Day 4 - Fort Augustus to Invermoriston

Today we reach the midpoint of our walk. We see clear skies as we look out the window this morning. Another beautiful sunny day ahead!

I have lots of breakfast photos for you this morning. 

On the top of the tea tray are carrot cake muffins, not GF and they provided a bag if Kody  wanted to take one with us. She figured it would get smashed in the backpack so declined. 

Fresh flowers from her yard.

Freshest fruit 

My GF porridge made with oat milk was so delicious!

My favorite!

Kody’s vegan sausages 

Rose butter pats

Michael and Jan were so accommodating and gracious! What a treat! We were so spoiled. 

Outside our window was a common wood pigeon. 

And this is the Rose Cottage as we depart on our hike this morning. 

Into the woods we go. 

Clear cut area

First sign of Loch Ness from the trail today. 

Huge logs

Today, we left the flat walking behind and took to the high route. The GGW really comes into its own north of Fort Augustus but only if you aim high. The trail zigzagged up through a forest of huge deciduous trees and native Scots pines. 

The old abbey at Fort Augustus. 

And we finally, after much climbing, get to the split between high route and low route. 

Waterfalls tucked away along the way

California buttercup

Wild violet

Wild strawbry, they leave out a few syllables over here. 😁

Alpine poppy

Kim it looks like the wild hogs have gotten here too. 

Tussack cottongrass

Lots of floral pictures today because I could catch my breath every time I stopped to take a photo. It was a very strenuous climb. 

Nice view looking back at the canal. 

Fort Augustus with munroes, corbetts, grahams and donalds in the background. 

Another view of the abbey from higher up. 

We walked past secluded waterfalls and streams. Eventually, the trees gave way to grass, heather, and juniper bushes. Views opened up looking down over the tops of Scots pines to Loch Ness. Trees became sparce as we climbed up and across the open moorland. Yes, it made our calf muscles ache a bit more but the magnificent views across Loch Ness and the mountains to the north were well worth it. 

The trail constructors have left some large rocks by the trail; these are perfect for sitting on and catching our breath after the climb up.

While we were trying to set up for a selfie, the Lord provided a walker to take our photo. He was from the Hague in Holland. He commented that Holland is very flat. He was wearing a knee brace and walking very slow. We met another couple (father & daughter) from Holland on the morning of our second day and have seen them numerous times throughout the walk. As a matter of fact she’s the one who bared all to pop a squat right next to the trail. 😳

It’s a wee bit windy up top. 

But you can see forever so it was well worth it. The lower route stays in the trees all the way with only a rare sneak peek of Loch Ness. 

Saxicola - European stonechat 

Going up over the top

The going was comparatively easy now as the trail wound its way toward the high point of the route. You can see how far we’ve come. 

Purple Coral Pea and Boloria Euphrosyne butterfly

If you zoom in really far you can see our trail going way over the mountain in the distance. The Loch goes all the way to Inverness. 

We stopped here at the high point for the day and had a banana. What a view!!!

Waterfall coming down the mountain. 

Right along here we were listening to a cuckoo bird. It sounded just like a cuckoo clock. 

In Scotland, the call of the cuckoo is often heard as a harbinger of spring. The cuckoo is known for its distinctive call, which is famously mimicked in cuckoo clocks. While the cuckoo itself does not mimic other birds, it is known for its parasitic behavior where the female cuckoo lays her eggs in the nests of other bird species, like meadow pipits, dunnocks, and warblers. These host birds then raise the cuckoo chick as their own, often at the expense of their own offspring.

Just showing all the different terrain. 

There was one last chance to enjoy the view before we began the knee-shattering descent through the thick spruce forest. 

Down and down we go. 

Off the edge she goes 😬

Made it down the treacherous steep descent!!! At the foot of the path, the high route met the low route and the trail followed an old stone dyke. Oddly, the route went further and further away from the destination of Invermoriston which lay just a hop skip and a jump across some fields. 

Eventually, the path joined a broader track which doubled back and then continued in the right direction, all the way to the beautiful old stone bridge (known as Telford's Bridge), which had been built between 1805 and 1813, by Thomas Telford, the same man who designed the Caledonian Canal. The bridge was part of a drive to improve transport links in the highlands. It is a twin-arched stone bridge, utilizing a natural rock in the center of the river as a pier. It has stood the test of time very well, although some stone is missing from the walls, and the bridge was used by traffic until the 1930s when it was usurped by the new and current bridge below. 

Next to the main road, near the bridge is St Columba's Well, an unassuming pool of water set within a stone square. The water is said to have been blessed by St. Columba in the 6th century and legend has it that it is the source of Loch Ness.

The walk today only took about 4 hours so we were in Invermoriston by 1 pm. We walked to the cafe to get a lite lunch since dinner wouldn’t be until 6 pm. These were ordered from the light lunch menu. 

Kody had hummus and roasted vegetable sandwich with salad and crisps. 

I had the roasted squash, red pepper, red lentil and tomato soup with GF bread. 

And a cold sparkling water 

Our lodging tonight is the Bracarina House located in the middle of the village. Check in is not until 4 pm and unlike Michael and Jan, the hosts here are not so gracious. The sign on the door says take your boots and poles to the boot room off the garage and leave them there, then don a pair of crocs to walk back to the house. We followed the rules and a girl came to the door and said they don’t check in until 4. We said ok, is it alright if we sit out here on the bench? She thought long and hard before saying she thought that would be alright. 

The sun was scorching hot and we had been in it for much of the day so we moved to the side of the yard in the shade to sit on the sidewalk and put our feet in the grass. The lady of the manor came out shortly to ask us to move to the boot room to sit until time to checkin. She said she lets the dogs out to roam 30 minutes before guests arrive and they would head straight for us. She didn’t let the dogs out but we sat obediently in the dark little boot room off the garage until she let us know it was time.  The difference between last night and tonight couldn’t be further apart. We did a little exercise in being grateful. 😁

There were bird feeders in the yard along the edge of the woods, that attracted birds of all kinds, including pheasant.

Glandora Diffusa and bumble bee

The room is very nice and big with the largest en-suite so far. 

There is only one other place to eat dinner here so we reserved a meal at the Inn. Unfortunately, it was a repeat of the meal we had at the other Inn, spaghetti bolognese and vegetable ragu. Someone needs to tell these people we’re not in Italy. 

The GF/DF dessert option was a salted caramel chocolate tart with vegan spray cream. It was very rich and hard to get the spoon through, but I managed to get through half of it 🙄. 

Stats:

Steps - 25,147

Miles - 9.6

Elev Gain - 1906’

Time - 4 hrs 4 min 

"The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing — to reach the Mountain, to find the place where all the beauty came from — my country, the place where I ought to have been born. Do you think it all meant nothing, all the longing? The longing for home? For indeed it now feels not like going, but like going back." CS Lewis from his book ‘Till We Have Faces’ (1956)

A yearning for something beyond the present is a fundamental part of our being as an image bearer of Christ. The 'mountain' where all the beauty originated is our spiritual homeland, and the journey to this place of origin is not a new adventure but a homecoming. Until then our adventures lie in the present where, no matter how stunning the scenery, we experience just a tiny glimpse of what lies ahead.