Allt Nan Ros Fort William

... relentless and the headwind means that I'm taking it face on. I'm frustrated that everyone I meet coming the other way looks almost dry! Still, my waterproofs and boots are doing an excellent job and underneath I'm not really wet. The moor seems bleak in this weather but on a clear day there are obviously stunning views to be had.

Heading down to Inverornan, the clouds suddenly roll away and the sun comes out. I ...

... for reasons best only to the planners, winds its way around the housing estates of Caol, through some marshy land and finishes on a roundabout opposite Morrisons and McDonalds! Not really a fitting start or end to a National Trail!

What makes me smile today:

The sunshine - it was really hot today
The lovely people at the Great Glen Hostel

... brake, and the car that didn't like indecision! Some of the main streets were closed because of tramline-building, which confused the NavMan, ever-insistent that we go through roads which were impassable.

In the end, we just took off in the general direction we thought was right, and relied on the NavMan eventually saying "re-calculating route". After many twists and turns and small ...

The rest of the drive up has been lovely but it's all been a bit of a warm up to this .. it's stunning up here. We took a roundabout scenic route up from Callander to Fort William which was beautiful..up through Glencoe etc.. We topped it off by popping out for a 'quick' drive out for an hour or so after we checked in at 5.30. Well we ended up taking a slightly bigger drive than anticipated all around the A861and ...

Another castle I wasn't able to get across to. The water level was too high and they weren't running the boat. I hiked as far as I could across the boggy field, but after again going shin deep into water, I decided to turn back.

Some interesting waterfalls along the way over here, as well as behind the castle.

... but soooo good), plus bought macaroon bar and I went running over to the shop with the sign 'Celtic Jewelery, save up to 50%', but they had already closed (seriously what store closes at 4.30pm on a Monday afternoon??).


Continuing on to the Coe, we past through Glen Ogle and Crianlarich. The Glen was absolutely stunning – with massive hills that seemed to go on and on for miles, and ...

KELI -

Tuesday morning we had to say goodbye to our gracious hosts. I had a particularly hard time saying goodbye to little Robyn, with whom I had bonded so well.

Chris and Rachel took us to get our rental car and even decided to drive us partway to our hotel in the highlands! We were so happy they did because driving on the right-side of the car and shifting with your left-hand was difficult enough, but there were also two detours on our journey because of road ...

... Besides, Brian will be seeing another foundry in action this weekend at the Forge-In. So instead we went to the little island of Kerrera. I've nicknamed this 'poor man's island' since we were too cheap to go out to any of the busy tourist islands. This one was right on budget. A close ride - only 4 or 5 minutes on a little barge that carried maybe a dozen people at a time. There are 'scheduled' times, but you're to turn the ...

... the airport and collect his scooter so E had to catch a cab back to their house. [Apparently the next day E's cab to the airport did not arrive (a computer crashed and they lost all their bookings) and when he did turn up at the airport the flight had been cancelled and he had to fork out 200 pounds to get to London for his flight to USA.] A smaller party for dinner. Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. MONDAY ...

I had known Hamish since university: a wiry,ginger,Scot with a foundness for real ale and fighting.Despite the fact that I could never understand what he said, we became firm friends. Each winter he would disappear, often for a week or more, to his beloved home in the highlands. On his return he would be reflective and at peace, at least still he ...