Invermoriston

Today was only a short 7.5 miles and our bed for the night at the ‘Glenmoriston Arms Hotel’ has a check in time of 1500hrs. As this was to be a short day we left as late as possible.

It was a little frustrating as we had gotten into the routine of packing up then hitting the trail. We seemed out of sorts having to wait around; the urge to get on and walk was calling.

Our nemesis, the Scottish rain hadn’t let up at all during the night; we didn’t relish the thought of spending the day in it. At 1030hrs we had our customary incline to start our day.

The path led us through the pine forest that follows Loch Ness which unfortunately obscured any views. There was an option to take the high road, however the relentless rain meant any photo opportunities would be ruined. It wouldn’t be worth the effort of the further ascent.

However with all the deluge, we were treated to more waterfalls.

We were in no rush to arrive today, but it was over very quickly. As we walked into Invermoriston, we crossed a bridge overlooking the river that was in full force. Some great photos were had.

We had two hours to kill, so we had something to eat at a cafe in the village, then had a look around. We found a short walk along the river. Where we found a seat with a plaque dedicated to an American woman who had fallen in and lost her life.

As I was reading this, there was a definate drop in the ambient temperature, even my dad noticed! We reasoned this to be an air current pulled by the fast flowing river just below….We hope…It’s definately not haunted…there are no such things!

Swiftly moving on, we milled about the area getting more photographs until 1500, so we could check in to our hotel and have a shower.

The bridge in the above picture was built by Thomas Telford at the time of the construction of the Caledonian Canal. This fell in to disrepair where at one stage you had to step over gaping holes with the river below.

On the other side of this bridge there are holiday lodges. One year an very drunk Irish man stumbled out of our hotel and fell through a hole on his way back to his lodge. He managed to drag himself from Loch Ness back to his lodgings with broken ankles, broken ribs and a cracked skull. Luckily he survived.

A local land owner restored the bridge at his own expense.

Tomorrow is as 14 miler, warming us up to the final day which is 19 miles. The weather forecast for tomorrow is overcast and sunny spells the day after. Fingers crossed, our last two days will be rain free.