Sunday, 17 July 2022, Fort William to Spean Bridge. Day 1 on the Great Glen Way which entails 77 miles to Inverness. Today 12.5 miles, 260 feet elevation gain 5 hours 52 minutes walking.
Our two rest days in Fort William were most relaxing. The lovely ladies; Dora, Jean and Margareta at the Myrtle Bank Guest House B&B were the of hospitality, great food, and wonderful friendliness. Fort William is situated in Lochaber region of the West Highlands under the region in Travelblog.
We will let Karen has filled in the adventures for the two days we spend in and around Fort William in the Blog with that title.
As for the start of the Great Glen Way, we left the far western end of Fort William and walked east a mile to the start of the Great Glen Way near the minor remains of the historic old Fort William site. A few signs discussed the history of this site. It is also near the modern McDonalds chain restaurant but we did not stop for a coffee. In Scotland this is not to be confused with the many versions of MacDonnel, that are so prominent
The path went through woods and pasture around the edge of Loch Linnhe to the village of Caol. It is the location of the only coin operated laundry which is only open on Monday and Saturday from 10 AM to 4 PM. From here we start walking more easterly along the banks of the dredged portion of the sea water loch to reach the first loch of the Caledonian Canal. We passed two wrecked vessels; one a sailboat and the other a fishing trawler. This canal was another engineering marvel by Telford built in the 1820s. After the first sea lock the canal winds to the 8 consecutive locks known as Neptunes Staircase allowing connection from the North Sea at Inverness to the Irish Sea at Carpath via Loch Linnhe. These locks raise ships more than 20 meters. Loch Oich is the high point on the Caldedonian Canal fifty meters above sea level.
It is a nice day with no rain as we watch a very large around a bend in the canal. We reach the first of the 8 locks at about 11 am and stop for a coffee and scone
at the hotel and cafe. There are two swinging bridges that had opened for the railroad and highway and they are just closing as we get there. I talk with the lock and bridge operator who tells me he works 6 days with 2 off and from 8 am to 6 pm. His job entails walking the length of the staircase with each boat or group of boats using the locks. More than 12 miles for him each day. There are six of the lock workers and they are also short 4 workers for a full complement.
We enjoy the steps as we walk up the 20 meters that the lochs raise the ships to the Caledonian Canal. The next six miles are all along the canal. There are two places mentioned in our guide book for the walk that are aqueducts that allow streams to flow under the canal and farmers to access fields on both sides of the canal. These are massive stone arched supports that go under the canal more like a long tunnel.
We are met by bikers and walkers and strollers with dogs as we walk. There are two on horseback. It seems
every bench we pass or picnic table to our chagrin is occupied by others. Finally I asked a young man if I could share his picnic table. He says of course and we learn he has walked more than every long walk we know of including the Pacific Crest Trail, the caminos in Spain, camino in Japan and now has started from Lands End is the southwest Cornwall, UK, and will end in the Orkneys. He lives in Victoria, Canada but his parents have a home on Padre Island, Texas. So at this picnic table stop we eat our sandwich.
When we arrive at Gairlochy bridge at a few minutes after 3 pm we call our host at Coire Glas B&B to pick us up and drive the last, uphill, 4 miles to the lovely B&B with a view of the Coire Glas mountain range. We finally get a view of the top of Ben Nevis, UKs highest mountain and the Nevis Range.
service for the United Kingdom reports a reading of 40.3 degrees Celsius (104.
