Resilience, honor and awe.

I woke up to a Scottish temper tantrum. 

Howling winds, rain hitting the window so hard it sounded like it just wanted to get in at me. Covers over head.

Like open water swimming, coming to the Scottish Highlands is a commitment to courage and facing whatever we are given. So up out of bed, you, it’s time to get out there.

Reward. As we reached our swim spot not far from Roam West, the clouds clung to the peaks around us and the sky was showy with brilliant highlights and dramatic lowlights. I was just in awe at the feel and pull of the landscape around me. The light. The light!! Dark skies with brilliantly lit patches on the mountains. The water before us was glassy calm. This spot in Loch Leven is a regular swim for Ben and Nick and always affords protection no matter the weather. It’s so important to have places we can swim in any weather.

Not just a place to swim, but a beautiful, powerful place to swim.

We waded into this mix of salt and freshwater loch. The bottom of the loch is lined with slate from the surrounding hills, creating a neat floor with water that is crystal clear. This spot is for sure a few degrees colder than anything else we’ve swum yet. But how could I mind? The scenery around, the drama of the skies above, the clarity below, the brilliant company.

Like this place, the people of the Scottish Highlands are a little wild. They are steadfastly proud and very resilient. The power to survive what is sometimes an unnavigable landscape comes from the scaffolding of family, or clans, and the clan tradition is still a powerful force here. One of the many significant clan stories is that of Clan MacDonald of Glen Coe, in which my adventure mostly takes place. 

In 1692, King William III of England required an oath of allegiance from the Scottish Clan chiefs. Negotiating terms within his clan, the MacDonald chief sent word of their cooperation a few days past the deadline, making them vulnerable to government punitive action. That action came in the form of betrayal. Government troops from the Campbell Clan came to Glen Coe and enjoyed the notorious MacDonald hospitality, living, eating and drinking with them for over two weeks, under the guise of collecting taxes for the King. Then, the unthinkable orders came to slaughter their hosts in their homes – a motion to put down and decimate one of the region’s most powerful clans. In the end, nearly 80 MacDonalds were murdered or died in the mountains after fleeing the attack. The legacy of this betrayal lives on, and it’s still not wise to be a Campbell here in Glen Coe. This story represents just one of many bloody territorial feuds in Scotland.

There are, however, islands of reprieve.

Jump back in the water. As we rounded the Ballachullish Peninsula (pronounced Bala-HOOLish with a little back of your throat sound on that H), before us were three low lying islands full of story and meaning. These are the Peace Islands. The first is Eilean Munde, commonly known as Burial Island, a sacred place of peace. Here, members of multiple clans are buried, and the grounds have been maintained in cooperation among them. There is no disagreement allowed here, and all of those buried are respected equally. Most notably the MacDonald chief, Alasdair Maclain, killed in the attacks of 1692 is at rest here. The island is filled with old and hallowed stones. Solemn and beautiful.

A few yards away we see the Isle of Discussion, a small plot where clan members in disagreement were sent (with plenty of whisky) to work it out. They were not allowed to leave the island until things were settled. As we floated here for a while admiring these places, I made a comment about the size of the swim floats Nick and Ben use. Nick quickly commented that the room within is needed for shortbread and whisky. Charming Scottish wit! And also a common base note that with a little whisky and determination, anything is possible.

We swam into the corner on the far side of the peninsula beneath the iconic Pap of Glen Coe – a sharp and distinct mountain peak in the Scottish Highlands. It rises above the glen, the water, the other mountains, the clouds, sometimes in shadow and sometimes in brilliant shining light. The word “pap” is an olde English term for a breast so it’s a little funny, but it’s also kind of an awe inspiring monument to this wild place and the people who have lived here for so many centuries.

We touched shore and swam back around the peninsula to our starting point. We covered 1.5 miles in total and were in the water for just about an hour. I definitely came out of the water with a frozen face and one clawlike hand, but I could not and still cannot deny the feeling of elation that came out with me. No one is more surprised by this than me. But in all honesty, my body has felt GREAT here, all day each of the three days I’ve swum in these cold waters. 

The hotel in the parking lot of this swim has a sauna. And while I really am vibing with the cold water swimming, doesn’t a sauna afterward sound divine?!! We didn’t get a crack at it today, but we have identified three places in a week of swimming where we can swim and then sauna. Throw in a campfire on the beach, some cups of hot cocoa (with or without whisky) and Holy Coe if that isn’t special, I don’t know what is. 

Back to the hotel where I took a long hot shower and got ready for our next outing. Ben has been a prince about dealing with all of the wet gear and setting it up in the drying room on the property. This is the kind of concierge service that will make a cold water swimming experience that much more approachable for our swimmers.

