A HIGHLAND FLING: FEELING AT HOME IN THE TROSSACHS

THE TROSSACHS, Scotland -  In early May, my wife, Sari, and I enjoyed a brief Highland fling, a weeklong journey into the heart of Scotland. Renting a comfortable cottage in the village of Killin, we explored by foot and automobile the area in and around a range of rugged mountains and valleys known as the Trossachs.  Long one of my favorite places to visit, Scotland packs an amazing number of attractions into its borders - 2,000 years of singular history and colorful culture, vast intransigent landscapes, tiny, subtle scenic treasures and some of the best golfing, fishing and walking in the world. It is always wise, however, to bring rain gear.

The Trossachs are located in the south-central Highlands. There's little consensus about this area's specific geographical boundaries or the etymological origins of the name, although it's often interpreted as "bristly country." That is certainly an apt description for the twisted terrain of mountains and glens.  For two centuries, the Trossachs have had a reputation for containing the essence of the Highlands, as well as being the source of some of the world's best salmon fishing rivers. That's true but also a consequence of geographic proximity.  Lying within easy reach of Edinburgh and Glasgow, this range of mountains was the first Highland area to be visited by romantics seeking the solace of untamed wilderness, the majesty of wooded peaks mirrored in shimmering lochs.  William Wordsworth wrote "Stepping Westward" in 1803 after exploring Loch Katrine and climbing nearby Ben A'an. Sir Walter Scott set his popular "Lady of the Lake" there and used the local landscape for "Rob Roy," which romanticized the anti-English exploits of the early 17th-century local brigand and cattle rustler Rob Roy McGreggor, as recently portrayed by Liam Neeson.  It's easy to understand the area's attraction for people who love magnificent landscapes and wonderful walking.  Getting there from Pittsburgh was simple. The day after our British Airways flight to Glasgow, with an hour connection at London Gatwick, we checked out our rental car and followed the M8 Motorway to the old royal capital of Stirling.  Once Scotland's strategic center, Stirling is where two of the country's greatest heroes, William Wallace (Mel Gibson's "Braveheart") and Robert the Bruce fought historic battles against the English. Although now more adapted to defend itself against a perpetual onslaught of visitors, the old town and Stirling Castle retain their impregnable aura.  The charming country town of Callander lies a dozen miles to the northwest. Known as the gateway to the Trossachs, Callander was a good place for us to get our bearings and also buy supplies.  Then we drove on up through Glen Ogle, following a route laid down by Roman armies 2,000 years ago, past the villages of Balquhidder (where Rob Roy is buried) and Lochearnhead to Killin and our cottage.  Situated near the western end of Loch Tay, Killin is a sizable town by Highland standards, with maybe a thousand residents and a small selection of shops, restaurants, pubs and tea houses situated along its primary street. The River Dorchart tumbles through the town, over the very scenic Falls of Dorchart at one end and at the other into Loch Tay, the starting point of Scotland's most famous salmon run.  Our trip was organized by Home at First, a small travel company based in Springfield, Pa. Not a tour organizer, it specializes in finding quality vacation homes in picturesque places in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and New Zealand and then packaging them with the travel arrangements and local resources that make independent exploration much easier and, it must be said, more rewarding. Specific local activities and sights are suggested, and guidance is available if wanted, but otherwise travelers are on their own.  Our cottage, one building of a recently renovated farmstead adjacent to the Killin Hotel, featured three neatly decorated bedrooms and a bathroom organized around a two-story living, dining, kitchen area. Though not luxurious, the cottage was more than charming and offered far more room and privacy for a comfortable week's stay than a hotel, inn or B&B. It also helped us feel more integrated into the life of the town.  We took our first hike the following morning, joining a band of fellow Home at Firsters on an expedition between the hamlet of Brig o' Turk, on the shore of Loch Venachar, over the high pass back to Balquhidder, supposedly following the route Rob Roy used to drive his stolen cattle.  Although Scotland in May has a reputation for inclement weather, good luck was with us. Ours was a sunny, five-hour, 12-mile stroll up a long ramp through woodlands, over the high gorse-brushed, sheep-dotted moor and pass, and then back down into Balquhidder Glen.  Despite the pleasant weather, any longish hike in Scotland requires preparation, appropriate footwear, food and water and rain gear. And although walking paths are plentiful and generally ade quately marked, it also helps to have an Ordinance Survey map or a guide who knows the area, preferably both. It makes it much easier to find the pub that lies at the end of every trail, which is the source of single-malt elixir the Scots call whiskey, wonderful beer and easy camaraderie.  Back in Balquhidder, we visited the tiny churchyard where Rob Roy is buried. "McGreggor despite them," reads the inscription on the flat stone that covers his grave, defiant until the end.  That night, we dined in the pub at the Inn on Loch Tay by the bridge, at the east end of Killin. Many pubs in Scotland have taken their food to a higher level, serving interesting meals of restaurant quality but much less expensive. Another food note: While tipping is appreciated, it's not generally expected and very much an extra.  The next morning, we drove a half-hour down to view the fabled Loch Katrine, intending to enjoy an hour's cruise on a vintage steamship, the Sir Walter Scott, or to rent bicycles and pedal wooded trails which follow the long loch's shoreline.  It's said that nothing in the Highlands is so rare as a bit of straight road, but the route up and over Duke's Pass through Queen's Forest Park was exceptional even by that standard: 10 miles of tight, two-lane hairpin turns with stunning views in all directions.  Unfortunately, the date happened to be a bank holiday, and the park ing lot at the end of the loch was filled to capacity by the time we arrived. So we continued a mile farther up the road and happened across a parking lot at the base of Ben A'an, a 2,400-foot peak overlooking Loch Katrine and the neighboring, much smaller Loch Achray. Taking our time, we used an hour and a half to scramble up the rocky and well-worn trail to the peak and about half that to get back down.  