We woke up to a beautifully, clear blue sky! It almost made me homesick for Colorado (not really!).

We met Marc at Neptune’s Staircase, a series of 8 locks on the River Lochy connecting two lochs. Scottish engineering at its finest.

We had to leave while the locks were filling, because we needed to meet the Hogwarts Express (OK, in real life it is the Jacobite Steam Train) at the Glenfinnan Viaduct, filmed in the second Harry Potter movie, when Ron and Harry were trying to catch the train so they could get to school on time. Such dedication in those Wizards!

We were astonished to find that everybody had the same idea! No spaces were available in the parking lot assigned, and none in the adjacent areas that allowed people to park. The train was getting closer! We drove around until we found a tight corner where we almost blocked another car, then walked over half a mile back to the viewing area. Totally worth it!

Marc knew where to go to find a geocache, of course, but so did about a thousand other people. Literally a thousand. So crowded! It reminded me of finding a place to see the recent eclipse.

The Hogwarts adventure took a bit longer than we had anticipated, (mostly because of the parking problems – it was a Saturday) so we went straight to our next planned visit, Eilean Donan, a castle on an island in Loch Duich. This is a privately owned tourist center, completely remodeled after being in ruins. No audio tour, but the reconstructions included interesting artifacts from many eras, with mannequins in costume and featuring plastic foods. No pictures allowed inside.

Next, we drove over the bridge to the Isle of Skye, where we parted ways with our friend. Marc was able to collect over 20 Geocaches on our adventures in Scotland, many while we were busy blogging. He really wanted one on the Isle of Skye, so that was where we parted.

Au revoir, bon ami! Excellent times were shared while you were with us on our adventure.

Brian and Clare continued on to the Bed and Breakfast in Portree, where we will be staying for 3 nights.

Friday was our first planned hiking day. We went to Loch Lomond, famous in song, to hike the Conic Hill Trail, about 2.6 miles with 700 feet of elevation gain. Perhaps a bit more challenging than anticipated?

Fortunately, we had a description of the trail, and indicated which direction to follow for the loop. The first part was a wide stair fashioned from large flat stones.

While I was climbing, I thought about the description here as a “rocky trail with some high steps”. In Colorado, a rocky trail features loose, often jagged stones, not much human design. This was quite different, and thankfully so. We made it to the top of the engineered trail.

So much plant variety!

Yes, Clare got muddy feet in a small stream she crossed. She washed her boots off in the loch.

Later, we lunched across Loch Lomond, with a view of the hill we climbed!

A lot of lochs reside along the Great Glen Fault and are connected to each other by locks along the Caledonian Canal. We finally arrived in Fort William just in time for dinner at the Silly Goose in the Lime Tree Hotel.

Thursday morning, Marc joined us for a tour of the area north and west of Edinburgh. First, we visited Doune Castle, featured in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Remember the scene where the “French” soldiers catapulted animals over the wall onto King Arthur’s coconut-clapping companion?

Marc immediately found a geocache place near the parking area, his first in Scotland. Beware of Low Flying Livestock and Trojan Rabbits is the name of the cache he found. Marc and his wife Joelle have been geocaching for years, and they are very good at it! 48 countries! Over 8,000 caches. 146 in the US.

The audio tour at Doune was hilarious! Sound effects from the Monty Python adventures, with the voices of some of actors doing the narrative.

Outlander scenes were filmed in this castle, decades after Monty Python. The audio tour featured the actor Jamie’s voice, with personal bits about his time shooting scenes there. Doune Castle was a great adventure.

Between our castle tours, we saw the Falkirk Wheel, an engineering marvel built in the 20th century that allowed canal boats to be raised or lowered without using locks.

Next, we drove tiny roads toward Midhope Castle, which was used in the Outlander Series as Jamie’s home. When we arrived, with only about ten minutes to spare, we discovered we needed tickets to wander around outside the castle. Clare took a picture from the parking lot instead, and we went on for our next planned tour.

Blackness Castle was listed as part of the “Outlander” experience. The castle itself (military site?) is very well preserved, all the rocks in place. This place featured many spiral staircases, slippery in the damp weather.

Unfortunately, no audio tour was available at Blackness Castle. I love being able to listen and look around at the same time. Signs have to be read, so your eyes are too busy to enjoy the scenery.

Wednesday morning, we visited Balmoral Castle, owned by the Royal Family since it was purchased by Queen Victoria in the early 1800s.

Her husband Albert redesigned hundreds of acres of land, planting trees like Redwood, Douglas Fir, Western Hemlock, Royal Fir and at least one other large evergreen. Now, over a century later, those trees are huge and beautiful.

Visitors are not allowed inside the castle, except to the ballroom where pictures are forbidden, but we spent hours wandering around outside through the grounds, including a short walk along the River Dee. We listened to stories about the Royals, how they would stay at the castle a few weeks every summer, holding yearly parties for their workers.

After the castle, we started toward our hotel for that night. Along the way, we visited the outside of another castle, Braemer, which had a faraway view of the Balmoral castle. Lunch in the town of Braemer followed.

Then, a lovely drive through the Cairngorms on the old military road that the British used in the 18th century to muster troops to attack the Jacobites. The countryside is subdued, almost squashed, relative to the topography we know in Colorado. Hillsides can be steep, but they are rounded due to the thick ice sheets that covered all of Northern Europe during the ice ages.

Another windy, hilly road with amazing scenery.  Our goal was the town of Falkland, featured in the first season of Outlander as a stand-in for Inverness, where we reserved the room used for a 1940s scene.  

We wandered around the town before our friend, Marc, arrived to share dinner. He’ll be with us for a few days.