Celine and I caught a midday bus to the seaside town of Oban. This is a place where, on a future trip, we will be able to swim, sauna, stroll the town for lunch and a little shopping, then explore a castle on the way home. Not a bad day, ammiright?! A note about the bus system here in Scotland. Easy, cheap reliable and comfortable. Should you come here, plan to use it.

Below: waiting for the bus, and amazingly i need my sunnies - the sun came out!!!

Oban is as charming as it gets. A working waterfront, ample eateries (including the bakery where we overdid lunch and sweeties for later in the day), a distillery and cute shops. Not too manicured, but authentic and just right. The whole place smells like fish and chips. Lovely. We bussed home and I just stared out the window as the seashore and lochs passed by. Verdant fields filled with sheep and seagulls. Calming. Beautiful.

There’s a waterfall somewhere in the hills behind Roam West. I’d be surprised if there wasn’t - there are waterfalls on every hill and mountain in the Highlands. We left right from the property and hiked about a mile and back stopping at three scenic overlooks along the way. The path is fringed with purple Heather and wild grasses, the clear mountain waters cascading into the glen and on out into Loch Linnhe. There is so much water here. And the seashore and saltwater lochs and fresh water lochs and it’s hard to know where one ends and one begins and if you like water this is definitely a place for you.

In general, the Scottish Highlands and especially the lands of Glen Coe are an outside place. The landscape - sea, mountain and sky - almost demand that you get outside and immerse in it. Feel it. There are no promises of comfort here, but adventure yes, fulfillment yet, the reward of feeling like you are part of something bigger, most definitely yes.

Roam West is a fantastic base from which to explore this part of the country. A regular stopover for adventurers of all types (hikers, climbers, paddlers and people passing through) this is an accommodation that lets the landscape do the talking. There’s no superfluous luxury here - just clean and cozy, a perfect place to launch into an immersive experience. The pub at Roam is just what you want and need for a stay in this wild place - excellent pub food with warm and homey ambience. The food is gooey and hot and good and quite frankly exactly what I need after a day of wild swimming and adventuring here. Even better is the company of our hosts, Ben and Sarah who own and operate the hotel and pub directly. Imagine a day of experiences with two knowledgeable guides, patient and kind with stories to share, then sitting down to dinner and continuing the conversation with them over a pint and some really good fish and chips. It feels like Home in the Highlands.

After decades of guiding and arranging all sorts of adventure experiences around the world, Ben, Sara and our fellow swim guide Nick really GET guiding, and they have a firm grasp on how to bring people to an edge in the environment for the experience of a lifetime. With them, we can take on swims I’d never attempt on my own. It’s been amazing to have the details handled so I could just meet the task of cold water immersion and wild swimming at its finest. 

Ben, Sarah and Nick, I can’t thank you enough for sharing this slice of Scotland with me and SwimVacation. I’m so hopeful we will be able to recruit an adventurous few who might join us here next year. This is too good not to do again.

Leaving the highlands by bus today, weaving through the glen between the most ancient and majestic hills that drip with water full of stories full of honor and resilience, I can’t help but feel like I have found a new corner of myself here. This is something we guide people to on SwimVacation, and how moving to feel it myself in a new place with a new kind of swimming. 

The waters of Scotland are not easy, but they promise reward. An elation and sense of earning the adventure. I am so hopeful we will be able to share this wonder of swimming with an adventurous few.

__

If I said it once here, I said it one billion times - the LIGHT in this place. It’s like nowhere else.

I’m finishing this blog post whilst sitting in the Glasgow airport. I changed my ticket home today to see two of our SwimVacation family in England for a few days. They need us and me and so I go.

I’ve been gone from home for one month. What a long, amazing journey it has been. Greece, Turkiye, Scotland, England. In addition to the people who make the leap to jump in the Ocean with us as their guides, I’ve had the honor and essential gift of connecting with the amazing people we do this thing with. On this trip alone I have worked with, lived with and loved my chosen family from Maine, Greece, Portugal, Faroe Islands, Hawaii, Türkiye, England and Scotland. This is our Sea Clan. And especially when I am away from my home family, these are the kinds of connections that keep me going. Hopper, your Big Idea means more to people and especially to me than you ever imagined. Thank you to you and to them will never be enough.

When I got off the bus back at Roam West yesterday, a ridiculously vivid double rainbow appeared right over the hotel. You can’t have one of those without the rain.

I’m a little emotional about it all at the moment. Noticing this, a lovely Scottish woman came up to me where I’m sitting and told me she was going to give me a hug. She did. That’s that Scottish fierce hospitality, plain and unhindered, that I have seen and felt here. Honestly, it’s the kind of vibe I run into all over the world. My experience is that people are good and when given the opportunity to connect, most will. And I am exceedingly grateful and better for it.

I could have used a cold, wild swim this morning. I’ll settle for one more destination before home and the hugs there that await. 

Love, always,

Heather