Great Glen Way 2013 Day 1

Day 1 Wednesday 31^st July 2013

I had flown from Canada to the U.K. over Monday night and spent yesterday catching a bus from Heathrow to Gatwick, and then a connecting flight from there to Inverness.  This morning, I have to comment on the breakfast, as it was amazing.  If you happen to need to stay in Inverness, I would recommend St. Anne’s House B&B for the breakfast alone.

I walked to Inverness Castle, on the banks of the river Ness.  The castle is used as the local courthouse and is not open to the public.  

I found the official start of the Great Glen Way just down from the castle but found it difficult to find what way to go from there.  My guidebook mentioned a street name, but the streets were not signposted (at least, I couldn’t see them).  The beginning of the way follows the river, so I just made my way there.  About a kilometer into the walk I discovered I had already lost my pedometer.  I had bought one to gauge how far I would walk each day.  It was rather pointless really because a) it was not very accurate depending where on my body I placed it, and b) I lost it permanently in the second week of the holiday.  I retracted my steps and found it on the other side of the castle, where I had climbed some stone steps.  In 2013 I did not own a smartphone, nor do I think they had the capability of tracking your progress then.

A number of fishermen were trout fishing along this section of the river.

 

Inverness quickly became a memory behind me, and the trail was very picturesque following the river.   

After crossing the river and climbing the hills I found the trail wandering through the grounds of a hospital, admittedly a rather empty one it seemed.  It was around here I ran into Andreas, from Germany.  He was also a teacher, his subject being Biology.  He was out for a day walk as far as Drumnadrochit (my destination for today) and then was catching a bus back to Inverness.  We agreed to walk together on the trail.

According to my diary, I wrote that “the scenery was astounding and ever-changing, nothing like what I imaged from reading the guide”.  I find that interesting over 6 years later, as my memories of the Great Glen Way now are not all that great; perhaps partly because of the injury I sustained (as you will find out in tomorrow’s entry) and partly because after the first day a lot of the walking was through pine forest, which quickly became mundane and repetitive.  However, on day 1 I obviously thought it great.

We walked through a split forest of Scots Pine on the left and Birch trees on the right, looking as though it had been untouched for centuries.

Shortly after the vista opened up over farmland with the hills of the highlands in the distance, large ancient rocks tossed randomly here and there in the undergrowth.

Some road walking followed; at first it was a busy road, then we turned off on to a less used country lane.  The trail then veered off and wound its way through a narrow and overgrown path, forcing us to dodge small trees and plants.

We came out on to a gravel road, probably a forestry road, as it ran through commercial pine forest.  After walking for some time, we encountered a logging truck with a sign warning not to pass beyond this point.  Thinking we had missed a turn off, we backtracked.  We found no other path, and the guide book indicated we should continue past the truck, so we returned there and walked right on by, which was exactly the way to go.  The scenery changed to a small moorland (my first!) for a short time before returning to pine forest.  Off to our left we caught glimpses of Loch Ness through the trees prior to descending past a lovely little waterfall.   

 

The final section before the end of the day was through some fenced fields and then along the pavement into Drumnadrochit.

I parted ways with Andreas when I went into the Loch Ness Exhibition Centre which totally debunked the concept of Nessie.  I was informed and educated, but somewhat saddened that the myth had been destroyed for me

The real Nessie!  If only.

After checking in to the B&B (with a much larger room than last night, but unfortunately, I was told, only a continental breakfast), I walked a kilometre or more to the Loch Ness Inn restaurant where I overspent on a chicken breast with mash and veggies, a pint of cider, and a sticky toffee pudding.  Luckily, I had a £5 off voucher that eased the overspending slightly.

Day 2