As Wordsworth observed, Ben A'an's peak offers a classic Highland panorama, and the light conditions and timing of our arrival happened to be ideal for capturing images, both photographic and mental. Walking back down, we reflected on our good fortune in happening on such a diverting side trip and realized that's another advantage of independent travel. Rather than spending hours in tight clumps of tourists waiting to board a steamboat for a tour of the loch, we were able to alter our itinerary and pass several very pleasant and active hours on an unexpected adventure.  Our plan for the next day was to mount an expedition and climb Ben Lawers, the 3,945-foot "munro" (see Scotland Highland primer sidebar) that towers over the north shore of Loch Tay and everything else for miles around, being the highest peak in the southern Highlands.  The primary route up from the parking lot at Ben Lawers visitors center is a steep, well-tended trail, often "scarfed" with stone. The path rises across sparsely grassed sheep lands and then follows the edge of a steep ramp up and over the shoulder of one peak, to the base of the primary peak. There was special incentive to reach the peak: One guidebook claimed that on clear days, both the Atlantic Ocean and North Sea could be seen from the top of Ben Lawers.  We started out with a party of six Home at Firsters. After an hour of climbing, the trail steepened and the wind stiffened. Egged on by a party of 10- to 12-year-old students from a school near Edinburgh who were making the climb as a class outing, we kept a steady pace.  Although the incline made our legs burn and lungs pant, the walking wasn't exceptionally difficult nor the slopes alarmingly precipitous. Adopting the steady plod of mountain climbers, we reached the top, where a concrete pillar marked the cardinal directions and emerging gorse blooms imparted a yellow blush to vestiges of winter snow.  The vistas were indeed magnificent, although there was too much mist in the air for really long views. A stiff wind notwithstanding, we spent half an hour on top of this part of Scotland, on the upper edge of a bank of snow which only two weeks earlier had covered the entire peak in a blanket 3 feet deep. I picked up a square chunk of milky quartz stone as a souvenir and headed back down. We returned to the parking lot following a different and, as it turned out, much less difficult path that flanked the main peak.  Our total expedition had taken about five hours, and we were definitely ready for hot showers when we got back to our cottage.  That night, we dined at Monachyle Mhor, a remote establishment recently voted the "best restaurant in Scotland." Tucked between Loch Doine and Loch Voil at the far end of Balquhidder Glen, the rustic restaurant's menu is heavy on local fish and game and sublime in its execution. And the late-night drive back on the narrow single trackway along the dark shores of Loch Voil was a truly memorable experience, as much for what couldn't be seen as what could.  On Wednesday, we decided to give our legs a rest and use our wheels instead. We departed Killin about noon and took the single lane "high road" around the flank of Ben Lawers and through a pass into the top of Glen Lyon, which, at 34 miles, is Scotland's longest enclosed glen.  Starting in the high bleak moor, the road winds down through increasingly broad fields and forested slopes to Fortingall, a tiny village of thatch-roofed cottages. A yew tree in its churchyard has been documented to be 3,000 years old, making it the oldest living thing in all of Europe. Local legends also say that Pontius Pilate was born here, the son of a centurion who was stationed at what was then the farthest outpost of the Roman Empire.  After lunching in the centuries-old Cosheville Inn, we headed a few miles farther north to remote Loch Rannoch. Rannoch Station, in the middle of the moor at the loch's western end, is reputed to be the most remote rail station in Great Britain and a popular access point for serious hikers.  The shores of nearby Loch Tummel were a favorite picnic excursion for Queen Victoria and her highland ghillie, Mr. Brown. The Queen's View offers a panorama down the length of the shimmering loch. We took the road back to Loch Tay and Killin, passing through Aberfeldy, itself a charming Perthshire town and tourist center.  Our 25-mile drive back along Loch Tay was stupendous, long sweeps down the mountain reflecting in the loch, with billowing clouds scudding across a blue sky backed by the setting sun.  The following day, we decided to join another Home at First expedition being assembled for a 12-mile hike along the West Highland Way. Part of the Great Road that runs the entire length of Britain, the West Highland Way winds for 100 miles from Glasgow to the town of Fort William.  Our plan was to walk from a village, Bridge of Orchy, over the wind-misted high moors into the legendary and awesome emptiness of Glen Coe, one of Earth's truly unique landscapes. Despite threatening weather, the walking was easy on the well-defined and generally level way, especially without the serious packs sported by the long-distance hikers we encountered. Stopping for lunch, we sheltered from the wind under a stone arch bridge, which provided a wonderfully framed portrait of Rannoch Moor.  Passing over the high ridge, we entered Glen Coe, the vast and desolate valley that was the site of one of the most infamous events in Scottish history - the 1692 massacre of 38 members of Clan McDonald, murdered in their sleep by government troops who had taken advantage of their hospitality.  The day we walked into Glen Coe also happened to be when Scotland was holding elections for its first independent parliament in nearly 300 years, an irony not lost on members of our party. It was a historic day without question, but there was no hint of the event in Glen Coe, nor mention of politics in the hiker's bar at the King's House Inn.  Out on the moor, the wind was the only sound that could be heard. Or was it the satisfied sigh of dead McDonalds? In the heart of Scotland, independence has never been at question.   If you go...  Home at First: 800-523-5842.  British Airways: 800-AIRWAYS or http://www.britishairways.com  Kenning Auto Rental: 011-44-1246-220-111 or http://www.kenning.co.uk  British Tourist Authority: 800-GO2BRITAIN OR http://www.visitbritain.com  Scottish Tourist Board: 011-44-131-332-2433 or http://holiday.scotland.net


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