"On a windswept heath,
a traveler finds his rest…read morein a lonely cairn."
Wander far enough off the beaten path in the highlands of Glencoe, Scotland, and you'll find myriad mysteries and wonders: stone steps leading to crumbling ruins, mysterious vaults, shallow caves, and cairns.
One such cairn, resting atop an unremarkable crag overlooking the A82, stands out as much for its picturesque view of the valley below as it does for representing the devotion and love of the friends and family who erected this memorial in honor of its namesake, Ralston Claud Muir.
Muir was a local train driver and avid hiker of the glens, his favorite among them being Glencoe. He became ill on Christmas Day, 1999, and died 16 days later of multiple organ failure caused by a rare form of leukemia of which he was unaware he had. He was 32.
A cairn was built in his memory; a place where his friends and family could share a drink, reminisce, and take in the view that had enchanted their loved one in life. Nestled within the stones is a plaque bearing the words, "These are my mountains, and I have come home." If you visit the cairn, be sure to bring a dram of whisky to drink a toast in Muir's honor.
I have never fallen so immediately and completely in love with a countryside vista as I did here in Glencoe. I was visiting the UK for the first time to catch up with a friend I had not seen in years, and make a spur of the moment decision to fly up to Inverness to see Loch Ness and spend a couple days exploring the highlands (pro tip: nowhere near enough time to do so!). On my last day, I drove down to Glencoe (two hours from Inverness) in search of Ralston Cairn, which I had scouted on Google Maps. I parked my rental at the lot near the Meeting of Three Waters, and hiked up the slope towards the cairn, turned around and was struck breathless by the beauty before and below me (an occurrence which happened several times during my brief visit to Scotland).
No review of words will ever do justice to the serenity, wonder and absolute *awe* that the Scottish Highlands inspired within me, with Glencoe being among the most potent and memorable (alongside the Isle of Skye and the A833 highway between Drumnadrochit and Beauly). Few natural wonders have ever driven me to tears by their sheer beauty. Glencoe did then, and does so even now, when looking back through my photos, or when meditating on the wonderful yet haunting memories of my all-too-brief time spent there.
P.S. My wife and I ended up purchasing two small souvenir plots of land in Glencoe, so we now bear the "official" title of "Lord" and "Lady of Glencoe"! No more peasantry for us; we are nobility!
To find Ralston Cairn, take the A82 toward Glencoe and park in the lot near The Meeting of Three Waters. Hike northeast up into the hills on the east side of the highway. You may have to wander a bit to find it, halfway up the cliff side, but that's likely the way Muir would have wanted. Look for the strange, locked vault with the rusted steel door built into the hillside a little further up the cliff from the cairn.
