Blackfold to Inverness

Over on the left, there, is Alistair, to whom we are indebted for his outstanding hosting skills. He was gracious, delightful and especially efficient, which is a lot, when on top of that, he is a dead ringer for George Clooney's twin brother. On the right are Emily and Crystal + parents (from Arizona), with whom we had a nice chat at breakfast:




Before setting out for Inverness, we visited the castle. We arranged to get there first thing, edging out, by a hair, a couple of busloads of tourists. Why does this matter? It matters because the best bit of visiting Urquart is being able to climb the tower stairs, a narrow, winding staircase, which does not allow for passing.

Not the tower, but a small section of the wall:




Room (but which room, who knows) with a view:




The original McDonalds:




After the castle, back to the trail, and an especially beautiful nine-ish miles. (Twenty one turns into twenty two before you know it.)

What do we have here? Like jets lined up on a runway, waiting for take-off, so do boats line up to enter the lock. OK, so it is not exactly the same. In the case of the boats, several can enter the lock at once. Then the swing bridge opens, a gate comes down, the lights flash, pedestrians and cars wait until the crafts are through.




Loch Ness



must not be confused with the River Ness:




You see, it is from The River that Nessie emerges:





One last precious sight



before the official end:



Almost three weeks of walking in perfect weather just about every day, one grand B and B after another (minus one), a few excursions, some touristy--nothing wrong with that--some not, and delicious food (really). A day in Inverness, a half day in Glasgow, and then home.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Blackfold to Drumnadrochit

The final segment of the GGW, from Drumnadrochit to Inverness, 18-21 1/2 miles, depending on how you measure the distance, is done by the hearty in one day. Depending on how you measure the distance? Yes. For example, our B and Bs, in both locations were some distance form the measuring points, and even though I did not know that at the time of booking, our walk would have been 21 1/2 miles. By doing it in two days, we had time to walk and be tourists.

After being taxied to Blackfold, some 13 1/2 miles from Inverness, we turned south to walk back to Drumnadrochit. A lovely walk it was, too, except for a long stretch of tarmac at the start. It is not so much the unsightliness of walking on a hard surface, it is the grief it causes the bottoms of your feet.

Do you see Bessie here? Although some of her cow-mates have already calved, she is eating for two:




A hermit's B and B? A secret hideaway? No, another tree root, this one mossed over:




Best not forget to make reservations on this highly-powered transport:




Whatever it is, it is not very high:





Lunch spot, with seating for one more:



Walking through the woods:




Having made good time on this stretch, we reached Drumnadrochit early enough to catch a 4:00 boat trip on Loch Ness. It was such a different experience to be on the water after seeing the loch from the distance of the path as a quiet, huge expanse of blue.

See the black blip on the peninsula: That is Urquart Castle, a most imposing fortress in its day:




Loch Ness from the boat:




Loch Ness suddenly becomes very deep close to shore, so the boat could draw near before making a turn. That bit was quite exciting because you think you are going to crash, but of course you don't. FYI, Loch Ness is way deeper than the North Sea:




The tower that was a speck when seen from the distance of the path:






-Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

A Short Day

But we made it longer. More of that in a minute. First some emoting about the wee cabin in which we stayed in Fort Augustus. It was the best stop yet. Other places have been luxurious and tasteful, and had wonderful breakfasts, but this B and B was unique. Out of every window—and there were windows on all sides and in the bathroom—was a gorgeous view. The beds were excellently comfortable, the linens lovely, the bathroom large, and like the rest of the cabin, pine. There was a little alcove that had a small frig and toaster, and held the fixings for our breakfast. In the main room a small table was invitingly set. And the cabin had HEAT! Also, it was very quiet. We loved this place. I told Jerry Anne, "Jerry Anne, when I complain that we should have walked on to Invermoriston and not broken the walk in Fort Augustus, remind me that had we done that, we would not have stayed here." It so made up for the hostel!





A view looking out the front window:



Since we had only eight miles to cover, we asked Mark, the proprietor, if he had any suggestions for add ons. He sent us on a glorious river walk along the Oich before we set out. It was a beautiful beginning to the day.

I hope you can read this! It tells of a great way to get free lox:




Why lookee here! Company along the GGW:




A very Scottish Scotsman from Inverness and his very Scottish son happened to be behind us; they told us that they had never seen a snake in Scotland, so weren't we lucky!

