We were certainly feeling the effects of yesterdays mammoth effort as we got ready for Day 7 of our journey.
We left Invergarry – it’s name comes from the River Garry which flows into Loch Oich – by crossing the river and onto an undulating forest track in the North Lagan Plantation.
Sticking to the forest track and then a short road section, we continued plodding along The Great Glen Way (Slighe a’ Ghlinne Mhòir). This is a long distance path that follows the Great Glen between Inverness and Fort William. It is generally walked from southwest to northeast to follow the direction of the prevailing wind but we are walking in the other direction so have the wind in our faces most of the time. It follows a geological fault known as the Great Glen Fault that bisects the Scottish Highlands into the Grampian Mountains to the southeast and the Northwest Highlands to the northwest. The Great Glen Fault is mostly inactive today, but occasional moderate tremors have been recorded over the past 150 years which has meant that seismic buffers are built into the Kessock Bridge carrying the A9 out of Inverness.
As we passed another section of the Caledonian Canal below us, we saw numerous small rivers and waterfalls and headed into Kilfinnan Wood on the shores of the wonderfully named Loch Lochy. This isn’t a Boaty McBoatface type name, the River Lochy runs into the Loch, hence its name.
We started to get glimpses of some large mountains as we continued through the forest – as best I can tell from the map, the mountain in the first picture is Meall an Teanga (918m) (meaning ‘Hill of the Tongue’) which qualifies as a Munro by only 4 metres. The tree in the 5th photo is a Scots Pine (the national tree of Scotland) which typically grows to about 35m in height (see Mike and Paul in the photo for scale).
Finishing up the forest track, and avoiding the wild chickens, we stopped for a lunch break at the swing bridge at Gairlochy on the Caledonian Canal. The Canal was constructed in the early 19th century by Thomas Telford. It finally opened in 1822, having taken 19 years to complete, and cost £910,000. Over 3,000 local people had been employed in its construction. Then it was a long slog along the canal path to reach Fort William.
Another milestone – 300km walked – just as we finished passing by a series of locks called Neptune’s Staircase. This is a staircase of 8 locks that lifts (or drops) boats by 20m. And, of course, an ice-cream stop. Finally we left the canal path and walked the last few kms into Fort William and our hotel.
39.3km walked and another 52,000 steps and 7 days of walking completed. after the efforts of yesterday this was a tough one, but with a rest day on Saturday we should be somewhat refreshed for the start of the West Highland Way on Sunday.
Mike Z leaves us today and we do appreciate him taking the time out to join us and walk for Haven House.