The Fairy Pools, Finally

Hells bells, we woke up to sun and clear skies. Given this opportunity we couldn’t pass up the walk to the Fairy Pools in the foot of the Cuillins. Therefore, we packed up and took off to get the walk in before setting out for Argyll.

We only met one person on the walk, a local who also was not used to heat in Scotland either, we had to shed our jackets for the first time in over a week. The Fairy Pools are really neat, the water cascades from one pool to the next along with little water falls, arches and bowls worn in the rock. The photos just don’t capture the intricacy of the pools.

After visiting the pools the trail carries on alongside the burn then cuts over the lower slope of Bruach na Frithe. This overlooks Coire na Creiche which means Corrie of the Spoils, where the last clan battle took place between the MacDonalds and the MacLeods.

This was an excellent walk of about 8km, we had a micro lunch in a picnic area near the car park then departed for Argyll. We are always amazed at the difference between the Isles and the mainland, the mainland has a lot of trees and more variety in house style as most houses on the Isles are of a traditional design. We are staying near Oban, on the north side of Loch Etvie, it is far more populated in this area than it is on Skye.

When we drive we always listen to BBC Scotland no matter what is on. We even listen to the sports report which gets a huge amount of time as they are mad about football (soccer) and there was a big horse race on today that had a Scottish horse as a contender, although the Scottish horse did not win. The sports commentators are a scream, they sing and carry on like maniacs.

Since we missed our morning tea and had too little for lunch afer our walk we stopped in Invergarry for tea and a snack of Ayrshire ham and egg. A staff member was telling us about a lot of flooding due to the heavy rain, everybody is ecstatic that the weather has improved for a few days anyway.

The people that own the cottage we are staying in have their own flock of chickens just over the fence, they have a huge pasture to themselves and there are virtually no predators, most of the eggs sold here are free range since they have that luxury. Although, some large birds, crows or ravens perhaps, flew in to help themselves to the chicken feed.

Local food is promoted to a great extent, in Scotland and all over Britain. Even a bread company has tv commercials featuring racing wheat farmers and say they work with British wheat farmers for the best wheat for their bread.

The cottage owners always provide extras, here they provide a lot. We got eggs, milk, wine, jam, handmade chocolates, a cake and handmade soap.

We could now ford the burn

Fairy Pools

The Cuillins

The MacLeod Tables

View From our Argyll Cottage

The Locals