Rick’s News

I have just returned from a week in the Lakes.  The weather was foul most of the time, but we managed to have a fun filled week anyway!  Last Sunday morning we took a trip to the Via Ferrata, along the Honister Pass. Click http://www.honister-slate-mine.co.uk/via_ferrata.aspto visit the website.

You don’t need to be an experienced climber, or to have a great deal of upper body strength to do this. You do, however, need a bit of bottle! The Via Ferrata was introduced in WWI to help troops navigate the alps. Here are the pics which I didn’t take because I had other things on my mind:

The Ascent Begins

Very scary…

Twitchy bum time!

The climb takes between 2 and 3 hours…

About mid way through the climb here

Clinging on - do I look nervous??

Ceris, my eldest daughter follows close behind. She had a great week, having got the A level results she needed to go to Warwick!!

Ceris follows behind me...

My youngest daughter, reaches the overhang. She did fantastically well as she was very scared.

Rianne

The whole thing was Mick’s idea – so cheers mate, a man can’t have enough ways to scare his kids!

My good friend Mick leads the way

Rianne perseveres…

Rianne navigates a tunnel used by the Slate Miners

Ceris does so too.

And so does Ceris.

Tired and nearing the top.

Myself and Mick about to emerge into daylight

At last we reach our goal! No casualties .

At last - the summit!

Here are a couple of shots I did take:

Jutinder and the girls in more relaxed mode.

I like this moody shot of a solitary tree on a Tarn not far from Coniston.

Small tarn near Lake Coniston

On Tuesday, we climbed Scafell Pike and what a slog it was. The higher we went, the worse the weather turned! Howling wind and driving rain was the order of the day. I didn’t get many pics as it was a struggle keeping the camera dry, but will post some soon.

In between epic adventures we relaxed in a number of fine local hostelries. Inns I can definitely recommend include: The Black Bull, the Crown Inn, The Sun Hotel (all in Coniston); The Church Inn and the Wilson Arms at Torver; The Drunken Duck (not far from Coniston) and the Queen’s Head at Troutbeck. Locally brewed beer was available at all of them! Favourites include: Hawkshead bitter, Hawkshead Gold, Hartley’s XB, Tag Lag and Coniston Bluebird (Champion beer in 1998)!

So all in all, a fantastic week, even if I did miss out on the heat wave back home.

