lomond

Loch Lomond, Fort William, and the Road to Skye

Headed out West from Glasgow along the River Clyde through the suburbs of Clydebank and Dumbarton and then alongside Loch Lomond. A beautiful blue lake surrounded by mountains. It's fabled for its "bonnie bonnie banks" but Bonnie wasn't around.

Loch Lomand

Stopped at Luss a cute village of stone cottages for lunch and picture taking.

Fort Williams

I drove northwest to Fort Williams a small city on Loch Linnhe that refers to itself as the outdoors capital of Scotland. There's even an indoor aquatic diving school - not what you would expect from Scotland.
Great scenery coming into town.

Ben Nevis

Just north of town is Ben Nevis the tallest mountain in the UK at 4406 feet. An estimated 100,000 climb it every year.

Neptune's Steps

Just west of Ben a canal connects Loch Lochy north of Fort Williams to Loch Linnhe. The locks connecting them are called Neptune's steps. I was fortunate to catch a pair of boats stepping down. It's a slow process waiting for the locks to drain but very interesting. It's a manned lock unlike the canals I found in London which must be operated by the boat travelers.

This is a ladder of eight locks that raises vessels to a height of 70 feet above sea level over a distance of 500 yards

Check out the old guy on the right taking pictures of the boats going through the locks he must be retired with nothing better to do - what a loser. :)

That night I walked along the river and found this stunning view of the harbor along Loch Linnhe.

In a computer center they will store your baggage as you hike but as one young woman found out the tour provider may arrange for the storage but they don't include the cost in their tour. The proprietor of the shop is a former head chief in London so I think he's used to complaints. He couldn't recommend a place in town for dinner because he always eats at home. I had a decent lasagna at a modern style pub called The Tavern.

I stayed in new but very basic motel a Premier Travel Inn that is connected with a restaurant and pub. This is a popular budget chain for truck drivers and pensioners. It was quieter than many higher classed hotels. The next morning, I had the standard Scottish breakfast - 2 eggs, "Canadian" ham, mushrooms, cooked tomatoes, beans, bread, croissant, 2 sausages, and coffee. Coffee is not a surprise in this land of tea as they often start the day with it.

On the road to Skye

Continued north turning west at Invergarry and uncovering some great scenery on the road to Skye.

The castle at Eilean Donan.

Next stop Isle of Skye

Or return to UK