2 to 4 September - South Laggan to Fort William

From South Laggan to Fort William we were again treated to the Great Glen Way, and relished the opportunity to stay off the major A roads. 

 

Nearing Fort William along the Caledonian Canal, we met Neptune's Staircase, a series of eight locks that are used to elevate (or drop) boats to a height of 70 ft above sea level. What a feat of engineering! This is the longest lock system in the world and it takes approximately an hour and a half to pass through. We saw several boats going through the locks, and watched a few transitions while chatting with the lock master controlling the gates. He reports it costs a boat £19 per meter of boat to traverse the canal- for which they are given a 10 day pass. 

 

Here's a picture of Fort William, with Ben Nevis behind. Beautiful, isn't it, all tucked into the clouds? We took a detour into Ft Wm to go to a bike shop for new chains and tires. Unfortunately, it was a bust. So we headed west on the A830 to Glenfinnan. 

At Glenfinnan we stayed at a bunkhouse that's inside an old rail car. How cool is that!?

Here's the inside of the bunkhouse. It was tight! Thankfully, there was only one other couple there. We settled in for the night. Dinner was a light soup with pasta, hoping that whatever bug got Melinda would go away with a bowl of soup made with love. 

The next morning we got up and walked a short ways to see this:

 

The Hogwarts express (the Harry Potter train)!!!! The viaduct that the train goes over in the movie is real, and there's a steam train that goes over it daily. The train runs from Ft William to Mallaig, and on-board the train they serve treats from the movie, including Chocolate Frogs!

The real steam train is called The Jacobite to commemorate the significance of this area during the Jacobite rising of 1745. In fact it was in Glenfinnan that Bonny Prince Charlie raised the standard to gain support for the uprising. There is a beautiful momement that marks the spot (well, the exact location is debated, but close enough).

The ten pound note highlights the Glenfinnan viaduct as well:

 

The note also shows the monument to Price Charlie, but it shows it sort of in the wrong place. The actual monument is located about 1/2 mile from the viaduct, right on the shore of the loch. So it's no wonder that the actual location of the monument is disputed.
 

The viaduct was built by Sir Robert MacAlpine, who pioneered the use of mass concrete in heavy construction. He was nicknamed "Concrete Bob." 

By afternoon time Melinda had diagnosed herself with mild dysentery, and probably not an emergency case. So we talked with the woman who runs the bunk house about staying on. She was out of beds, but had an "emergency shelter" that she sometimes uses when someone really needs it - it's the storeroom for the museum. Well, we really needed it, so we holed up there for the night and planned to take the train to Ft William in the morning. 

It was rustic. But it was dry, warm, safe, and had a bathroom. A very kind offer, and we are grateful for her generosity in our time of need. 

We did go out that evening to the Glenfinnan House Hotel, to catch a session that we heard was second-to-none. boB dragged his fiddle along, and Melinda, walking at snail's pace, went along to catch some fresh air after a long nap. Well, the hotel staff said the session was cancelled that night! Of all nights to cancel!! Oh, well...

On the 4th we took the train to Ft William. Melinda was feeling quite a bit better, and we lunched in the park. We were able to find a very cheap hotel for the night - a surprise because the same weekend was the Ben Nevis race, and the town was crazy busy.

We biked to the Ben Nevis distillery, but sadly all the tours were booked for the day. So we went to the West Highlands museum for several hours. What a place! Fabulous Commando exhibit- we had been biking through the very area where the commandos performed their vigorous training during WWII, and so we were excited to learn more about them. We were even able to see the bagpipes played at Bannockburn in 1314! We enjoyed seeing a collection of items from the Jacobite rebellion- including Bonnie Prince Charlie's embroidered silk waist coat and a swatch of fabric from his kilt. We read so much about the convoluted history of Royal Scotland and Scottish clan relationships that our heads began to swim! We highly recommend that you go to this museum if you are ever in the area (because sometimes it is good to have head swims, you know).

By evening time, Melinda was feeling a whole lot better so we celebrated her recovery with another one of Chef boB's magnificent one-pot camp-site meals:

Okay, not really. We had Indian food. Tasty! And over-ambitious. Since we haven't biked much for the last few days we really don't need to eat so much. We walked away feeling a wee distended.

These fancy blue leather couches looked enticing!

Alas... not so! They're aluminium, which is about the only kind of couch that could survive the weather on the west coast of Scotland!
 

Later, we were lured by the mention of a session at a bar called the 'Gruel and Grog', but it was a total bust. One piper played one set, one guy picked the chords to 'Angel From Montgomery', and another guy beat random rhythms on a beat box. Otherwise, they chatted and moaned about how there wasn't really any music going on at the session. Another session bust. Oh, well... 

We endeavour to persevere.

Day to Day summary:

September 2 - South Laggan- Glenfinnan along Great Glen Way/Sustrans cycle route # 78 (B8005 to B8004), brief jaunt on A82 and A830. Passed through Laggan Locks, Kilfinnan, Clunes, Gairlochy, Corpach, and Kinlocheil. Visited Neptune's staircase and Ft William for a check in at the bike shop. Ended at the Glenfinnan sleeping car bunkhouse/hostel. Total 43 difficult miles. 

September 3 - Glenfinnan getaway at the storeroom emergency accommodation. Sadly experiencing such pain and fatigue from dysentery that Melinda was unable to move much. Visited the Glenfinnan signal house and museum. Walked a mile or so down the "viaduct" trail to view the steam train's journey over the viaduct at 1045am. Attempted eating lunch at the 1950's Glenfinnan dining car train. Later, after a 4 hr restorative nap, walked to Glenfinnan hotel house for a listen to the weekly session, which was cancelled. Visited the Glenfinnan monument at dusk. 0 miles on bike. Weather = gorgeous.

September 4 - Glenfinnan back to Fort William by train. Visited Inverlochy castle, Ben Nevis Distillery and West Highlands museum. Strolled in sunlight downtown Fort William. Brought fiddle to session at the 'Gruel and Grog' but left after only a wee. Early to bed to recuperate. Approximately 3 miles on bikes.