Hullo. How are you? I hope you are having a good day. I’m Mark and I’m walking from Land’s End to John O’Groats…
Leaving Fort William put me immediately onto the Great Glen Way, which I followed from the town centre towards the Caledonian Canal.
The canal begins with the hugely impressive Neptune’s Staircase, a Thomas Telford innovation that brought the canal system and significant employment into the Highlands and helped to stem the depopulation of the region.
Each lock is 180 feet long and 40 feet wide. With eight locks, Neptune’s Staircase is the longest staircase lock in the UK and has become a popular tourist attraction. Even early this morning it was bustling with sightseers.
Once I reached the top of the staircase and made my way along the canal a little, all of the tourists disappeared and I had the path entirely to myself for the rest of the day.
The Great Glen Way is much quieter than the busy West Highland Way I’ve been walking on in recent days. It makes for a really nice change of scene and change of pace. The walk today was an easy, level stroll for the first 10 miles or so.
There are several points where the path rises up above the canal and parallel river Lochy, giving wonderful views back towards Ben Nevis and surrounding mountains.
There are continual reminders of Telford’s engineering genius and the importance of this mighty canal.
The weather today was, yet again, perfect for hiking. Not a spot of rain all day and a nice cooling breeze. So I made very rapid progress along the trail and was soon at Gairlochy, with its clever swing bride allowing traffic to cross.
I was unable to find accommodation along the Great Glen Way today, so I headed off the path to the small hamlet of Stronaba. This gave me the opportunity to later visit the Commando monument, which stands a little way up the hill near Spean Bridge.
The Day 55 Vlog
Fundraising for MacMillan Cancer Support
As I walk from Land’s End to John O’Groats, I am hoping to raise £10,000 for MacMillan Cancer Support, who do such a wonderful job of supporting families through the most difficult times. If you are able to spare any amount and would like to donate to MacMillan, please do so through my Just Giving Page.
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