Hiking date = May 30, 2024. The objective for the last hike over our two weeks of guided hiking was Coire Gabhail. With three of four members of our group still fighting viruses, our guide deviated from the 11 km hike listed in the published itinerary. Coire Gabhail, our substitute objective, doesn’t even qualify as a “hike” by my standards. Clocking in at 4.9 km, it falls short of my long-standing (and arbitrary) minimum 5 km for an outing to be considered a hike. However, we gained a respectable 358 meters. And from start to finish, we were out in nature for more than 3 hours. So I’ll be generous and classify this half-day outing as a hike. 😉

Three Sisters

It was just a 10-minute drive from the Kingshouse Hotel to the trailhead parking for Coire Gabhail. When our guide explained we were also at the viewpoint for Glencoe’s Three Sisters, the four of us exchanged smiles. Being from the Bow Valley in Alberta, Canada, we have our own Three Sisters just outside of town. Here are Canmore’s Three Sisters, aka Faith, Hope and Charity or Big Sister, Little Sister and Middle Sister:

And here are Glencoe’s Three Sisters, aka Gearr Aonach, Aonach Dubh and Beinn Fhada, or short ridge, black ridge, and long mountain:

After being away from home for more than three weeks, thinking about the Three Sisters stoked a bit of a longing to get back.

Coire Gabhail

Coire Gabhail is a hanging valley, or high level glen. It nestles between two of Glencoe’s Three Sisters, with Beinn Fhada (Long Hill) on its left and Gearr Aonach (Short Ridge) on its right. The Coire was formed, like Glen Coe, by the movement of glaciers. The primary glacier was larger and heavier, carving out the deep trough of Glen Coe. The secondary glacier or glacier tongue carved the hanging valley high above the den.

It’s narrow entrance conceals a “Lost Valley” that was used by Clan MacDonald as a hiding place for stolen cattle and as a refuge for those who escaped the 1692 Massacre of Glen Coe.

This was the first hike of the trip where the route started with a descent, to access a pedestrian bridge across the River Coe. From there, a short scramble aided by a permanently installed wire rope marked the start of the ascent. I’ve been thinking that the MacDonald’s must have used an easier crossing of the River Coe when they moved cattle up into the Lost Valley.

Ascent

Once past the bridge and wire rope-assisted short scramble, we entered a scrubby deciduous forest. The deep, boot-beaten track was testament to the popularity of this hike. Although on that particular day, we saw less than a dozen other people on the way up and back.

As we gained elevation and the narrow gorge widened, views of Long Mountain opened to our left.

Whether erratics or rock fall, as the trail wound up between massive boulders, we occasionally paused to catch our breath.

Then the trail suddenly steepened again, climbing up the shoulder of Black Ridge. Again, I wondered how the MacDonalds would have herded cattle up and down this route.

As we climbed, we spotted two relatively large birds circling overhead. We hoped they might be golden eagles, but one of them did a flyby close enough that we determined we were watching a pair of common buzzards. Still, it was good to see a couple of larger birds on the landscape.

Everything was lushly green as we continued hiking up into a slowly widening valley.

Then, suddenly, we were walking alongside a burn, a tributary of River Coe. We noticed many small waterfalls and cascading steps, which made for plenty of photographic opportunities.

There were also opportunities for fun, as we crossed back and forth, rock hopping and using our hiking poles for balance. Then, after one final push we were up at the opening into the hanging Lost Valley. Our friends looked a little worn out by the time we reached our lunch time picnic spot, so it’s just as well our guide opted for a shorter hike.

View down the hanging Lost Valley, where I tried to imagine what it might have been like to graze cows here, several hundred years ago.

Cheers from our group as we settled in for lunch. 🙂

Return

A few people hiked past as we enjoyed our packed lunches. One group continued on into the Lost Valley for a while. Others, like us, stopped for lunch and then turned back. In fact, one group started down just ahead of us, as shown in this group of photos.

Again, we enjoyed the rock hopping and creek crossing on the way down. Some of us used hiking poles and others did not.

Once across the bridge and back up to the wide Glen Coe valley bottom, we had excellent views across the other side of the valley. The car park was even busier than when we’d arrived in the morning. And we could hear the sound of a bagpipe as we continued walking.

I really liked this composition, with the puddle of sun on Short Ridge, and the leafy ferns in the foreground.

Apparently Wilderness Scotland liked the image too, because they’ve incorporated it into their website for 2025!

SUMMARY

A relatively straightforward 4.9 km hike with 358 meters elevation gain, this trail has the added excitement of a bit of a scramble and lots of creek crossings/rock hopping. And there’s the option to hike further into the Lost Valley if you’re wanting a longer outing. Like so many hikes in Scotland, this one has some interesting history, and we were glad to have a guide to tell us the story of this hanging valley.

We appreciated that our last hike of our second week of guided hiking in Scotland started at the base of Glencoe’s Three Sisters, bringing to mind the Three Sisters just outside our home town in the Canadian Rockies – a sight we’d see again in just a few days. 🙂