The Great Glen Way – Laggan Locks to Fort Augustus

August 15, 2022Hiking, Scotland, TravelFort Augustus, Great Glen Way, Laggan Locks, Loch Nesskarenfranza

August 15 – The forecast today was for rain, so we got an early start for the 11 miles to Fort Augustus, which is the midpoint of this hike. We walked past the Eagle Barge, the only restaurant in Laggan. When we saw it online we didn’t realize it was actually a barge.

Today we are walking beside Loch Oich. I hope you’re keeping track of all these lochs.

We pass by the old Invergarry station:

There’ll be no trains running from here!

We watched the barge below pass through the lock, then discharge its passengers. They were retirees from Sweden, taking a three day cruise up the Caledonian Canal.

We stopped to see the famous Bridge of Oich, built in 1854 after the old stone bridge crumbled. It used a double cantilevered design so that even if the bridge broke in the middle, the sides would not fall down. We hikers learn stuff!

And, although it was a little misty from time to time, it never rained on us. Another good day.

August 16 – We are taking a rest day today, at the midpoint of our hike. The village of Fort Augustus (population 600) is a one block cluster of restaurants and guesthouses catering to tourists who want to see Loch Ness and any monsters dwelling therein.

Delightfulness – one of many Nessy gift shops

There are no remains of the actual fort, built by the British after the 1715 Jacobite uprising and named for Prince William Augustus, who was instrumental in the slaughter of the Scots.

After the completion of the Caledonian Canal, Queen Victoria took a ride down it in a paddle steamer in 1873. She wrote in her journal, “The Caledonian Canal is a very wonderful thing, but rather tedious.” Her journey started a tourist trend, and steaming down the canal was dubbed ‘the Royal route.’ Shops and cafes popped up to give the tourists something to do while their boats negotiated the locks.

Happy to report another culinary first for us today. Jim had the gammon steak, which turned out to be ham, and I had the ‘neeps and tatties’ – turnips and potatoes. I found the turnips altogether palatable when mashed together with potatoes and carrots. On their own: no thanks.

We visited the Caledonian Canal information center, which consisted of the signboard below in a cafe. The black dot in the middle is our location. The white body to the northeast is all Loch Ness. It’s a big one.

We sat down for an ice cream and watched the crowds waiting for their Loch Ness boat tours or queuing up to get into the restaurants. I still can’t get used to folks in down jackets and woolly hats and scarves in the middle of August.

We bought a cold supper and carried it back to our room so we wouldn’t have to make the long trip uphill twice in one day. On the path up to our guesthouse is a respite for the weary traveler:

Our dinner included a selection of local brewery offerings:

A lovely day.

The Great Glen Way – Gairlochy to Laggan Locks

August 14, 2022Hiking, Scotland, TravelGairlochy, Great Glen Way, South Laggankarenfranza

August 14 – Following a lovely breakfast of salmon and scrambled eggs, we returned to the trail. We are still following alongside the Caledonian Canal, which has locks between the lochs. Today we leave the shore and move up into the hills along – wait for it – Loch Lochy. I am shaking my old gray locks at that one…

We contemplate our mortality:

There is logging in this area, and the construction of a hydroelectric project that necessitated rerouting of the trail.

We see two kayaks through a break in the trees:

We continue to climb – can you still see the kayak in the pic below?

Jim talks to Joshua, a traveler from Manchester who moved to Scotland and bought a hotel

Here is the brand new trail, paid for by the hydroelectric company.

The day started to turn gray. We sat down to eat our lunch and were immediately beset by midges. We put on our head nets and brought our sandwiches under the nets so we could eat.

As we resumed our walk it started to rain – the first rain we’ve seen in weeks, so no complaints. We found our way down to Laggan locks, and called our guesthouse hosts who came right down to pick us up.

Lorraine and Laura are from England, and have owned their guesthouse for five years. They love what they do, and made us feel so welcome; fixing us dinner and even running our laundry through the washer and dryer. We had a wonderful evening.

