Well I’m glad I delayed my rest day - it snowed on the tops yesterday and last night. That walk over the High Pass would have been cold! And thank goodness I wasn’t wild-camping!
After a good rest and final planning of the last 20 days of LEJOG, it was good to return to my walking routine. I’m not sure how I’ll feel when I’m not getting up and walking 12 miles plus a day! It will be quite a transition and I’ll have to train my body to eat less!
Anyway back to the day at hand. The forecast wasn’t good - heavy rain showers expected throughout the day. I had planned to simply follow the roads to the end of the West Highland Way, but when I saw the snow on the Nevis range I changed my mind and when Martin dropped me back at Braveheart car park at 10:30 I went up along the Cow Hill circuit to look into the range and across to Loch Eil.
A squall of rain was well timed as I was able to shelter under a cluster of trees while I put my waterproofs on. By the time I was sorted the rain had gone through but with a chill wind, I was happy to keep them on. The views across Loch Linnhe (the Black Loch) to Loch Eil were good, but Ben Nevis was in low cloud. Even so, this was an easy ascent and an efficient and far pleasanter way to avoid a lot of road walking and get to the end point.
The path dropped steeply down to Fort William and with a bit of a fiddle to get round the retail park, rail and bus stations I found my way to the Old Fort and the start of the Great Glen Way. This follows paths close to housing estates for the first mile or so around Inverlochy with a complex of little islands and channels before heading out along the narrow Caol peninsula to the start of the Caledonian Canal. A yacht and fishing boat were cast up on the shore, now looking very forlorn having been completely gutted and covered with colourful graffiti.
The views across the beach to Fort William and back to Ben Nevis looked bleak with the squalls of rain blowing across the loch but I was lucky - I seemed fortunate throughout most of the day in that the squalls would pass to either side of me, and I was most affected by the strong winds that blew by, rather than the rain itself.
I hadn’t appreciated the existence of the Narrows between Loch Eil and Linnhe, and was very taken by the picturesque location of Corpach and its locks.
I have to confess my heart sank when I realised that I would be walking along yet another canal but this was different. The views across to the mountains were constantly changing as the clouds would lift to give tantalising views of the snow covered summits. And there was the occasional boat passing by to watch and call hello.
Seeing a squall coming through I paused and had some lunch so it would pass in front of me. I was staggered just how strong the wind was behind me - strong enough to blow my fairly weighty packed lunch off the bench (but no damage done!).
As I approached the famous Neptune’s Staircase I had my iPhone ready to take a photo and couldn’t believe my luck when I steam train crossed in front of the locks - what perfect timing, and I knew Martin would be incredibly jealous!
The path continued on sandwiched on one side by the canal and on the other by the River Lochy. I was fascinated by how narrow the space was between the two with a considerable difference in height between the water levels. A number of outlets and weirs appeared along the walk to maintain the correct water level in the canal.
I’d made good progress and passed Moy Bridge - the last original one remaining over the canal and the only one which has to be opened manually - at 15:30, so alerted Martin that I’d be arriving at Gairlochy an hour earlier than expected. There was plenty of activity as I arrived as the road bridge was swung to let two boats through, and then the locks operated for them to move out of the canal and onto Loch Lochy.
Ironically, I finally got wet as a squall of rain came through while waiting for my lift. But first I chatted to a gentleman who was staying close by while bagging a few Munros, but had been grounded by the weather, and then a fellow walker who had just finished the West Highland way and was now following the Great Glen Way. He confirmed that the weather conditions the previous day had been awful coming through the High Pass.
Martin and I stopped at the Commando memorial on our way back to the lodge - an awesome site for the memorial looking across to the Nevis range.
I hoped that a power cut the previous evening caused by the high winds wouldn’t be repeated. Everything in the lodge is electric - but that’s where my little gas stove had come back into use - our planned dinner wasn’t wasted and with the long evenings, lighting wasn’t a problem either. It had eventually come back on at 22:30.
We stayed at Banavie on the Caledonian Canal for a holiday once. The steam train might have been the Jacobite - running from Fort William to Mallaig. One of the great train journeys of the world and so beautiful (if Martin is at a loose end).
ReplyDeleteSo good that you are now following the Great Glen for some way and no longer wild camping, especially as the weather looks unsettled for a while. That heavy pack was real burden. Enjoy the scenery!
ReplyDeleteMuch love Dad xx