Fort William to Gairlochy: LEJoG Day 68

After a bus ride from Inverness to Fort William I hiked along the Caledonian Canal, repeating a section I had previously walked on Day 61 of my attempt to reach John o'Groats.

To improve my poorly knee I had been performing wall squats among other exercises. With your back against the wall and your feet 18 inches away from it, you slide down the wall, bending your knees. Unfortunately the friction between my back and the wall had made a hole in the only tee shirt I had with me. Consequently, before catching my bus I made a quick tour of the outdoor shops to buy another. Not so easy as they were changing over to their winter stocks.

The bus to Fort William was delayed slightly due to some fault. An engineer in a greasy boiler suit arrived and from what I could observe, fixed it by filling in lengthy paperwork! Over the subsequent two hours the bus covered the length of Great Glen, a distance that will take me the next six days to walk back along (if my knee holds up). On a road clinging to the side of the wooded mountains above large expanses of water (of which Loch Ness was the longest), the route was a scenic one. After Fort Augustus I was the only passenger left on board, a sign the summer tourist season was ending. Windy, grey, cooler weather was also an indication that I was entering autumn. 

Not wishing to lunch in the touristy restaurants of Fort William I began the Great Glen Way from the site of the old fort. I made some detours from the route I followed when I last left Fort William. Passing close to Inverlochy Castle, I viewed its ruined walls, then I followed the Great Glen Way along the lochside into Caol, where I stopped for a very reasonably priced sausage bap and cup of tea at a café run by a disabled charity.

"Neptune's Staircase", a flight of eight locks on the Caledonian canal.

Reaching the Caledonian Canal I began the long walk on the gravel track that runs beside it, passing a long flight of locks taking boats up from sea level. Prompted by the Great Glen Way guidebook I noticed that the canal crossed two aqueducts I missed on my last trip. They were not obvious due to the width of the canal, much wider than most British canals, and its adjacent wooded banks.

I had arranged for a key to the canal toilets to be posted to me before I left so that I could camp at Gairlochy lock where basic facilities exist. The area designated for camping was not apparent to me but after a few directions from the lock keeper I found it, beside the water above the top lock, sheltered by a group of conifers. Two other backpackers were already camped there. As is the way with the tribe they were later comparing different makes of tents. There were also several boats moored. Although all looked quiet on them, as darkness fell lights appeared, illuminating movements inside.

Lighthouse to guide boats on Loch Lochy into canal.

Gairlochy lock moorings at night.