Past lochs & over hills, we spy for deer in Scotland

'Home is behind you, the world is ahead', Gandalf told Bilbo on his adventure through Middle Earth.

Inspired by the sweeping scenery in The Hobbit at the cinema last week, I am looking forward to my own adventure in the majestic mountains of Scotland.

I have asked my father-in-law, Gerry, to take us through the Highlands in search of red deer as painted by Sir Edwin Landseer in his splendid 'Monarch of the Glen'.

We begin our adventure early, when it is still dark. As Bilbo sets out from The Shire, we leave Glasgow on our way to Glencoe. We head out of the city and the roads are empty, the clouds are ominously grey and the hills start to appear, powdered with snow.

Gerry is a seasoned walker and for many years has trekked across most of the mountains in the area, so like The Hobbit, our journey is filled with anecdotes and stories old and new, some dark and treacherous others heroic and uplifting. 

We wind round the edge of Loch Lomond which reminds him of a man who did the impossible and walked across the bottom of Loch Ness in an underwater marathon, an amazing 26 miles in a wet suit.

Gerry continues his yarns with a story of how one day, when walking on the hills, he came across the remnants of an aeroplane. I later read that the hills of Scotland are littered with aeroplane debris mainly from the Second World War. We also pass Scotland's only gold mine which has just reopened near Tyndrum.

 

The dramatic scenery is made for films and this could be the backdrop for The Hobbit. Despite the grey skies, the beautiful coloured hills are a purple haze of autumn colours. Deep and rich ruddy copper of dying-back brackens and purple heathers carpet the hills. We drive through puddles that dramatically pour across our window screen, then pass Ardlui and suddenly it's light.

 

 The winter hills are surprisingly rich in colour

 

The leafless woods have trees that are covered in lichen and the pretty  streams gush down the hillside.

 

We are in the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. Hills covered in snow disappear in the mist as we see Ben Lui and then enter Tyndrum.

As in all fantasy stories, places should have special names that fire the imagination. As Bilbo leaves his home in Bag End and travels through Rivendell, across the Misty Mountains and the black forest of Mirkwood to the Lonely Mountain itself. We too are travelling to places that have been named with seeming romance and mystery. The hill walks are called Devil's Staircase, Boomerang Gully, Stob Corie Nan Lochan and the Lost Valley, even 'Wee Willy' as he is known, who runs the coffee shop next to 'The Green Wellie Stop' could be straight out of a children's book.

 

 Sign for the 'The Green Wellie Stop' in Tyndrum

 

To make the drama work, it is best to set your adventure in extreme conditions and that is exactly what we are experiencing, the rain didn't just fall, it battered us, the wind didn't just blow, it stung our faces with brutal force. Our hands froze if we took them out for a brief moment to take a photo. But people were braving the elements in this area. We passed a group camping and also a car carrying canoes. Other people were walking their dogs up to the mountain tops.

I'm thankfully dressed for the occasion, head to toe in waterproofs

In fact Scotland is like New Zealand as it too has many films made here. Braveheart, Rob Roy, Highlander 1 & 3, The World is Not Enough, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban to name a few. 

We continue our journey. Glencoe is 30 miles now. The forests are alpine and the snow scrapes across the bottom of the car.

We pass Glen Orchy. The dark rivers and lakes are as grey as a whale. The rugged landscape is stunning. We have been travelling awhile now. Suddenly Gerry cries out, 'there's a deer'. We look over and spot a lone stag far away by the woods. We pull into the side of the road where a tour bus full of young Japanese tourists disembark to take photos. But the deer is too far away for my camera.
 

 Opportunity missed; our first deer spotting is too far away for me to capture on camera. 

 

It's cold now. Everywhere is white with snow. There is silence except for the gushing sound of mountain streams.

The view is amazing. We pass a sign saying 'The Outdoor Capital of the UK', near the Glencoe Ski Centre and everything appears in black and white. 

 

We view The Buachaille mountain, then pass the road to Glen Etive. We continue through the rugged hills towards Stob Coire Nan Lochan and the Lost Valley in Glencoe.
 

At first the landscape looks barren and devoid of life. But like the landscape of myths and children's stories like Middle Earth, Narnia, The Box of Delights or Harry Potter, Scotland is blessed with wildlife made for legends. There is red deer, Golden eagles, hares and rainbow trout.
 

As we pull in to the car park, I spot the first glimmer of life - a sparrowhawk circling in the sky.

We set off on our walk in search of the deer and walk down the valley and cross a pretty bridge over a gushing river. The scenery is awesome.

 

The ground is boggy with water as we step over the spongy grass, our feet squelch in the water. Gerry shouts that we can follow a deer trail, a watery path with hoof marks.

 A deer trail shows hoof marks

We climb the hill of the Lost Valley getting out of breath and veer across the hill to the left which takes us to a more sheltered spot. I look up and to my surprise see four deer. Two mother's with their two older fawns, standing still on the hillside staring at us. It is so amazing to see them so unexpectedly. I carefully try to walk along the pass careful not to disturb them to take some photos. They keep still and stare.

Look carefully and you can spot four deer on the hillside

 

We head back. The wind is ferocious and stinging my face. My eyes water as I scramble down the hillside.

We quickly get back in the car and enjoy our rolls, crisps and orange squash, glad for the warmth. We then head home enjoying the spectacular hills of Scotland. We may not have seen Smaug, the dragon, but looking at the hills there are distinct cracks that remind me of veins, maybe there is more life to the mountains than I imagine...

 Veins on the hills