Day 61 (24.6 miles)

Fort William to Laggan

Knowing it’d be another long one. I set my alarm for 5:30, but a combination of tiredness & midges meant I didn’t set off from the campsite until 6:30. As the start of the Great Glen Way (GGW) is right next to McDonalds I thought a couple of muffins would cover off breakfast.

Compared to the last couple of days the weather was really cold – overcast with a chilling breeze. During the morning the route took me along the Caledonian Canal and up past ‘Neptune’s Staircase’ (a tightly packed flight of 8 massive locks) and then on towards Gairlochy.

Today was also the start of the ‘Caledonian Challenge’ – there’s a choice of 2 events (1) 24miles in 12hrs or (2) 54miles in 24hrs… Can’t necessarily see the ‘challenge’ myself [:-p] but it all looked like good fun. The competitors on the 54m event were walking along the GGW in the opposite direction and looked sprightly enough after about 7miles.

After Gairlochy the trail switches from the south side of the canal to the north shore of Loch Lochy (They must have run out of names). The loch was choppy & slate grey, I’m glad I wasn’t swimming because I was cold enough just walking.

The path was pretty easy but hard underfoot with only fleeting views of the loch through the trees. I was glad to arrive at Laggan Locks where the ‘Eagle’ – the ‘Inn on the Water’ offers a floating bar & restaurant. I had a Ham & Cheese sandwich and 2 x pints of Corncrake Ale.

I’m staying at the ‘Great Glen Hostel’ tonight to avoid another potentially cold night under canvas.

Some stats:
Mileage count: 1,052.4
Pint count: 232
economy: 36.3mpg
Malt Whisky count: 16