Needing more diversion, we followed a trail up into a pine forest. It was magnificent:






The logs of the other day must have been picked up:




And off they must go....to Ikea?





Invermoriston has gorgeous, powerful falls:




Another section:




The extra diversions brought our eight mile day up to about twelve miles, but we still had plenty of energy left, especially after a hearty soup and sandwich dinner at the B and B. The two-sister owners suggested another route to the falls. What a great walk it was!

We saw flowers growing our of a big thing—what are those things on trees that look like some kind of terrible tumor?





Trying to capture the light playing on the grass and bluebells:




View of the bridges from the little "summer house:"




One of the B and B owners is a devoted naturalist. The house is surrounded by bird feeders--so so many bird feeders, all well supplied with every kind of delicacy a bird might want! We saw siskins, a a great spotted woodpecker, and a green finch among many others whose names I do not know, all enjoying their treats. This morning, just after 7:00, we heard a tap on our bedroom door. Amanda, the sister mentioned above, invited us to see a red squirrel perched outside. It was ADORABLE! Here is a very bad picture of a picture of one:



We left Invermoriston on a perfect sunny day, not too cool, not too hot. For the first time we had real hillage on this walk. Thank God! As we climbed, the views of Loch Ness and the surrounding hills became finer and finer. No photograph that I could take would do them justice, so there are none here.

Sometimes, though, you have to bend down to get the best shot:





A bunch of pink flowers in a stream:




A tiny pine tree growing out of some other kind of tree:




During the walk today, we were trying to figure out how best to use our time on a short day, since we are not walking all the way to Inverness tomorrow. We had all kinds of plans in mind from the practical to the crazy. Mid afternoon, we arrived at our B and B and placed our dilemma in the capable hands of Alistair, the owner. Quickly, he made a bunch of phone calls for us and everything fell into place. Tomorrow, we get taxied to a place on the route some twelve miles from here, walk back, and then late afternoon, take an hour-long cruise on the loch. Saturday, we go to Urquhart Castle in the morning, get taxied to where we started the day before, and head off to Inverness, arriving in plenty of time to get to the B and B, change, and go to the operetta!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Loch Ness,Invermoriston,United Kingdom

Two Days on the GGW

"Pleasant" aptly describes the GGW. Rarely dramatic and almost tediously flat, the scenery is almost always pleasing. Its one bad, frequent feature is the walking surface; very hard on the bottom of one's feet, even through hiking boots.

We were ambling along, enjoying the bird song, when all of a sudden, a creature, too small to be Nessie, emerged from the canal:




Ahhh, yes, a cavorting dog:




Having very much fun:




As we were leaving the B and B yesterday, our "lady" advised us to take a diversion to some falls. We didn't have an excessive number of miles to cover (14), so we acted on her suggestion:




It was a worthwhile side trip, not just for that sight, for of a truth, we had already delighted in the sight of many falls on the WHW, but the whole route was especially lush.

A section of fence at the falls:




Especially beautiful is the way moss grows over stones:




In fact, moss grows over everything, in different tones, and the effect is ever so pleasing to the eye:




Hard at work, loading the logs into piles:




Great big piles of logs waiting:




A sight every walker craves, blue sky:





Two little lambs by the road:







About a mile before the end of the day's walk, we came upon this boat-turned-pub. Of course we stopped in for a drink:




Our string of fantastic B and B's was interrupted last night by our stay at the Great Glen Hostel. As far as hostels go, it is, apparently, way up there, but it is a hostel. Bunk beds with thin, lumpy mattresses on top of wooden slats, basic, spare facilities. It was FREEZING in the room but at least the shower gave out hot water. We had bought some grade B- sandwiches on the boat-turned-pub, which we ate for dinner outside at a picnic table. It could have been a lot worse, but if you are not into the communal thing, well, you don't like it a whole lot. The mouse trap in the kitchen I couldn't really complain about since mice visit my very own kitchen, but still, there was a kind of musty, yuck factor about the place.

We were not sorry to bid the hostel good bye:





By and by we came upon this sorry craft:





View from a beach:




The lock keeper doing his job:





A swan near shore:


(Yes, those are bluebells.)

OK, this hull is definitely Alderman Dow material:




A piper celebrating our arrival into Fort Augustus:





Posted using BlogPress from my iPad