Great Glen Way – Day 2 Gairlochy to Fort Augustus 23 miles

I woke about 6am quite chilly and decided to get up and about rather than dwell in my tent. I made brews for everyone to kick start the day. After breakfast we packed up and headed out back onto the trail for what would be our longest day of walking on the whole trip.

The day started by walking along the banks of Loch Lochy to still winds and open skies. Just past Clunes we stumbled upon a quite magical area of woodland called The Fairy footpath that had been created by local school children over the last 3-4 years. We spent about an hour wandering around the grottos and displays made by the children, the troll prison was my favourite display. The footpath is just off the actual national trail but you can easily spot it if you keep your eyes open for the huge red spotted mushroom.

Laggan was the next stop and the Loch was perfectly still as we worked our way along the Great Glen. Laggan lochs is the berthing spot of a special pub / riverboat called ‘The Inn on the Water’, rotten luck meant it was closed on the day we passed. Just a mile further along the trail is an outdoor centre which we stopped at for a swift pint to break the day up.

We still had 9 miles to go and time was getting on, my best attempts to hire a boat to take us to Fort Augustus hade failed miserably so we pushed on along Loch Oich which is the smallest of the three lochs. Loch Oich provided a quite stunning sunset backdrop to the end of our day, looking back at the pictures I took it was a quite magical time.

When we reached Fort Augustus the chippy was just closing but we managed to refuel before heading to Morags Lodge. This hostel is a very lively place and perfect for some Saturday night revelry. Quiz nightstarted with a test of strength for one member of each team, holding a pint of water above your head for as long as possible. I saw off the competition from the fellas but an Australian girl had the beating of me, I wonder if she worked the land back in Oz because she had biceps to tame a crocodile. I introduced Paddy and Gill to a favourite drink of mine Distaronno and by the time I headed back to my room I was well quite merry to say the least. I awoke the next day with a space hopper beside my bed and no recollection of how it got there.

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