GGW: Our story
Part 1: Fort William - Inverness
Wednesday May 27th: Fort William - Clunes
Statistics:distance: 24 km
up: 50 m
weather: rain in the morning and showers in the afternoon.
When we awake it is raining. During the morning the rain changes into drizzle. We tear down the tent and drive to Fort William and park our car just outside the centre of the town. When we tie our backpacks up our backs it is raining. We descend to the official start of the walk at the ruins of the fort. From here we walk through Fort William and Coal. The part of the walk is not very exciting. When we reach the Caledonian Canal the path is getting less boring. The path is very good and we have some nice views on the mountains near the Canal, Ben Nevis we can't see because of the clouds. Soon we reach Neptune's staircase a fine piece of technique dating from the 19th centrury. A little later we have the Caledonian Canal on our left hand and the River Lochy down on our right hand. At Gairlochy we cross the Canal and enter the woods. At a certain moment we see a small plate with the text Welcome. We leave the route for a while and enter a part of the forrest where different creative scenes are exhibited. When we have a break a short break, it starts to rain again. So we continue to walk towards Clunes. A little after Clunes near a parking place at Loch Lochy we pitch our tent for the night.
Thursday May 28th: Clunes - Cullochy Lock
Statistics:distance: 24 km
up: 150 m
weather: drizzle.
Although it is raining, the dizzle is so light that our cloths stay or gets dry. We follow a forrest track along Loch Lochy till we reach the lock at the end of the loch. After crossing the Canal at the lock the route continues along a small forrest track with the canal on our left hand. Soon we reach the Great Glen Waterpark. Here we have a double break, first a lunch break at the bank of Loch Oich followed by a tea break inside the restaurant of the park. After these break we continue along a former railway track. First we pass the remainings of a railway station while walking on the place where the tracks were. First the path is of rather good quality later when it runs more close to Loch Oich the quality of the path is really bad - muddy with a lot of roots from the trees. Near the end of the loch the route goes over an old railway bridge, before joining a muddy cattle track that leads us to the Caledonian Canal. At the end of Loch Oich or actually at the beginning of the canal we have a great view on the old and beautiful Oich Bridge. At the Cullochy locks we cross the canal again and continue walking with the canal on our right hand and river Oich on our left hand. Just before the river leaves the canal we pitch our tent on a small, but nice spot along the canal.
Friday May 29th: Cullochy Lock - Alltsigh
Statistics:distance: 29 km
up: 600 m
weather: sunny!
This morning we awake very early, because it is getting really warm in the tent. Because it was clouded the day before, we didn't know that tent is standing in the full sun next morning. But we do not complain, we are glad that the sun is shining finally. When we arrive in Fort August it is only 9:00 AM. We refill our bottles and continue after a short break. We walk to a nice view point. Here we have another short break to take some nice pictures and enjoy the view over Loch Ness. After this break we continue and walk in the direction of Invermoriston. Here also the path is very good. We enjoy the walking in the sun together with the views over Loch Ness. Just before Invermoriston the route descends to River Moriston. Just before we arrive at Invermoriston we have a lunchbreak at the old Telfort Bridge. After lunch we walk to the watertap in the village to refill our bottles and the waterbag and buy and eat some deserts. After filling the bottles the backpacks are quite heavy. First follows a short rather steep climb and not much later another descent towards a vehicle track. Some time later we reach a small cave. Here we have another break. After this break we continue till we find a nice spot to pitch the tent in one of the U-turns after the deviation to Allsigh youth hostel.
Saturday May 30th: Alltsigh - Lochlait
Statistics:distance: 27 km
up: 540 m,
weather: sunny.
Again the sun awakes us. Therefore we make another early start. After tearing down the tent we continue climbing. First the route follows the vehicle track, later the track changes to a small path through the meadow. Here we have our first break of the day. After the break the path reaches a narrow road that leads us to Drumnadrochit. The final descent is over an unpaved path. At the tourist information we have our lunch break. At the tourist information we inform to the camp site that is on one of our maps. They confirm that is still there and that it is very primitive; there is some water but no drinking water. So we only take water for drinking for the rest of the day and next morning. After leaving the village we walk along the A82 for a mile before we leave the road and start climbing to the highest point of the route. Because it is still early we have several breaks during the climb. First we climb through the forrest and later through more open land followed by more woods. After reaching the highst point the route descends gently. After a long day walking we arrive at the campsite. It is really primative, we can pitch our tent between the heath. The gents toilet is a haystack and the ladys toilet a bucket filled with some chips of wood. For cooking we get the last drops of water from a source nearby.
Sunday May 31st: Lochlait - Inverness
Statistics:distance: 19 km
up: 45 m
weather: sunny.
Whitsunday. We awake calmly. First we tear down the tent, before we have breakfast with tea and porridge prepared with milk and served with raspberry jam. The breakfast comes with the overnight stay at this campsite. After breakfast we leave for the last stage of the Great Glen Way. Shortly after leaving the campsite the route joins a asphalt road. Luckely the route has changed so we can leave the asphalt road sooner than marked on our map. After some walking through open land we are glad that we may enter the forrest; in spite of the early hour it is already getting warm. Before our lunchbreak at a large playground we have several short breaks. During one of these break we have a nice view over Inverness. The last part of the route we walk through Inverness, along the River Ness. Finally we reach the castle and the finish of the Great Glen Way. After taking some pictures, we leave and look for the buss station. We are in time for the 14:45 buss to Fort William. Just before Fort William we have some nice views on a sunny Ben Nevis. When we are reunited with our backpacks we walk to our car and drive to the campsite.
In part 2 our climb of the Ben Nevis is described
Last modified May 2010