Caledonian Canal | Laninga's Travel Blog

From ocean to mountains and back to ocean

August 20, 2015 John Laninga 1 comment

After leaving Isle of Skye, we headed east. Our first stop was in Fort William. And the road there was spectacular. Yes, a little narrow, yes a little curvy, but spectacular scenery along the many “lochs” (lakes) along the way. And with occasional castles — some restored and operational (like the famous Eilean Donan), others in ruins — there were many stops. An overnight in Fort William was interesting.

Fort William is at the foot of Ben Nevi, the UK’s tallest mountain. It is the home of hiking, climbing, and ice climbing. We did none of these! But we did visit Inverlochy Castle, a 13th century ruin but still original shape. And a visit to Neptune’s Stairsteps, a system of 8 locks that raise/lowers a ship some 65 feet. Opened in 1822, it was an engineering marvel of its time.

From there we traveled into the mountains. Reminded us of the Rockies, but a bit more rounded. But beautiful. We had a light lunch at Glencoe Mountain ski resort. From there only 50 miles to our B&B, but what a miles! Very, very narrow roads (I called them single and a half tracks) that undulated up and down and twisted just to add limited visibility to the driving pleasure. Watch out foe that bus heading the other way!

Our B&B was an old converted manse, right next to the ruins of an old, old church and graveyard. But it was pleasant, and we were back at sea level.

One more view from our B&B on Skye

A small waterfall in volcanic rock along the way

Scotland’s most famous castle, Eilean Donan

A castle ruins near Inverngarry

Entrance to Inverlochy castle

One of four Interlochy turrets

Posing for the ages

One of Neptune’s Staircase eight locks

Ship’s heading up the Caledonian canal. The closest sailboat, a 50 footer, was from Oslo and just returned from a trip to Newfoundland and the US east coast.