into the desolate scrub that seems quite common in Scotland in higher elevations.



I assumed that the line of trees would be cut down soon.

I kept climbing and wondering where the pass was but couldn't tell.



I was getting tired of all the uphill by now and came to road junction. To the right was down to and along the coast. Straight was more climbing and then down along a Loch. I chose the inland route but wonder if the coast route might have been easier.

The road went around a stand of trees and could where the road went and that I still had a bit more uphill to do.



It kept climbing and the wind got stronger as I approached the pass. Once over the top, there was a steep downhill where I got up to over 40MPH. At this speed, the bike begins to make a lot of rattling sounds and it is a bit unnerving. Here is the view of Loch Sunart from about halfway down.



Loch Sunart is a long, narrow, and open to the sea near Lochaline.



There were a few homes but no commerce there. It was picturesque. I stopped to eat another sandwich on the banks of the Loch. Here was the view from my picnic spot.



This was a pretty spot and almost impossible for me not to take way too many photos!



I followed the road around the Loch and took even more photos.





At the end of the Loch, I met a much busier road that went around the other side of the Loch and the coast. Here is one last view back at the Loch.



At the intersection of the two roads, I crossed a stream out of the Loch that eventually emptied out into the sea.



When I made the turn toward the sea (Loch Linnhe, actually), the wind hit me full on. To get there, I had to climb up and over more hills.



The headwind combined with the incessant climbing left me in a bad mood and some cursing ensued.

It took me about 45 minutes of this to get to the coast. Turning north along the Loch helped as the road was now flat and wind wasn't much of a factor. Loch Linnhe is another long, narrow bit of water that separates Morvern from the Scottish mainland and runs from below Oban to Fort William.

The views were often spectacular as I could see across the water (Loch Linnhe) to the mountains behind the coastal hills.

Here is the view northeast toward Fort William.



This view is across the Loch. Note that some of the hills, part of the Ben Nevis Range, appear to have spots of snow on them.



Just south of where the ferry crosses Loch Linnhe is the mouth of Loch Leven. I didn't ride there but the views from across the Loch were stunning.



The photographs simply don't do this magical view justice. Here is another, zoomed view.



The ferry from Ardgour, which I kept wanting to pronounce "hard core", was an odd looking boat with two ramps angled off the sides. The best news was that foot passenger and bikes travel for free.



Once on the other side, I had to negotiate the busy and narrow A82 to Fort William for about 8 miles.



As usual, vehicles came in clumps and I got in the habit of pulling off the road to let them pass. At one point, A big truck, wider that the lane, was bearing down on me and it didn't look like it was going to give me any room, so I simply stopped to let him pass. He stopped too and then yelled out the window that stopping was a "dumb fuckin" thing to do. I politely suggested that he learn how to "fuckin drive".

The views back toward Morvern mirrored it desolation.



Though, it is hard to tire of such pretty water views.



It wasn't all dodging cars and yelling at trucks. Views like this helped.





For the last couple of miles, there was a sidewalk (pavement, in UK-speak) and I rode on that. I passed several of the B&Bs I'd thought about the day before but rode into Fort William proper. The town was preparing for some kind of motorcycle races and there were hundreds of Moto-cross types motorbikes parked off a roundabout near the town center.

The main part of town was a pedestrian mall with a couple blocks of shops, including a Subway I'd hit the next day. After getting a few things at a market, I found the B&B, checked in, rested, and eventually made dinner in the back, next to where my bike was parked. I went to sleep after that.



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