Back on the road to Gairlochy it starts to rain and it takes us a while to stop a car. The guy in the huge SUV seems almost apologetic when all he can offer is a short lift as he lives only a few miles down the road. But that is further than we need to go to get ourselves back on the trail.
His car looks new, shiny and very clean, and I feel quite bad about stepping on the beige carpet in my dirty boots but being British he says it’s not a problem. We tell him that Spean Bridge’s only taxi driver was busy, and he tells us a story from a holiday on Mull.
He was staying with his wife in a B&B in a remote place on the island. They had pre-arranged with the only taxi driver on Mull to get picked up and get driven to a nice restaurant for dinner at a certain time in the evening. However, when the time arrived, they got a call. The taxis driver’s wife called to let them know that unfortunately her husband was in the pub and drunk and in no state to drive.
He drops us off at Gairlochy and tells us that we will pass his house later on the track. He also offers to take us there but we decline because we don’t want to cheat and miss out on a potentially pretty stretch of the trail. I suggest he invite us for tea when we get there.
We walk on more tarmac for a while and I briefly regret our decision not to go by car any further. But soon after, we leave the road and reach a lovely and quite eerie stretch along Loch Lochy. There are loads of mature trees with lichen beards, hidden beaches, an old shipwreck, although no sign of Lizzie, Loch Lochy’s monster.
We reach the road again and walk through Clunes, where our driver has his house. And sure enough, we spot him in front of a huge mansion. He waves, but alas, no invitation for tea and scones! Grumpily, we head on, first on tarmac, then on a never-ending forestry track along the loch. The weather is drizzly apart from a half-hour dry spell during our lunch break on a few timber logs, when the sun comes out for a bit.
We finally arrive at Laggan Locks, where there are more locks and a pub in a barge, the famous Eagle pub, which we of course visit for a coffee, a pint, and cake. My feet are sore but the break lifts the spirits and helps us make the last mile to our hostel, the lovely Great Glen Hostel. There, a school class of teenagers and a spaghetti mountain offer some evening entertainment.
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Ship wreck by Loch Lochy
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Eerie Loch Lochy beach
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One of many rainbows that day
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The Eagle Barge at Laggan Locks
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It’s a pub and they are open!
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