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!


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Location:Loch Ness,Invermoriston,United Kingdom