The perfect day
Saturday 6 October
We are sitting in our B and B in Fort Augustus feeling very thankful after one of the nicest days of walking we’ve spent. The weather was beyond perfect – a photographer’s dream, with a permanent “golden hour” giving the best light for landscapes – and the path dead flat but not boring. We followed the old railway track for four or five kilometres before joining up with the canal and walking along its banks all the way to Fort Augustus.
As we saw yesterday, the morning was dead still and the reflections in the canal and the loch were breathtaking. Some of the shots were perfect inversions: it justified the weight of the DSLR (although I’m carrying it mainly because it won’t fit in my big bag). I’m hoping, perhaps against hope, that we get some good weather in the Hebrides and I can use my new lens. If we see a sign that offers wild-life cruises, I’m there!
We’re both in good nick physically, thanks to the great condition of the path, just a couple of minor blisters and aches and pains that come from carrying packs that are heavier than normal (all the wet weather gear). We both slept for nine hours last night, which is something of a record, and I think we’ll do the same today.
Tomorrow will be a bit tougher, as we take the high route above Loch Ness to Invermoriston. It’s only a three-hour walk but a fair bit uphill, but we like some variety. We’re now half way, and getting into the swing, so we’ll keep up with the hiking as long as the weather is kind once we finish the Great Glen.
We think we’ll visit the local Catholic Church in the morning, it being Sunday. After the Jacobite suppressions, only 3% of Scots are Catholic and even less Scottish Episcopal. An interesting religious landscape as well.
