A friend (Hi Kevin!) said he and his wife add 2 miles to the listed mileage on walks. Indeed, it appears to be what we are told and the reality of a walk is usually a bit different. Sometimes it’s due to getting off the trail and walking to our lodging, and sometimes due to a diversion. Sometimes, though, I wonder if they simply didn’t measure correctly!
Today we woke and had a fabulous breakfast. For once I didn’t order salmon and eggs (which, by the way, has been served in a different way at each B&B), but had a cheese, meat, and fruit plate. It was lovely, but so much more than I could eat.
The B&B owners (Isabelle and Robert here at Woodlands in Lewiston) packaged what I had left up and put it in the wonderful prepared lunch we had purchased. Getting back from the walk we still had food left!
We were picked up by a driver (the same company that hauls our luggage) because we were taking to our starting spot and walking back (as I believe I mentioned yesterday — I’m too lazy to verify that!). He picked up four other walkers … all of whom we had met on the trail! What fun! Our driver (I really should have gotten his name) was super, talking about the area and pointing out a variety of things. So the ride was pleasant AND he then stopped at a spot and said, “Now I could go on for 2 miles where your walk starts, but you’d be walking two miles on a narrow road so if you want to start here that’s fine,” (maybe not those exact words, of course). Our company had told us he would do that, but the others were surprised. I had expected everyone else to decline the offer, preferring to do the entire (painful) walk, but they enthusiastically wanted to start at this spot as well.
When we exited the car we all agreed we wanted a photo, so group photo it was!
We started at a place that advertised food and camp sites. Dan and I had seen this place on one of the videos we watched, and I’d also read about it. The woman doesn’t quote a price for anything, saying she “isn’t sure” and then, so we’ve heard, charges a crazy high amount. It might still be fun for the experience of it all, but since all of us were just beginning we didn’t walk over.
The walk started easily enough. And it was lovely.
The driver had told us there was a “nursery school” on our walk. I don’t think it means exactly what we refer to as nursery school, but I don’t know for sure. They had created sweet painted, wooden birds that were on posts, and then we reached the lovely spot where they do crafts and a variety of things. Really nice!
From there we reached a place where we could take the high route or the low route. Of course we went for high!
There was definitely a climb, but it wasn’t killer and, to be honest, going up is so much easier for me than going down. (With a bad right big toe and a left toe that isn’t much better, going down is somewhat painful now.) We reached one high spot and two of the people who had been in the van with us (sisters, from Belgium) were there so we took photos of them on their phone and then they took photos of us.
Then more uphill. I reached a spot before Dan so I enjoyed a little rest on a seat there.
Continuing up we ran into two women we’d connected with the past few days who were going the opposite way and heading all the way to Inverness. That’s at least twenty miles. No thank you. Plus the climb out of Drumnadrochit is crazy hard. (But going down is rotten on my toes!)
The wind came up, and then we ended up at a viewpoint that was gorgeous but so cold and windy. We didn’t last long there.
More walking, much of it easy. We again ran into the sisters. We puzzled over it … they had been ahead of us! It turned out they went the wrong way at one point, which took them on a longer route and added at least a mile to their walk. Oops!
Another meet up with the sisters … another photo!
And then there was a ton of downhill stuff. I’ve always despised downhill, and with a couple of problematic toes I hate it even more. But if I wanted to do the walk, and wanted to get back to our B&B what choice did I have? At least there was a lot of beauty to be admired, and I figure it’s not worth crying over … what I have to do just has to be done!
We did see lovely views. We saw sheep (which, close up, are pretty darn filthy sometimes). We saw, from a distance, some highland cows. (I want to see them closer so I can get a photo, but I suspect that chance of that is gone now.)
And then there was the road. And over 2.5 miles. On these roads in Scotland it is a bit scary sometimes. Cars are SO close there are even signs telling pedestrians to beware of things that might hit is. (I can’t remember how they phrased it … maybe something about “overhead”.) Dan and I had to walk single file just to be on the safe side.
Eventually we were “home” … lovely heather and all …
but it was much later than we had expected, allowing time for showers and the start of writing this but nothing more. We had thought we might even have a nap time. Nope!
And, finally, dinner at the Loch Ness Inn. And it was yummy. No photos, though: I mostly take food photos these days just so I remember what I ate, but they usually aren’t worth sharing. (But as you can see, I thought breakfast was worth posting.)
Tomorrow we again take the van to a starting point, but this time we also bring our luggage with us and the van will deliver it to our final B&B, in Inverness, on the Great Glen Walk. My understanding is that this walk will be fairly easy and not all that long, and perhaps a bit boring, but at this point I figure we’ll know when we know!
This all has gone by quickly. I’m glad we did it, and I wouldn’t mind doing another, but I think I’d like to move to a new area … maybe something in England. Time will tell if we have the money, inclination, and health to allow for any more of these, though!