A view over Loch Lochy back towards Ben Nevis.
The Laggan Locks on the Great Glen Way where we had a picnic lunch today.
The ruins of Invergarry Castle taken from the opposite bank of Loch Oich. The boat on the left also looks as though it has seen better days!Today was certainly one where it was necessary to focus on the overall objective of reaching JOG, and to grind out the miles. This was because the scenery was by and large boring - or perhaps I should say that it was not possible to see the scenery because most of the day I was walking along forest tracks with minimal views of Loch Lochy and Loch Oich that I was walking parallel to. The actual paths themselves were very good and easy walking. In the morning from Gairlochy to Laggan Locks I amused myself by birdwatching, which is not easy in what was mainly a pine forest. In the afternoon from Laggan Locks to Aberchalder I resorted to first my radio and then my ipod to keep me going.
I may be getting a little jaded after over 7 weeks on the road, or I may have been spoiled by the magnificent scenery and atmosphere of the West Highland Way - because even when the trees did open up the views did not inspire me . The GGW so far is also much less used than is the WHW - I did not see any walkers going south today, and only 4 others going north. Because the Great Glen area is better served with B&B's and hotels than the area of the WHW there is not the gatherings of walkers in the hotels which helped make the WHW so special.
I am still in search of short cuts. This morning I chose to stay on a very quiet B road instead of following the GGW as it meandered fairly aimlessly through woodland.
Although Jean and myself have been bitten by a few insects it is no worse than if we had spent time out of doors in any part of England. We have certainly not yet seen the fabled Scottish midges. We have heard about them - the B&B where we stopped last night had a machine to deal with them. Apparently midges identify their prey from the carbon dioxide emitted from breath. The machine emits carbon dioxide to attract the midges from a radius of 50 yards. Once they approach the machine they are sucked in and killed. The B&B that we stayed at at Crianlarich were considering buying one of these machines as well. I guess that we must just have been lucky - so far!
Thanks to Colin Findlayat the excellent Riverside Lodge Gardens B&B at Spean Bridge for his donation to the BHF as well as for the wonderful hospitality. Tonight we are staying in Fort Augustus which is at the southern end of Loch Ness.
Tomorrow I hope to walk to to about 7 miles south of Drumnadrochit. I will need to decide by tomorrow night whether I am going to follow my original plan to leave the GGW at Drumnadrochit or whether to continue on to the end of the GGW at Inverness. The latter route is about 5 miles longer but does give us more options with accommodation as Inverness is well served with hotels etc.
There were 2 aspects of today's walk which gave me some intellectual interest. Yet again I found myself walking on old military roads - a lot of both the WHW and the GGW is based on roads that were built in the 18th century by the government to make troop movements around the highlands easier. Between 1724 -1740 240 miles of military roads were built by 500 soldiers. The leading figure involved with the construction was General Wade who is remembered in the National Anthem where his work is referred to as "crushing rebellious Scots". Together with the miles walked on old Roman roads I have walked many miles on roads which were constructed for military purposes. The other topic of interest were some butterflies that I spotted - however despite studying my book tonight I have been unable to identify which species they were.
"Walking isn't a lost art - one must by some means get to the garage." - Evan Esar
Cheers
Keith
