Just got back from 2 weeks in Scotland - there are not words to adequately describe the beauty of the Highlands. We didn't get to do all the hiking we wanted but we did do a short (couple of miles) of the West Highland Way out of Glen Coe and 6 miles in Glen Nevis to Glen Nevis Gorge. Did some short tramps in the countryside as well. I must return to do the West Highland Way - absolutely must. I've never seen a trail in countryside as gorgeous as that. And they don't cut the trail over the top of every mountain like the AT - they cut it alongside the mountain most of the time. We talked about doing Ben Nevis but the weather was looking iffy and as it turned it the summit was completely clouded over about the time we would have been up there. Down where we stayed, to do the Glen Nevis Gorge, it was sunny and warm and fabulous. In fact in 2 weeks we saw rain 3 times, from Edinburgh to Stirling to Oban, out to the Isles of Mull and Iona, up to Ft. William, Inverness and surrounds, down through the Cairngorms National Park and back for 3 days in Edinburgh. It was sunny and warm almost every single day. In Edinburgh we hiked up to Salisbury Crag and the tip top of Arthur's Seat - the hard ways up, not the easy sloping trail to the left.
So, now it's time to think about a short section on the AT this Fall, maybe Newfound Gap back to Fontana.
I miss Scotland.