Captain's Log

Loch Lochy

What a difference nine hours made. Yesterday had been blessed with wall to wall sunshine. I poked my head out of the tent this morning and the landscape had become monochrome, instead of vibrant colours. Mist covered the tops of the hills that terraced Loch Lochy. Well, at least it wasn’t raining. I packed up and set off. Today’s walk would continue along the Great Glen Way by following the northern side of Loch Lochy. It is a big loch and I expected that it would be midday before I reached its northern end. My schedule had me camping at the Trailblazer campsite at Laggan Locks at the northern exit from Loch Lochy, but given how easy I’d found yesterday’s trail, I figured I’d walk beyond that today. There was another Trailblazer campsite at Leitirfearn, about halfway along Loch Oich and I considered that might be a good target for the day.  

I came across two wildcampers, still in their hammocks, about 10 minutes walk from my wildcamp. I wondered if this might by Billy and Luke, who I’d met walking the Great Glen Way yesterday. A car was parked along the road, just up from their location, and so I figured it must be somebody else who had just driven here to wildcamp. At least they didn’t have to cart their camping equipment very far. 

Going Commando

I joined the single track road and the trail followed it. I’d occasionally heard traffic driving along it yesterday evening. A couple of the vehicles were loud and rattled; I guessed that these were logging lorries. It was hard to believe such big vehicles could come along this type of road. 

A roadside information board told me that World War II Commando training here. 25,000 men used the surrounding land to prepare for war and were based around nearby Achnacarry House. The board explained the use of the rectangular crumbling concrete plinth, just a few yards away from me. A photo showed how the military boarded out the perimeter of the plinth so that it resembled a landing craft. Well, sort of; it looked rather Heath Robinson. ‘It was as close to battle conditions as they could get without slaughtering half the trainees’ the notes continued. Hmmm…I’m not really sure how realistic you can make these things compared with actual warfare. They had a good go though. Another information board said live ammunition was used to add to the drama. The officers who would shoot above the heads of the trainees were ‘...skilled in the Achnacarry art of shooting to miss, but not by much.’ There is a wonderful memorial to the Commandos at Spean Bridge, but it is quite a diversion (about 3 miles) from the Great Glen Way and so requires some Commando grit and stamina if you are determined to go and see it. Unfortunately, I’m lacking in those two attributes nowadays. 

Trees, Trees And More Trees

There was a man standing near to the garden gate of one of the houses at Clunes and we started chatting. He told me that he’d completed the West Highland Way during one of the ‘covid breaks.’ He’d also walked parts of the Great Glen Way and told me that the stretch above Loch Ness was very good.
‘Have you got enough water?’ he asked. I still had about 1.5 litres left, but I’d not found a reliable source from which to filter on yesterday's walk. I was expecting to find some waterfalls on the next stretch along Loch Lochy, but I didn’t know for sure. He disappeared into his house and came back with a full bottle of water. At the same time, somebody pulled up alongside in a pickup truck. It was his lift to work.
‘Just put the bottle on the doorstep when you’ve finished’ he called as he got into the pickup truck.

As it happened, there were plenty of waterfalls along the next section along Loch Lochy. The fellow lived so close to it, I was surprised he did not say this. Maybe, he was just so accustomed to dehydrated Great Glen Wayers passing his doorstep.

There’s no denying that the Great Glen Way passes through a lot of forestry plantations. Frustratingly, a lot of these block what would be remarkable views along the loch. The forestry plantation business took off before World War I when the government figured that wood might be a strategic wartime material. The Forestry Commission was set up in 1919 with more thought given to the quantity grown than their ecological impact. Consequently, a lot of the trees were monocultures, and were grown close together such that biodiversity suffered. Authorities are a little more enlightened nowadays, with less dense, more diverse plantations that are more kind to other plants and animals that try to co-exist in their environment. The forestry road did make for fast walking though. I was clicking away those miles along the trail.

Glas-dhoire

There is a huge hydroelectric scheme being built at Coire Glas along Loch Lochy. It has a potential capacity of up to 1300 MW with energy storage of around 30 GWh. It’ll double the UK’s electric storage capacity. The upper reservoir is 500m above Loch Lochy. A consequence of this massive civil engineering project was that the Trailblazer campsite at Glas-dhoire had been moved about a mile further southwards. This was good news to me since I wanted to make use of its campsite compost toilet. It was a relief when I reached the campsite entrance and I dashed down to the toilet. A large wooden bear was crouched outside with the following  words inscribed on it,
Don’t be a bear,
Poo in there!
I flung my rucksack off and searched desperately from my Trailblazer key for their facilities. Much to my frustration, I couldn’t find the bloody thing. Things were coming to a head now, so to speak. Eventually, I found it tucked away in a corner of my bumbag.  I then went into the top pocket of my rucksack to get my toilet roll. Damn, it wasn’t there! I then remembered that I’d put it in my dry sack before setting out this morning, because I thought it would rain. I tumbled everything out of my rucksack to get to my dry sack at its bottom. Beads of  sweat were dripping off my forehead now. Of course the toilet roll was at the very bottom of the dry sack. With a cry of delight I found it, grabbed it, and dashed to the door of the compost toilet. I put the key in the lock. It didn’t fit! I whimpered, and then burst into a flood of tears. In an act of desperation, rather than lateral thinking, I tried the handle and the door swung open. It was unlocked! There was even toilet paper inside! I’d never make the same mistake again. The first rule of Trail Walking is, ‘Always try the handle first.’ 

