A Highland Adventure
John Walker, an Army Veteran, and his lovely dog Kobi will be setting off this week to spend Christmas hiking 150 miles unsupported and totally self-sufficient in support of Veterans With Dogs.
John and Kobi joined us for a walk in the beautiful Forest of Dean as we wished him well on this epic hike in the Scottish mountains.
Over the Christmas break, they will be walking an amalgam of the Great Glen Way and the Loch Ness 360, totalling 150 miles. John and Kobi will be undertaking this amazing adventure whilst camping under canvas along the way.
We will be following their adventure over the Christmas period as they undertake this epic challenge.
Day 1
Fort William to Clune 15miles. An early start and a day walk over to Coal passing the shipwreck and onto the Caledonian canal. Very warm for this time of year and thankfully dry.
Low lying fog obscured the views until we swiped to make camp... but what a view.
Day 3
Oykel Bridge to other side of Invermoriston 15 miles (ish).
A very wet night with frequent showers, just enough of a break in weather to get packed up and on the road to Fort Augustus for breakfast... and disaster! Nothing open but the garage, so a luke warm sausage roll and a can of Gods own orange liquid for breakfast. Picked myself up a little treat for Christmas day, but you'll have to wait and see ????.
Out of Fort Augustus and 330m of climb up through some of what's left of the Caledonian forest, out of nowhere I hear crashing and an unintelligible dialect aimed at me, perhaps an Ewok coming out of the forest to meet a warriors end?, sadly no, just a local dog walker... but they look similar ????.
Again, disappointment as my stop at Invermoriston was to be unrewarded owing to most closing up for Christmas, so I make another 300m climb up and to a decision, do I take the high road or the low road?... I guess you'll need to tune in tomorrow.
Day 6
If you've ever stayed in a travelodge and wondered WTF is the person doing next door at 6am... it might be this. ????
Good to see Kobi jumping in and helping with kit turnaround ????
Day 8
Just outside Drumnadrochit to just outside Invermoriston 16 miles.
Stealthily crept out of the forest and into Drumnadrochit for day break and a chance to finally win the breakfast I have coveted since my journey began, full Scottish with haggis. Of course shared with Kobi.
Full fed we made our way up onto the hills and elected the low route this time to see the stone cave. Pretty decent, probably cost you £1000 a month to rent in Heredord nowadays.
Feeling cocky with our progress we pushed on hoping to add an extra mile or two before the rain that had been threatening all day... for this we were punished.
A wet dog in full sulk now rests his head on my sleeping bag ????. I guess I had that coming.
Tomorrow we hope to make Ft Augustus for brunch and press onwards as far as legs will take us.
Day 2
Clunes to Bridge Onich 15mile + Diversions ????. Predawn start with a view to breakfast in Laggen, scuppered by a diversion taking me of the beauty level track and up into 200m of switchbacks. Very hard going. We made it for brunch happy that the hard bit was done and the next 8 miles were to be a leisurely stroll along the canal...
Wrong! Introduction to diversion number 2 begins, double the distance and switchbacks. Safe to say by time we got here we were ready for tea, a little bonus for us being the picnic bench and beating the rain setting up.
Onwards! Tomorrow promises a full Scottish breakfast in Fort Augustus ????
Days 4 & 5
Invermoriston to Drumnadrochit 15 miles & Drumnadrochit to Inverness 20 (ish).
Sorry not many photos as my phone and battery pack succumbed to the cold ????.
After a night near the crossroad and a shirt chat with a couple of runners, Christmas Day was a hard slog up 470m to follow the high road and land the signature pose at the wooden circle. Leaving another 12 miles to do that day.
About 8 miles in we had a bit of trail magic. Turns out the two runners I'd met the day before had left me a little gift at the end of the drive. Absolutely made our Christmas day, with a wedge of Christmas cake onboard we finished up just outside Drumnadrochit as the snow began to fall.
The night that followed is one of the coldest we've had so far and plenty of snow on the tent in the morning as testament to that. We packed up early and made the 330m climb through the forest in the dark, stopping at daybreak to collect water. Today would be our longest by far and we'd need all the water we had.
Stopped in Ancarran forest Park at 11miles in for a hot brew and onwards. Lots of snow flurries and wind pressing us forward and down into Inverness. A hot bath for me and a chance to dry out our kit ready for the walk back.
Day 7
Inverness to just outside Drumnadrochit. 16miles. After spending the last 24hrs consuming an obscene amount of chicken and nesting like a reticulated python digesting it. It was time to make our way out of the city and back into the wild.
An early start timed for one last look back at day break and off we headed into the Abriachan forest and towards Drumnadrochit. Stopped on the way at the Abriachan eco campsite for a spectacular bowl of broth and lots of ginger cake.
Full fed, we sauntered through the forest and decided to make an early camp as heavy rain was forecast, and it didn't look like it was going to disappoint.
Kobi was glad of the early stop and crashed before I even had time to make his dinner ????
Day 9
Invermoriston to Kilfinan 19 miles.
A longer day, broke camp and got on with the decent into Invermoriston. Was sadly too early to pop into the clog shop, perhaps next time.
Not much in way of photos as it was pretty grim weather most of the day, head down and get it done time.
In the words of the Mars rover "my battery is low and its getting dark....
One last sprint tomorrow, we got a train to catch ????.
