Blogs from Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe - page 14

Sunday, 24 July 2022, Day 7 Great Glen Way. Drumnadrochit to Inverness starting at Blackfold meadow again. by All Trails app: 11.6 miles, 4:39 hours, 344 feet elevation gain. By Garmin: 11.64 miles, 4:38 hours, 234 feet elevation gain The morning looked very clear after some heavy rains during the night. Our transfer van picked us up at 0930 for the ride back up to the hill to Blackfold. We started at the same spot as yesterday but went in the opposite direction towards Inverness instead of back to Drumnadrochit. Yesterday was supposed to be 12 miles but it was only 8. Today is supposed to be 9 miles but was actually 11.6. So much for the guidance from the tour operators. Loch Ness Travel provided our shuttle and also was providing our luggage transfer. At ... read more

Saturday, 23 July 2022, Day 6 Great Glen Way, Blackfold to Drumnadrochit from north to south today. 8 miles, 3 hours 28 min. 439 feet elevation gain by Garmin 8.1 miles, 3:29 hours, 522 feet elevation gain with All Trails App. Today we have Loch Ness Travel provide a shuttle from our hotel to the Blackfold area along the GGW. Jo and I then walked from this point south west along the route back to Drumnadrochit. This broke up the 20 mile route from here to Inverness. It was estimated to be a 12 mile walk. The driver mentioned how glad we should be to be taken up the road of this steep hill. As we drove we saw walkers along the mile and a half section that is along the A82 setting out for Inverness. ... read more

July 22 Today was a travel day in the truest sense of the word. We left our hotel at 10:15 following a late breakfast for the short trip to the ferry. We were riding the ferry from Belfast to Carinryan, Scotland. It was to be about a 2.5 hour ferry ride. This ferry was nothing like any of the ferries we are used to. This ferry was enormous! We were traveling aboard the Stena Ferry line. The ship holds cars, trucks, buses, motor homes, and tractor trailers. There are 10 decks. We were parked on deck 5 and the first bus in with at least 5 buses behind us. Up to 1,200 passengers can be accommodated. In addition to 230 cars, the ferry can also carry 300 freight vehicles. These ferries have restaurants, a movie theater, ... read more

Thursday, 21 July 2022. Day 4 on the Great Glen Way - Fort Augustus to Invermoriston. 8.2 miles 4hours 8 minutes 935 feet elevation gain. The five of us had a send off photo taken by Cath at the Loch Ness Guest House. We then set off across the busy A82 and the locks of the Caledonian Canal to the left turn on the trail past the large pay for parking lot. We climbed to a forest road which we followed for most of our trek today. The day was overcast but less than a 10% chance of rain forecast. And to be expected we had just about gotten to the forest road when the soft rains started. All stopped and donned ponchos or rain coats. I used my torn yellow plastic and Karen the nicer ... read more

Monday, 18 July 2022, Day 2 GGW Spean Bridge to Glengarry Castle Hotel. 16.95 miles, 6 hours 35 minutes walking, 2059 elevation gain. Today is one of the longest distances on the Great Glen Way (GGW). Jo and I are walking while Norma, Sandy and Karen are taking the bus. Simon and Morven at the Coire Glas B&B are most accommodating. They book tickets online for the bus. We have to wait until after the last breakfasts are served before Simon can take six people, who are walking, back to the bridge at Gairlochy where we start our next segment of this walk. Straight across the bridge and we start up the hill on a trail. We climbed a lot and walked above and along the northwest side of Loch Lochy. The path varies between mountain ... read more