The Great Glen Way – Fort William to Gairlochy

August 13, 2022Hiking, Scotland, TravelCaledonian Canal, Fort William, Gairlochy, Great Glen Way, Neptune’s Staircase, old fortkarenfranza

August 13 – This morning we bid adieu to Fort William, and set off to follow the Great Glen Way, which runs northeast for 78 miles to Inverness.

The trail starts at the ruins of old Fort William, built in 1690:

The fort protected Loch Linnhe and the River Nevis

We looked down on the ruins of Inverlochy Castle in the distance.

We walked for a while through the suburbs of Fort William, until we reached the Caledonian Canal. The canal takes advantage of the geological fault that runs across the country up to Inverness. It was built in 1803, and has 29 locks. The first eight locks are called Neptune’s Staircase.

We continued to walk for the rest of the day on the canal towpath – perfectly flat. How nice to have no mountains to worry about!

Lots of bikes, and a retired racehorse named Clive

We only met one other walking couple today. Quite a change from the busy West Highland Way!

Before we knew it, we arrived at the bottom lock at Gairlochy, our end point for the day. There is no place to stay here, so our guesthouse host Cameron picked us up and drove us to Spean Bridge, four miles from the trail, where we will be returned after breakfast.

We had dinner at a local restaurant. I was happy to see chicken on the menu – we’ve been eating mostly fish or beef. Chicken Balmoral turned out to be a chicken breast stuffed with – you guessed it – haggis! Very tasty, in a spicy pepper sauce with plenty of veg.

The Scottish food we’ve tried so far has been much spicier overall than we expected; a pleasant surprise. Glad to find so many surprises here.

Fort William, Scotland

August 12, 2022Hiking, Scotland, TravelFort William, High Street, Highland Museum, Inverlochy Castlekarenfranza

August 11 – Fort William is a quiet city on the bank of Loch Linnhe. It marks the end of the West Highland Way, entrance for the climb up Ben Nevis, and the beginning of the Great Glen Way, which we will start hiking in a few days. For some of us, it was the fort commanded by the evil Black Jack Randall in the Outlander books. Here’s what it looks like today. There is a pedestrian shopping street:

A kilted man amid tourists on the High Street

Doesn’t Jim look sporting in a tweed cap?

A young man salutes hikers walking into town

We had the opportunity to eat some traditional Scottish foods while we were here: Scotch broth (with carrots and barley just like my Grandma made it), Scotch pie (a minced beef and spice pie with a soft crust) and Scotch eggs (a hard boiled egg surrounded by sausage meat encased in bread crumbs). All delicious.

We also finally tried haggis, which is sausage made of sheep’s pluck (heart, lungs and liver) cooked with onion and oatmeal in a sheep’s stomach. It tastes sort of like liverwurst – an acquired taste.

There are pretty churches here:

There is a Highland Museum with lots of old stuff:

A grassy town square with lots of folks and dogs enjoying the 70 degree day:

In 1911, a local car dealer drove a Model T up Ben Nevis. He and his car are commemorated on the town square.

We walked a bit north of town to see the old Inverlochy Castle, built in 1270 on the bank of River Lochy, and captured and burned by Robert the Bruce in 1307. It can be viewed from all sides, but is fenced to prevent visitors from climbing on the old crumbling walls.

Here’s an old painting of the castle we saw in the museum:

A relaxing break from the trail!

The West Highland Way – Kinlochleven to Fort William

August 10, 2022Hiking, Scotland, TravelFort William, Kinlochleven, Sore Foot statue, West Highland Waykarenfranza

August 10 – This will be our last day on the West Highland Way.

Another sunny day – this time with midges! We were warned to expect these little black biters throughout the hike, but today was the first time we encountered them in significant numbers. We applied our Smidge bug spray, then ended up putting on face nets. Haven’t worn these since Wisconsin!

We met the French lady and her daughter again

The last few miles of the day were spent walking through the outskirts of Fort William – the first town of appreciable size we’ve seen in weeks.

Here is the original end of the West Highland Way. As we were positioning ourselves for a selfie, who should arrive but Angela – our third time bumping into her. She took the pic for us.

We walked into the center of town to find the statue that marks the current end of the trail.

