Cruachan Hotel Fort William

... to Glen Nevis, where we went for a walk and saw a beautiful waterfall. Back on the bus and to lunch, where i had a yummy plate of Haggis, Neeps (Parsnips) and Tatties (Potatoes). <br><br>Until this time the weather had been pretty good to us - you might even see some blue sky in the photos. But by the end of lunch the rain had set in. We made a quick pit stop to climb a muddy hill so we could see the Harry Potter bridge (second movie, when Harry and Ron are in the flying car ...

... each year. The person who runs up it, back down and to the bar in the pub is the winner. Apparently it has been done in 45 minutes before! It harks back to the war, when a Scottish soldier was fighing with a man of Nepalese descent. The Scot told the Nepalese man if they got out of the war, they would go to Scotland and live in peace. So the war ended and they went back to the highlands. One day they were sitting at the pub, 5 drinks into a session when the Scot said 'so what do you ...

... merriment and band playing. <br> Todays meals have consisted of Haggis Sausage Roll for lunch and baked potato with haggis mince for dinner! Mince has come a long way n the past few years - due to EU regulations they have to put some form of normal meat in it, although there is still bit of heart, kidney and liver poking out! Very tasty though, might have to have Haggis Curry one night when we get home!<br><br>To the Isle of Sky tomorrow<br><br>XO<br>

... br>Some other info Ross gave us.<br><br>- Scotish flag is based on a vision that St Andrew had while fighting the British a white cross shining against a blue sky.<br>- golf is actually illegal in Scotland, William the IV declared it illegal as it stopped the young men practising their archery, the law has never been changed.. lol<br><br>Back in Edinburgh, food and sleep,early start in the morning!!!!! oh no..

Liz &amp; Alec, who gave me a lift last night, turn out to be heading back to Kingshouse this morning so offer me a lift straight back to the start of my walk through the winding valley of Glencoe. The sky is already looking ominously dark so it's on with the waterproofs and I batten down the hatches with my rucksack cover before venturing out across Rannoch Moor. <br><br>The rain starts almost as soon as I hit the moor. It's relentless and the headwind ...

... very easy walking and the sun is out but after a few miles I'm a bit bored of the rather relentless straightness of the path! Still I meet some nice people en route - a pair of walkers reccying the route for a charity event next year, an older Australian guy who had never done any walking in his life and had come to Scotland to tackle the West Highland and Great ...

... walk is sponsored too). Last year they raised over £20,000 on a similar event.<br><br>Fort Augustus is at the junction of the Caledonian Canal and there's quite a crowd when I arrive as the swing bridge in and out of the locks is about to be opened to allow the boats out into the Loch. The sun is shining and the hills look stunning. I could quite happily sit by the canal eating ...

... a photo I took of Kilchurn Castle on Lock Awe that left me spellbound - the castle, water and mountains just leave you transfixed. <br><br>Oban was beautful in its own right nestled into a harbour and the next day we caught a ferry to the Isle of Mull where we caught a small gauge rail to an old castle. <br><br>Sue<br><br>Getting out of Edinburgh was interesting. We found to our horror that the ...

... a few people and were soon huddled deep in conversation. Crashed out against a stonewall I overheard a few snatches of conversation as they discussed routes, wind direction and snowfall. Darren had been inept on the skills day but despite having a few years on me, he was cardiovascularly superior. Due to this impressive stamina he was beginning to win over the mountain fraternity. Ant, one of the experienced members of the group, announced that due to some less ...

... was little more than an overgrown People Trail at this point. Soon it gave way to forests and then to open fields of foxglove and thistle, and it was rather pretty. We then moved into farm country, which (appropriately) began by walking through a pasture of cows, in fact, walking through the herd of cows itself. They looked at us pretty uninterestedly; bet they see loads of fresh faced walkers every day. The farmland crossing continued the rest of the day...sheep ...