Day 3 Laggan to Fort Augustus

We finished yesterdays walk at The Forest Lodge a B and B run by an ex-farmer with a great sense of humour and very hard to understand, a bad combination. It was wise just to laugh and hope you did at the right time.

We got in and as I said y’day I got a single room. We had just unpacked and it bucketed down.

Dinner was at the local restaurant and a pretty good Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, of course, in Scotland.

Breakfast was served by our affable farmer, who was rather put out that I only wanted cereal for breakfast. Now he made great coffee.

Arrienne went for the kipper. I wish she hadn’t, the smell is awful.
I think in the end she wished she hadn’t too.

The morning was overcast, yet quite comfortable walking and we followed the canal and an old railway route NE towards Fort Augustus, along the shores of Loch Oich. Today’s climb was 30 m compared with somewhat more yesterday, 300m I think.

Old Oich Bridge

Intermittent views over the loch with Invergarry castle seen briefly on the other shore, now a ruin.

Invergarry Castle

We come to the end of Loch Oich, Aberchalder, where there is the old Oich Bridge a double cantilever design, now only a footbridge, built in 1854.

It is at this point Peter and I incur the wrath of Arrienne when we walk about 800m along a very narrow main road in search of an elusive teahouse, recommended by Jerry and Michelle.
We find, after reading Jerry’s instructions it was on the canal path and we would have walked right by it had we gone straight on.

We stopped here for lunch, a very ordinary bread roll and quite passable plunger coffee. The recommended Cloutie dumplings were not on offer so we really left disappointed.
I gather these are rather like small Xmas puddings.

The rest of the day we walked in sunshine along the canal.
Not great walking, though the scenery out away from the canal quite spectacular in parts.

We arrived in Fort Augustus, which lies on the western end of Loch Ness, in time for a beer and a walk around. The beer was cold. The walk around allowed Peter and I to get back at Arrienne who insisted on navigating to an abbey on the shores of Loch Ness.
We almost ended at Parachilna, though that’s another story.

The abbey was big, old and rather impressive. Less impressive were the apartments built in the grounds of the abbey, incorporating the old walls etc. TACKY.

The place is pretty busy as it’s the Scottish Bank Holiday, a long weekend. There are hoards of people all eating haddock and chips and most waiting to go onto Loch Ness, though I have no idea why.
We will start walking it’s shores tomorrow.

Wine on tap