Hike to Buachaille Etive Beag Peak, Glencoe, Scotland (August 6)

Wednesday, August 6, 2025

Start:  #7 Seabeds Luxury Lookouts, Woodlands, Glencoe, Scotland

End:  #7 Seabeds Luxury Lookouts, Woodlands, Glencoe, Scotland

Highlights: Hike to Buachaille Etive Beag mountain top, Hike to Glencoe Lochan, Hagrid's Hut, Skyfall Waterfall

After waking up at 07:30, I took a shower and dressed. I noticed that our breakfast basket was delivered to our room. The basket contained one plain croissant, one pain au chocolat, slices of bread, raspberry jam, cheddar cheese, and two glass containers of yogurt with granola. 

I made coffee in the room's Nespresso coffee machine, and we enjoyed the yogurt (which was excellent) and the bread. The croissants were mediocre. Finishing breakfast, we started our drive to our first hike at 09:30 (a bit too late, as it turned out).

We wanted to hike the famous Coire Gabhail trail, but the multiple, small car parks near the trail were all completely full. I had read on Alltrails that one needed to arrive before 09:00, and that was certainly true. Eventually, I found a space much further away (over 1 mile) at Buachaille Etive Mor Car Park. 

We decided to hike to the Bachaille Etive Beag mountain top instead of Coire Gabhail  (to avoid the additional 40 minutes of walking). The trail started out flat but rapidly became a steep climb on a rocky trail, frequently crossing small streams. The surrounding views were breathtaking. The trail turned out to be quite difficult, with a 3-mile round trip and 1680 feet of elevation gain. It took us 3 hours to complete (round trip), and  Inna was very tired at the end of the hike.

We drove back to Glencoe for lunch, but the Woodlands Food Truck was closed. Its normal hours are 9:00-12:00 and 17:00-20:00. The receptionist suggested we visit The Quarry/Balluchulish Visitor Center. However, the Quarry was very busy at 13:30 (with a 30-minute wait time). We decided to try Cuil Seafood (food truck) nearby and ordered the following items:

• Inna: Scallops with Black Pudding, cappuccino
• Boris: Bagel with Salmon, french fries, cappuccino

My Bagel with Salmon was not bad, and Inna's Scallops were large and delicious. However, we did not care for Black Pudding (a Scottish specialty).

After lunch, we decided to try a gentle hike to Glencoe Lochan. There was plenty of parking, but the RingGo parking app was not working (for either my US mobile phone or my email address). We decided to risk it and hiked around the lake anyway. The hike was flat and easy, but similar to a hike in the U.S.A.

We next decided to drop by Clachaig Inn (but the food counter was closed from 15:00 - 16:00. We decided to try hiking Hagrid's Hut (from Harry Potter movies). As we started the hike, we learned that the hut was no longer there, but the spot where it was originally located was identified.

After returning to Clachaig Inn, we thought to get a few snacks, like Carrot Cake (there were no scones or clotted cream). However,  there was a very long line to order, and only one person was working. I got tired of waiting and we returned to our SeaBeds hotel, and ordered food from the Woodlands Food Truck:

• Appetizer: Salad
• Drinks: Cider
• Inna: Seabass with salad
• Boris: Burger with Fries
• Dessert: Homemade Highland Tablet (like Fudge but better)

The burger was delicious, and the seabass was not bad.

After dinner, as the weather was clear, we decided to visit the waterfalls that were pictured in the James Bond Skyfall movie. We drove to the Skyfall waterfall and quite a bit past it. We saw dozens of people camping. We never realized how popular camping was in Europe (both in Scotlands and Iceland.) We also so hundreds of small RVs. We were harassed by the small "midget" flies that bit and attacked us when we exited our car. They were extremely annoying and usually present near sources of water.

After we drove for a bit, we turned around and returned to Seabeds. We rested and watched a movie on our projector: Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire.

Day Report  (August 6)

Highlights

• Hiking to Bachaille Etive Beag mountain top
• Hiking around Glencoe Lochan (the lake was beautiful and peaceful)
• Seeing all the beautiful Skyfall waterfall along the Glen Etive road.

Lowlights

• Could not find parking to hike the Coire Gabhail trail
• Hagrid's Hut no longer exists (just its original location)