Eagle Barge

The trail headed up the hillside to avoid the entry/exit point of the hydroelectric scheme into Loch Lochy. The path was well made and on an easy gradient. This walk seemed so easy. The trees had been nuked around this point and there were some great views along the loch in both directions. It didn’t last long though and I disappeared back into the forest again. I plodded along the forestry road. I’d seen half a dozen cyclists today, but no walkers. Eventually, the forestry road started to descend and I could see that I was getting towards the end of Loch Lochy. I came to the entry junction for the hydroelectric civil engineering contractors and I joined a single track tarmac road. A little further along the road, I came to the entrance to the aptly named  Grave Yard farm. Strung up on the gates outside were the carcasses of two foxes and a bird so decayed that I couldn’t determine what it had been. I believe that we live in a free society and should accept local customs, even if they don’t agree with our own values. It doesn’t stop you raising your eyebrows though. 

There was a bit of a marina at Laggan Locks and I could see a couple of tents pitched in the small Trailblazer campsite area. I’d read in my Trailblazer guide about the Eagle Barge Inn that is moored here. It sounded quite an interesting place and I was curious to visit. It was lunchtime too and so an ideal time to get something to eat and maybe a pint.  Fortunately it was open (as at 2025: closed on Mondays and Tuesdays and also from October until April). The first problem was actually getting into the place with my large rucksack on. I felt like a Commando on one of their exercises as I squeezed through the small hatch door and descended the steep ladder, cum steps. This deposited me into what seemed like somebody’s eccentric living room, or maybe even a small museum. There was a three piece suite at one end, with a whippet enjoying a position on the sofa, and a table at the other end, with a German Shepherd guarding the door to the next room along the barge. The most striking thing though was the marine paraphernalia that covered all the walls. I took my rucksack off and with just the two dogs for company, I started studying some of these items. There was a large map of the world and on it were pins that indicated where customers had come from. Not surprisingly the UK was a mass of pins and so I didn’t think it was appropriate to add to it. I was so engrossed reading some of the displays that I almost jumped out of my skin when a woman appeared behind the Great Shepherd. I ordered a beer and a meal at the small bar and continued my perusal. The whippet got bored of watching me and disappeared into the galley to see if he could get any scraps. I had a very pleasant hour on the Eagle Barge and thoroughly recommend it. The bar meal was great and the beer was too. In fact, I enjoyed it so much there I even had a second pint. 

Loch Oich

That second pint was probably not a good idea. Although the trail from Laggan Locks to the swing bridge at the start of Loch Oich seemed to pass quickly, I then began to feel rather drained of energy. I followed the south side of Loch Oich and it kicked off with a visit to the Invergarry Railway museum. Well, less of a museum and more a collection of railway items such as a few carriages, a signal box and a stretch of railway track. I looked at a poster that described milestones for the project and the timeline actually finished back in 2012. I wondered if the money had run out. I followed its sample railway line until it terminated and then joined the route of the old railway line along the loch. This was the route of the Inverness-Invergarry railway that was started in 1896 and completed in 1901. However, it wasn’t a commercial success and by 1947 it closed completely. The railway’s loss has been the walker’s gain since it made for easy, but uninspiring walking. On my right side the terrain  was steep, craggy and covered with woodland and on my left was Loch Oich. I couldn’t actually see Loch Oich though since there were trees blocking the view. The route was inevitably very straight and the walk seemed to drag a bit. 

I saw a deer about 400m ahead on the track. As I approached it didn’t move. ‘That’s a bit odd’ I thought. I must have got to within about 100m of her and then she scarpered up an impossibly steep crag. As I got closer to where she had stood, I could see the reason for her reluctance to move; there was a tiny fawn that could hardly stand up on its legs. There was no room to divert around it and so I walked by it as quickly as possible. The fawn didn’t try to run away, it just laid flat in the long grass. After a minute or so, I looked back and saw it getting to its wobbly feet and heading off into the undergrowth. 

Leitirfearn

I wasn’t sorry to reach the Trailblazer campsite at Leitirfearn. The tediousness of the old railway track had drained my enthusiasm somewhat. I was disappointed to find that the toilet block was positioned at a 70 degree angle. ‘That will make arrangements rather difficult,’ I thought. So difficult, that I began to wonder whether the Trailblazer keys had been actually worth hiring. The site itself was wonderful with lots of flat space and had great open views along Loch Oich. Light rain drifted in now and again, but I managed to get my tent pitched during a dry period. 

Despite the initial dreary conditions for the day, it had turned out rather pleasant. The sun had made brief appearances along Loch Lochy and I’d learnt about Commando training as well as studying maritime curiosities in the Eagle Barge. The old railway route along Loch Oich hadn’t been that interesting, but the encounter with the fawn had been my highlight for the day. Apart from the 70 degree toilet block, there was no faulting the Leitirfearn campsite.