Day 62 (15.2 miles)

Laggan to Inver Coille

Last night I met up with Andy again (the guy I first met in Rowardennan). He’s walking the WHW & GGW to Inverness then heading home. We decided we’d walk together again today and as its a short day, we weren’t too concerned about an early start.

The weather today was fantastic. Blue skies with fluffy white clouds dotted here and there. The sun was shining as we hit the road.

From Laggan the trail would take us along the south shore of Loch Oich – we later discovered that this loch feeds the entire Caledonian canal. All locks from here, south west & north east are downhill.

We crossed the busy A82 at a swing bridge at the end of the loch and continued along the canal on the northside towpath. Now we were heading for Fort Augustus in search of lunch (we’d only had cereal for breakfast).

The views along this stretch of the canal were spectacular. The canal gets considerably broader as the little Kytra Loch becomes incorporated. The flight of locks down to Fort Augustus were being used by various small craft making their way down to the famous Loch Ness.

We had to make sure we had a substantial lunch because tonight we’d be camping about 3 miles south of Invermoriston. So no pub, no proper food. I had a Bacon & Cheese baguette, chips & 2 x pints of ale.

The afternoon was still warm & sunny so loads of people had flocked to Fort Augustus to catch a glimpse of Loch Ness and enjoy a Sunday afternoon stroll.

All that remained of our day was a short stroll through the pine woods north of Loch Ness to the campsite. We pitched our tents, built a big camp fire 🔥 and had tinned hotdogs and pasta for dinner. Happy Days.

Some stats:
Mileage count: 1,067.6
Pint count: 234
economy: 36.5mpg
Malt Whisky count: 16