After walking the previous 5 days on the West Highland Way ( Click here to read about my West Highland Way 2018 walk) through heavy rain and snow and many ascents and descents that hurt my feet, knees and legs, I was really looking forward to walking the Great Glen Way as the paths are much nicer on the body, lots of canal towpaths, forest tracks and tarmac sections, not too strenuous. Although the Way is lower than the West Highland Way, it is still a very pleasant scenic walk through the valley with fantastic views.
A problem though about walking the Great Glen Way in Winter is that some of the accommodation along the Way is closed. Usually I have a long first day and then stay at the Hostel in South Laggan but it was closed so the plan was to walk to Laggan Locks then get a bus onwards to Fort Augustus and stay the night there and the next night, then bus back the next morning for the shorter walk and finish back in Fort Augustus. This meant a walk of over 22 miles and I really felt it at the end.
I left my comfy hotel in Fort William, grabbed a sandwich from the shop near it and crossed the road to the start. It was still a bit dark and chilly but I could see blue skies above, which made a pleasant change (it would actually stay dry all day). I started my walk, through a few houses and some woodland before crossing a field, the path felt so lovely compared to the previous 5 days. I then crossed the Soldiers Bridge and then some pavement walking took me through Caol and onto the riverside path.
When I reached this point, I knew I had maybe 8 or 9 miles of canal walking to do but the view all around are lovely and the stillness of the water gave great reflections. It’s much faster walking on this surface and very soon I reached Neptunes Staircase, which is the longest staircase lock in Britain, comprising of eight locks and built by Thomas Telford between 1803 and 1822. I took a break and admired the view down the Locks.
It was six miles to Gairlochy from the Staircase, and I only saw two women out for a stroll and a cyclist, it was very peaceful as the canal was so still with lovely reflections of the surrounding snow covered hills. The nearby hills were covered in snow and Ben Nevis covered in clouds yet again. I stopped before Gairlochy to have my sandwich and enjoyed the peace and quiet but I couldn’t hang about long as I had a bus to catch at the end.
After leaving the Canal at Gairlochy, the walk was about to change. A steep road took me up a bit then a bit of woodland before crossing the road and heading through trees down towards Loch Lochy. Well, I say trees but it seems a lot of it has been cut down. The path followed the Loch shore for a while and the views down the Loch were lovely.
I had a break at a seat before the path headed up to meet the road again. A bit or road walking followed, past some expensive looking houses with great views but the bottom of my feet started to ache with the constant pounding on the road, I was looking forward to reaching the forest track at Clunes and a change in surface but it seemed like hours before I got there and had a sit down on some rocks for a little rest.
I had about eight miles to go, and all of it on the forest track. There was no wind today and you could hear the busy road over the other side of the loch quite often. The only other sounds were birds and the sound of water running down the hillside. The views over the Loch were mostly hidden by the trees as the trail gained height and then dropped again, the section is a bit up and down but nothing difficult. Many miles later I could see and hear that the other side of the Loch was getting nearer, which meant only a few miles to go. I really needed to give my feet a rest and took off my backpack for a little while and had a break. I started off again and passed a bench almost immediately, I wish I had saw it before my break.
Eventually I came to gates, meaning the end of the forest and could see Laggan Locks in the near distance. I slowed down a little now as I knew I had plenty time for my bus. Actually, my feet and legs were aching so I had no choice really. I walked past the wooden holiday homes and over the canal. The Great Glen Way marker pointed left but I headed straight on towards the main road and the bus shelter where my feet got a well deserved rest and some fresh air before my bus arrived.
It had been a long day, as it always is and I was really feeling it at the end of the day. A problem about good level paths is that you walk quicker on them, so your feet really feel it. It was a pleasant change however to take off my boots and feel that my socks were dry, unlike the previous five days that I spent splashing through puddles, slush and snow, today the surface was dry, hardly a puddle in sight and any were easily avoidable. A long day but this means a short one tomorrow, and about four hours will feel like a half day plus I can leave stuff in the Hostel instead of carrying everything. A bonus tonight is that I have the Hostel room to myself.
