Day 4: Cow Hill
View south-east (left) to Ben Nevis and west (right) to Loch Linnhe, Fort William and Caol
The morning was very rainy. What some holidaymakers might find annoying was a welcome break for us. Whether sunburn, sore muscles or aching feet – a few more hours of recovery time makes the body fit again for the next excursion. That’s why we only drove into Fort William town centre after midday to browse the shops there. We parked our car at Viewforth Car Park. There we faced the final boss, the car park ticket machines! In addition to the non-functioning buttons for entering the car registration number, we were aggressively attacked by parking ticket fire.
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In the afternoon, we went from there to Cow Hill, the next largest hill on the edge of the city. The footpath goes all the way round the hill to the summit. The willow warbler, chaffinch and linnet hopped around in the gorse bushes. We even spotted a capercaillie on the upper metres. We observed deer grazing on the slope and kept looking vigilantly in our direction. On the way to the hilltop, at a crossroads halfway up, we took a shortcut recommended by the route planner, which led steeply upwards (north-east) onto Cow Hill. The trail was already somewhat overgrown for the first few metres. Apparently this path is not used very often (anymore). The path eventually leads over the mountainside without a fixed route. Due to the gradient, this path requires a lot of stamina. The path is also uneven and slippery due to rivulets of water, which soften the ground and make it muddy. The sometimes sharp-edged stones offer some support, but surefootedness is required. If you want to reach the summit in a more relaxed manner, you should use the official (and developed) hiking trail, which leads in an outer arc towards the south-east and then north-west up the mountain. In any case, even hills like this are a challenge for inexperienced Mecklenburg flatlanders like us. Having started in the sun and little wind, the metres in altitude were already making themselves felt. It got colder and windier the closer we got to the top of the mountain. Nevertheless, the effort was worth it, the view over Loch Linnhe made up for the effort. Once we reached the top, we took a break and fortified ourselves with our provisions. Small blueberry bushes and cotton grasses lined the slope and moved with the fresh wind. From here, we were able to observe small songbirds and falcons as well as the changing weather conditions.
We could already see rain clouds forming on the horizon. The weather was about to change. A glance at the rain radar confirmed our suspicions: the clouds would soon be here and bring rain with them. So we made our way back as quickly as possible. As soon as we set off, we were hit by the first shower.
