We began the morning with the in-room breakfast. I can’t say it was an Epicurean’s delight, but it sufficed and it didn’t cost us anything more than what we paid for the room, so that was nice.

Next up was packing. Why oh why does everything expand once on a trip? It fit before we left, but suddenly my suitcase was a pain to pack. I did decide that I really could have packed more minimally. I think I just felt as if I had a ton more room since I wasn’t using my pack. Truth is I think the pack holds just as much, and is easier to load up. But, finally, I managed. We sat for a short time, just enjoying the view, and then headed out.

We were far too early for the train, so we stopped nearby for cappuccinos. Whew, a vast improvement from Nescafé which is what was provided in our room. We also picked up sandwiches for the train: the first Scotrail train we were on had no offering of food at all (and we had bought sandwiches for that as well), so we figured it would be a good idea to have them again.

We did want to get to the train early, but still we were TOO early and had to wait around quite a while. Once they let us in we quickly grabbed two seats that weren’t reserved, and headed to Crianlarich, where we would be switching trains.

After a non-eventful first leg, we waited for about 3/4 of an hour before our next train arrived.

Again, we hopped in quickly and found non-reserved seats.

From there we were able to enjoy some lovely sights. It’s such fun to be in a train, not having to worry about how to get to the next destination (or how to drive in the UK!), and I did manage to get a few photos, although using the iPhone on a moving train isn’t exactly a great way to get good photos.

From the Fort William train station we walked to our hotel. It’s a basic, no-frills kind of place, but that’s fine. We will be here two nights, and tomorrow we can explore the area and relax before the walk begins on Monday.

Today, though, we spent a brief time in the room and then headed to the downtown area of Fort William in search of a place to find dinner.

We found a place that had only a short wait, got our beers (mine was almost “near beer” at 3.2%, and ordered our curry dinners. I was determined NOT to have fried food and certainly couldn’t deal with an order of chips tonight!

Then back to our hotel, where I spent time writing to each place we are staying while on the walk to see if we can order lunches for the trail.

But now? Well, I think it’s time to stop typing!