So now we are in Fort William, where we will remain for a few days rest. Our B and B room has a lovely view of Loch Linnhe that we can admire as we recline in our very comfy bed. Life is good.

The West Highland Way – the Devil’s Staircase to Kinlochleven

August 9, 2022Hiking, Scotland, TravelDevil’s Staircase, Kinlochleven, West Highland Waykarenfranza

August 9 – For our penultimate day on this hike, we are climbing the Devil’s Staircase – the highest point on the trail. Our taxi driver Peter arrived promptly at 9am to take us back around the mountain to the point on the trail where the ascent begins.

The mountaintops are covered in cloud, but the day is bright and no rain is expected. I looked behind and took a picture of the little white house across the road.

As we climbed, the house got smaller…

And smaller…

And smaller still.

Can you still see the little house?

And we climbed higher and higher.

Until we got to the top!

Then there was the long walk down the other side.

We met Angela again!

And a man with a dog coming up the other side.

We ate our lunch on a sunny rock, then walked down into Kinlochleven.

Kinlochleven depends on the salmon industry

Approaching our hotel, we admired some front garden kitsch. We thought this yard was pretty cool:

Until we saw this one – definitely the best!

The West Highland Way – Bridge of Orchy to Kingshouse

August 8, 2022Hiking, Scotland, TravelBridge of Orchy, Kingshouse, Kinlochleven, red stag, West Highland Waykarenfranza

August 8 – This morning we met a Hungarian and two Dutch on our way out of town. More mossy woods, climbing up, up and up some more.

We are on our way to Kingshouse, which we think is a hotel, not a town.

Once again, we walk past beautiful mountains topped with clouds, down a stony path or an old military road. It’s chilly today, with a steady wind.

We are attracted to the micro-flowers that grow here.

We see Kingshouse in the distance, surrounded by trees. Kingshouse was built as an inn in the 1750s – the only place to stop for miles around. Things haven’t changed very much!

In addition to the hotel, there is a bunkhouse and places for tent camping. Even so, our tour people couldn’t find us a room at Kingshouse, so they arranged a taxi to pick us up here and take us to the next town.

Standing majestically right in front of the hotel was a red stag – the first wildlife we’ve seen.

I’m sure he was tamed by being fed by tourists, but he is still a thrilling sight.

We shared a taxi with a young Canadian woman, Chloe, who works in London. She has been hiking with her little dog, but the rocks and gravel proved too much for little paws.

Our taxi driver Peter is a local man from Kinlochleven. He told us that he once drove Claire Foy and James McAvoy in this very cab, when they were here on location to shoot a film (My Son, not available in the U.S.) He stopped a few times so we could take pictures.

So here we are in Kinlochlevan, at the venerable old MacDonald Hotel.

Peter will return for us in the morning, to put us back on the trail.

The West Highland Way – Tyndrum to Bridge of Orchy

August 7, 2022Hiking, Scotland, TravelBridge of Orchy, drying closet, Nice People of Scotland, Tyndrum, West Highland Waykarenfranza

August 7 – After yesterday’s exciting post, today’s may be less so.

We met Angela, a lovely lady from Nova Scotia doing a solo hike, at our B and B. We set out together after breakfast, and walked together for a while.

After a while the trail became an open track, with mountains to the left and mountains to the right. Our book says this is an old military road, used to keep the Jacobites in their place.

And so it remained for the rest of the day.

In the middle of nowhere was a solitary little house, with a sign saying it belonged to the Mc Dougals . They must really like their privacy.

Before we knew it, we’d reached Bridge of Orchy, which was our stop for the day. There is a bridge here:

There is one hotel / restaurant here:

The restaurant was all booked for tonight, so we accepted our B and B host’s gracious offer to fix us dinner. She made pasta and veg and salad and apple pie for dessert, and rolled the feast into our room on a little cart. It was lovely – and no chips!

Our room also contained a drying closet, which is a much sought-after amenity here in the highlands. You hang your damp things in it, push a button, and four hours later, you have dry clothes! It also dries your boots, but makes the whole room smell like dirty feet. Better than squelching around all day in wet boots!

