Finishing the Great Glen Way

Two years ago I vowed to complete the Great Glen Way by the end of 2010. Well, just over a year late I have finally finished it. Why did it take so long? I hear you ask, well, basically poor weather, and buying a house in need of a bit of work got in the way, but the biggest reason, and a completely insane one, was that on my last day on the GGW I came off my bike, and was within an inch of losing an eye. I still have the scars, and it just put me off going back to finish.

Anyway, the day started well. I drove up the hill out of Drumnadrochit, and dumped my bike at the top. Then I drove back down to park, before walking up the hill (it is very, very steep!) After picking up my bike, I cycled south along the quiet road to the end, which I had already reached from Invermoriston (and fallen off on the way back). I then returned to Drum, ending up pushing my bike down the hill as I could smell the brakes... After linking up with the car park in Drum, I drove up to Abriachan for the final stint, and here I cheated.

I followed the GGW north towards Inverness, but as it forked off the road into the forest, I stayed on the road down the hill a little way, before again dumping my bike and finding my own way down through the forest to Dochfur, and the canal which I had used to cycle into Inverness last autumn. Yes, I know that this means I have several miles of GGW still to walk, but I have connected The Fort to Inverness, which is what the GGW does after all!

Tay & Tummel

I've just discovered that I made a post nearly 18 months ago with the same heading. Well, last Thursday I linked up with that days walk around Killiecrankie, by walking from Grandtully in Strathtay across the hills to Pitlochry and then north up the Tummel to Garry Bridge. It was a very pleasant walk, shockingly 15 miles when I measured it, marred only by the mist on the way out and the snow on the way back! I hadn't really planned to walk as far as Garry Bridge, but when I got to Loch Faskally it seems such a nice spot that it seemed a shame to turn back without exploring a bit more!