Glencoe Lochan and Sgorr na Ciche (the Pap of Glencoe)

This must be one of the most idyllic settings one can come across. The former hospital used to be the home of Donald Alexander Smith from Forres in Morayshire, the 1st Baron of Strathcona ( Strathcona is a Gaelic variant on Glencoe), who was, for a while, the governor general of Canada. He always been interested in Scotland’s most popular glen, Glencoe, that was owned by the McDonalds of Glencoe until 1894, when Archibald Burns McDonald put the land up for sale. He probably heard about the sale of the Glencoe Estate while working at the Hudson Bay Company in Canada from the mouth of a colleague who happened to be the son of Archibald McDonald of Glencoe. Upon taking possession of the Glencoe Estate in 1895, he moved from Canada to Scotland with his wife Isabella Sophia Hardisty. Even though he planted a Canadian-like tree forest on the Estate to resemble his wife’s native land’s environment, she could not overcome home sickness. They consequently moved back to Canada and a portion of the land was transformed into a beautiful park offering three different walking trails, known as the Glencoe Lochan Walks. Some visitors have commented that the area around the lochan looks like a miniature Lake Louise in British Columbia.

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