Onich

We leave Dufftown behind and travel the roads north to Elgin on our way to Inverness. Along the way we were fascinated to see a yard of sheep being shorn out in the open by a few shearers working together with a portable shearing frame and generator.
Only what appeared to be a castle in the centre of Inverness caught our attention as we drove through. Not a problem though as Phil's priority is to locate and identify Nessie in the Lochs between Inverness and Fort William.
On the drive along the loch we stopped at The Dores Inn for some good pics of the Loch and a dose of brisk breeze off the water, brrrr.
It is a very picturesque drive but has some very narrow stretches which means you also need to keep your eyes on the road and use passing bays when traffic comes from the other direction.
Phil, surprisjngly, did not spot Nessie!
About mid afternoon we arrived at the Nevis Range just north of Fort William. Here we took the gondola which goes from 300ft up to 2150ft on the north face of Aonach Mor, the eighth highest mountain in Britain. (Ben Nevis is 4411 Feet high).
Fortunately the weather was relatively clear for this area with only the peak of Ben Nevis covered in cloud.
When we came out of the gondola station we could then see several more chairlifts that would be used during the winter season. From here you can also do a number of walks from 40 min round trip to a number of hours. There is also a mountain bike track which looks like a BMX track on steroids. Your bikes can be attached to the exterior of your gondola for transit. I have no idea how anyone makes it down that crazy track in one piece.
We did the short walk and took in amazing views and stood our ground in wind that was determined to put me over the edge.
Our timimg was great as it started to rain just as we got back on the gondola for the trip down.
The rain put paid to our next planned walk to Steall Falls so we headed to Fort William and visited Neptunes Staircase which is an eight lock system which allows vessels to pass from the Lochs to river by stepping down the water height. We were lucky to see three yachts come thru the locks together while we were there. Its effective but a very slow system.
After this we drove onto our hotel in the still heavy rain on the south side of Fort William. The hotel is located on the waters edge.
Dinner was excellent here and once the rain passed the views of the Loch with sunrays bursting thru the clouds were beautiful.

Phil - Ok, after seeing Loch Ness I doubt if there is a Nessie. Great for tourism. Bloody big stretch of water though. Also very cold water.
So far we have had luck with the weather, and a 1 hour drive in the rain is all I have had so far.
We were on top of the world today. Great views all round, and it is interesting seeing a ski field with out snow. Gives it more perspective.
Good meal tonight, so thats two in a row now.Read more