The West Highland Way – Inverarnan to Tyndrum

August 6, 2022Hiking, Scotland, TravelField of Dalrigh, Inverarnan, St. Fillan’s Priory, Tyndrum, West Highland Waykarenfranza

August 6 – I miss Loch Lomond. Now I’ll have to come up with a new song to hum as we walk along.

Tired of mountains and trees? Today we have some history! Also, mountains and trees…

King Robert the First of Scotland (Robert the Bruce) fought the battle of Bannockburn in 1314. On the night before the battle, he prayed to St. Fillan, a monk from the early 700s. When Robert won the battle, he dedicated a new priory to St. Fillan, the ruins of which can be seen below.

The ruins of St. Fillan’s Priory from the 14th century

The Fillan River was known for healing the mentally ill when monks dunked them in this deep pool. Men were dunked in this section, and women were dunked a little further upstream. St. Fillan is the patron saint of the mentally ill.

Old bridge crossing over the River Fillan

A little further on is an old cemetery, containing some memorial stones from the 8th century. One of the stones bears the image of a forearm – a very unusual thing to carve on a memorial stone. Except…. St. Fillan was known to have a luminous forearm, that he used as a lantern so that he could continue reading scripture in the dark! Coincidence? You decide!

Kirkton family graveyard containing some 8th century memorial stones

Skipping forward to Robert the Bruce again, when his army lost the battle at Dalrigh right here in 1306, he disgustedly threw all his army’s swords into this small lake, known as the Lochen of the Lost Sword.

Wow! That’s a lot of history for one day’s walk. So, here are some more sheep and goats.

And flowers:

We approach the town of Tyndrum, where they used to mine lead.

There is a sign here inviting people to pan for gold, and we stood and watched for a while as some fellows panned away.

So now we are cozy in our B and B, after another hearty meal of haddock and chips (what we would call steak fries). I’m beginning to weary of the chips, which are served with every meal, but the fish is very good.

The places we’ve eaten in Scotland are all very solicitous of dietary restrictions / food allergies, and offer lots of vegetarian, vegan and gluten free choices. On our menu tonight was ‘tofush’ for those who desire a plant based alternative to fish.

Out the window of the restaurant were a row of bird feeders, set up for the entertainment of those eating within.

What a nice place.

The West Highland Way – Rowardennan to Inverarnan

August 4, 2022Hiking, Scotland, TravelInverarnan, Loch Lomond, Rowardennan, West Highland Waykarenfranza

August 4 – What do we do on our rest day? We walk around, of course!

Today was our first opportunity to order a full Scottish breakfast, which is very much like a full English – fried egg, tomato, farm sausage, beans, black pudding (blood sausage), mushrooms and bacon (looks like ham). We pronounced it excellent.

It’s a beautiful sunny morning, but a chilly 50 degrees, so we put on our fleece jackets and set off to see the first part of the hike to Inverarnan.

Not sure what this is, but isn’t it interesting?

We met a Ukrainian who was spraying foliage along the trail. We asked what he was spraying for, and he told us that he was killing rhododendrons, which are very bad. We pressed: the shrubs with pink flowers in the spring? Yes – very bad. Huh!

We encountered a family – mother, son and girlfriend of son – having a jolly walk. What a good son!

August 5 – So here is our conundrum. The guidebooks all agree that the next leg of our journey is the hardest day of the Way. It is over 14 miles of rugged walk with lots of big hills. Jim is under strict orders not to let me die on this vacation. There is no bus, no Uber, no way to get north of here as the road ceases to exist on this (east) side of the Loch. There are no bridges or ferries that can get us across the Loch to civilization. What to do?

Jim, who always says there is no corner so sharp that it cannot be rounded, found a solution, of course. For a princely sum, we hired a taxi to take us 30 miles all the way back to a town at the southern tip of Loch Lomond. From there, we caught a bus heading north on the west side of the Loch, and in 45 minutes, presto: Inverarnan (In-ver-ARR-nun).

Once again, not a town, just a hotel and a campsite. Once again, we were given a cabin, very cozy and nice.