Day 5 - Invermoriston to Drumnadrochit

A photo from yesterday

And the same from this morning. Notice the cloud over the mountain. 

The front corner of the white building is the boot room where we were asked to sit in time out yesterday. 

Kodys croissant and mini butter dish. 

My porridge with maple syrup and cinnamon. 

Our room was named Ness. 

After enjoying a hearty Scottish breakfast at Bracarina House with two couples from Oregon (who were a bit rude), we ascended out of town back into the forest. This 14-mile traverse between Invermoriston and 'Drum' (as Drumnadrochit is known locally) was created by Forestry & Land Scotland as a means of improving the GGW for walkers, offering greater views and taking walkers away from forestry operations on the old low route. It was possibly the standout day of our walk so far. It had much in common with yesterday's section from Fort Augustus, starting and finishing with steep ascents and descents, and an airy place of open ground in between. But today's outing was possibly even more spectacular with wonderful views along the length of Loch Ness and some beautiful old native pine forest thrown in for good measure. On the whole it was a more varied walk than yesterday's, and there was no avoiding it, it's another steep climb up to start the day. 

First view of Loch Ness

The first mile or so was on the tarmac as we followed a narrow lane that hairpinned its way out of Invermoriston. The final haul was on a much more agreeable path through the woodland to the open hill above.

Once again, the views came as a welcome reward for our efforts on the ascent. We glimpsed a remnant of Caledonian pine forest, a sight both magnificent in its gnarly beauty, and devasting for the knowledge that this is a pathetic remnant of the vast pine forests that once flourished in the highlands. Sadly, the ground beneath them is so heavily grazed that no regeneration can occur.

There was a curious artwork high on the hill; a giant circular viewcatcher created from bent Caledonian Pine and local stone, that invited us to stand and gaze back down the Great Glen. It was a good spot to contemplate how far we had walked and take in the magnificent views of the mountains to the west.

We met a father and daughter who were wild camping and found out she works for Macs Adventure, the company we booked with. She took our pictures at the viewcatcher. 

The path undulated its way from the viewcatcher through clearfelled forestry and down to a wide track that crosses the Allt Sigh burn at a hairpin. If we thought we had finished our climbing for today, we were wrong. There were some tight switchbacks and the next stretch was the steepest on the whole walk. Thankfully, it didn't last too long and the views at the top are, once again, stunning.

Kody was blazing up that hill. I was taking many breaks to catch my breath. 

Standing stones

For you Jo Anne.

Beautiful moss

More cowslip

False lily of the valley 

Spider web

High above Loch Ness

Ben Nevis is the tallest Munro in the background (center of the pic) and still has snow on it. 

We stopped here for a few minutes to enjoy the view and to  shed my long sleeved shirt. It was hot!

A rest at the top

Heavy heavy moss

Our lunch break 

Pink purslane

Old building for my painting fodder 

Miserable tarmac walking 

Logging

This is a new one 

Back into the forest yay!

A mobile barbershop

The last three miles were on the road through moorland, pastures, and finally the bustling community of Drumnadrochit. The scenery was nice, but walking on the tarmac was excruciating on our feet and knees. 

Our B&B for the next two nights is the Bridgend House located on the village green. It will be nice not to have to pack up our bags in the morning. 

I couldn't really talk about today without a bit about the Loch Ness monster. First, Loch Ness is the largest loch in volume in Scotland and the second deepest. It is 22 miles long, around 1-2 miles wide and is said to contain 16.5 million gallons of water. With such a large volume of water for Nessie, as the monster is affectionately known, to hide in, it’s no wonder that its existence has never been proved or disproved. That's a good thing for the local economy. Hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world flock to this area every summer in hopes of spotting the fabled beast.

The legend can be traced back to AD 565 when St. Columba tells a tale of witnessing a large creature after it was alleged to have killed a man. However, Nessie didn't become famous until 1933 when a couple in Drumnadrochit reported something strange in the water. The local paper took up the story of what they chose to call the 'Loch Ness Monster'. They had little idea what they had just unleashed. The story went "viral", to coin a modern phrase, and the rest as they say is history. The photograph that really set the cat among the pigeons (couldn't resist using that British phrase 😀) was taken in 1934 by RK Wilson and published in the Daily Mail. The photograph shows a dinosaur-like neck and head poking out of the water. It captured the imagination of people around the world and the Nessie legend was truly born.

What an indescribable day we've had. I'm really out of words (I know that's difficult for you to believe), but I don’t think there’s anywhere on my body that doesn’t hurt. We limped into town and fell down on our beds as soon as the host left our room.

After a short rest we hobbled over to Fiddlers Highland Restaurant for dinner. 

Kody’s goat cheese and beet root salad

My smoked salmon and potato salad something or other. I should have taken a pic of the menu so I could describe it. It was delicious though. 

They have over 500 whiskeys. 

Laburnum - This tree is at the B&B

Another heart photo for you 

Stats:

Steps - 38,166

Miles - 14.7

Elev Gain - 3,012’

Time - 6 hrs 17 min

The Lord sustained us, strengthened us, protected us, and granted us much grace and mercy today. We are so blessed.

On day 2, I talked about Enoch and quoted Hebrews 11:6. A couple of months ago in Sunday School, we were talking about faith and read the same verse. Hebrews 11:6 “Without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” I’ve given that verse much thought since then. God rewards us with eternal life not because our good works merit eternal life. Nevertheless, the way that we prove that we have true faith is by seeking to obey the Lord, trusting His promises and doing what He says. Our willingness to sacrifice where He tells us to and to follow Him when it is hard to do so demonstrates that we really do believe that he will reward those who serve Him.