It’s day five and we’re taking the high route from Invermoriston to Drumnadrochit, through the hills that look over Loch Ness. But before we get to the high route we have to follow a switchback road and then a path and then it’s just up and up and up. It is tiring, but with Jörg chatting away it never gets boring.
At the top we find some sort of monument or sculpture made of tree branches bent in a circle, providing a nice frame for photographs of the surrounding hills. It’s also a great place to sample the plum cake Jörg made and carried all the way up the hill. Or is it Eva who’s carrying the cake? Well, who cares when there’s whipped cream!
We continue in a pleasant stroll and after a few hours reach a nice spot for another cake break, just before it goes downhill again. Suddenly a horde of Swedish ladies on mountain bikes climb up the steep hill, looking slightly confused when in the middle of nowhere, they see a bunch of Germans enjoy their cake with alpine cream mountains on top.
The descent down towards Drumnadrochit is taking a long time, and Kat and I start to fantasise about a surprise café, when voilá, a sign for a tea room comes into view! It is in fact a pottery as well as a café, Loch Ness Clay Works, and a friendly hobbit serves us. We are soon joined by a few locals who have walked here from Drumnadrochit, and we’re pleased to hear that it’s only a 1.5 hour walk. They have a small dog with them, looking like a rug, with loads of hair, parted in the middle along the length of the body. Impossible to tell which end is the head.
Refreshed, we’re getting ready for the final stretch to Lewiston by Drumnachdrochit. The couple with the dog pass us, walking super fast. If this is the speed required to cover the remaining distance in 1.5 hours, it will take us at least two! But there is no rush, and we even find time for cachaca and beer breaks.
When we finally reach Loch Ness Backpackers after a total of 14 miles (22 km) I’m tired and hungry. I’m struggling to be patient with the friendly and helpful warden who explains in detail all the sights in Drumnadrochit and places to go for food and drink and entertainment. He says we should walk the mile to Urquhart Castle, a major visitor attraction by Loch Ness. By day, hordes of day trip tourists disembark from their buses onto the huge parking lot, welcomed by a bagpiper in a kilt, swarming over the estate and taking selfies with Nessie. The warden says we should walk there after dark, when it is technically closed…
But right now all I care about is dinner, and following the recommendation of the couple with the hairy dog we visit the adorable Café 82. After some delicious beef bourgignon and red wine it is now dark outside and I try to convince the gang to go to the castle.