More soon…

Rick

a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp1.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SJAwXbUmUyI/AAAAAAAAAMM/x1ajXF885CU/s1600-h/0807_Great_Glen_Way_221-Edit.jpg”img style=”cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp1.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SJAwXbUmUyI/AAAAAAAAAMM/x1ajXF885CU/s200/0807_Great_Glen_Way_221-Edit.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228732346406425378″ border=”0″ //abr /span style=”font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);font-family:Tahoma;” span style=”font-size:130%;”span style=”font-size:78%;”br /br /Tspan style=”color: rgb(102, 255, 255);”oday is the last leg of the journey – a mild perambulation from Woodend to Inverness itself. The Great Glen Way ends at the castle. I prepare for the day with fruit juice, cereal, and boiled eggs and toast. There is no rush so I use the time to get this shot (see above) of Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness which is close by./spanbr /br /span style=”color: rgb(102, 255, 255);”We are driven to the start point at Woodend – and it looks like we will get rained on today…You can see the rain clouds on the left of this shot:/spanbr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp3.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SJAxPZCYr6I/AAAAAAAAAMU/a0tNj14HGyY/s1600-h/0807_Great_Glen_Way_223-Edit.jpg”img style=”margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp3.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SJAxPZCYr6I/AAAAAAAAAMU/a0tNj14HGyY/s200/0807_Great_Glen_Way_223-Edit.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228733307865837474″ border=”0″ //abr /br /br /br /br /span style=”color: rgb(102, 255, 255);”Its a very gentle walk with no steep climbing which suits me fine. It is an interesting mix of crossing moorland and forest. We periodically have to don the rain gear as banks of rain cloud come in, dump their load and disappear. Not too many photo ops but I came across this plant with cuckoo spit evident./spanbr /br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp2.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SJAyFAg400I/AAAAAAAAAMc/VeYSEdXI21Q/s1600-h/0807_Great_Glen_Way_235-Edit.jpg”img style=”margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp2.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SJAyFAg400I/AAAAAAAAAMc/VeYSEdXI21Q/s200/0807_Great_Glen_Way_235-Edit.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228734228995822402″ border=”0″ //abr /br /br /br /br /br /br /span style=”color: rgb(102, 255, 255);”At last we come across our first sight of Inverness…/spanbr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp1.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SJAyc69cFuI/AAAAAAAAAMk/A1yzqpJZU5c/s1600-h/0807_Great_Glen_Way_240-Edit-Edit.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp1.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SJAyc69cFuI/AAAAAAAAAMk/A1yzqpJZU5c/s200/0807_Great_Glen_Way_240-Edit-Edit.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228734639821821666″ border=”0″ //abr /br /span style=”color: rgb(102, 255, 255);”As we head down into town, the heaven’s really open up and we get the heaviest weather of the whole week. The end of the road is incredibly circuitous and as ever – the last mile seems to take for ever. We eventually find ourselves walking along the River Ness and up towards the Castle and the Walks end!! Happily we can celebrate in the usual style at the Castle Inn. We all enjoy a tot of malt whisky which seems appropriate./spanbr /br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp3.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SJA1F4ym1uI/AAAAAAAAAMs/deJ-CdnOS8k/s1600-h/0807_Great_Glen_Way_267-Edit.jpg”img style=”cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp3.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SJA1F4ym1uI/AAAAAAAAAMs/deJ-CdnOS8k/s200/0807_Great_Glen_Way_267-Edit.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228737542637410018″ border=”0″ //abr /br /span style=”color: rgb(102, 255, 255);”We meet up with Nin who drives us to our final bamp;b – just down the road./spanbr /br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp0.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SJA1lZL1ZgI/AAAAAAAAAM0/be0I0dDjXUk/s1600-h/0807_Great_Glen_Way_280-Edit.jpg”img style=”margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp0.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SJA1lZL1ZgI/AAAAAAAAAM0/be0I0dDjXUk/s200/0807_Great_Glen_Way_280-Edit.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228738083909101058″ border=”0″ //abr /br /br /span style=”color: rgb(102, 255, 255);”After unpacking for the final time, and long, long soak in the bath we decide to return to the Castle Inn for some much needed fuel. If you are in Inverness – check this place out – excellent beer and grub./spanbr /br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp0.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SJA2PtcQ4BI/AAAAAAAAAM8/ERRTvdQa3QY/s1600-h/0807_Great_Glen_Way_270-Edit.jpg”img style=”cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp0.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SJA2PtcQ4BI/AAAAAAAAAM8/ERRTvdQa3QY/s200/0807_Great_Glen_Way_270-Edit.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228738810901225490″ border=”0″ //abr /br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp3.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SJA2ZdwMkwI/AAAAAAAAANE/7UAptsCMAH8/s1600-h/0807_Great_Glen_Way_268-Edit.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp3.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SJA2ZdwMkwI/AAAAAAAAANE/7UAptsCMAH8/s200/0807_Great_Glen_Way_268-Edit.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228738978488554242″ border=”0″ //abr /br /span style=”color: rgb(102, 255, 255);”I decided to get my camera out and take some late afternoon/twilight shots…/spanbr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp3.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SJA3Y_c2o5I/AAAAAAAAANM/hFxgERgnlXE/s1600-h/0807_Great_Glen_Way_264-Edit.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp3.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SJA3Y_c2o5I/AAAAAAAAANM/hFxgERgnlXE/s200/0807_Great_Glen_Way_264-Edit.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228740069865989010″ border=”0″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp1.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SJA3Y6BU5QI/AAAAAAAAANU/H-_g5Xnoq9s/s1600-h/0807_Great_Glen_Way_261-Edit.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp1.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SJA3Y6BU5QI/AAAAAAAAANU/H-_g5Xnoq9s/s200/0807_Great_Glen_Way_261-Edit.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228740068408354050″ border=”0″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp3.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SJA3ZH1ZLcI/AAAAAAAAANc/bPLYmcpPxe4/s1600-h/0807_Great_Glen_Way_262-Edit.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp3.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SJA3ZH1ZLcI/AAAAAAAAANc/bPLYmcpPxe4/s200/0807_Great_Glen_Way_262-Edit.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228740072116399554″ border=”0″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp2.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SJA3ZMywU-I/AAAAAAAAANk/2z75gvOBsSE/s1600-h/0807_Great_Glen_Way_277-Edit.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp2.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SJA3ZMywU-I/AAAAAAAAANk/2z75gvOBsSE/s200/0807_Great_Glen_Way_277-Edit.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228740073447511010″ border=”0″ //abr /span style=”color: rgb(102, 255, 255);”And finally – here are a couple of portrait shots of Dave with Mick, and Dave and Darren individually./spanbr /br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp0.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SJA4UwnHWsI/AAAAAAAAANs/H3s9RsjQ2-0/s1600-h/0807_Great_Glen_Way_252-Edit.jpg”img style=”margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp0.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SJA4UwnHWsI/AAAAAAAAANs/H3s9RsjQ2-0/s200/0807_Great_Glen_Way_252-Edit.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228741096674646722″ border=”0″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp3.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SJA4VD6B3FI/AAAAAAAAAN0/X6rY-3L-P8I/s1600-h/0807_Great_Glen_Way_256-Edit.jpg”img style=”margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp3.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SJA4VD6B3FI/AAAAAAAAAN0/X6rY-3L-P8I/s200/0807_Great_Glen_Way_256-Edit.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228741101854252114″ border=”0″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp2.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SJA4VJjsU7I/AAAAAAAAAN8/MKs_XfSouO0/s1600-h/0807_Great_Glen_Way_249-Edit.jpg”img style=”margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp2.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SJA4VJjsU7I/AAAAAAAAAN8/MKs_XfSouO0/s200/0807_Great_Glen_Way_249-Edit.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228741103371178930″ border=”0″ //abr /br /span style=”color: rgb(102, 255, 255);”It feels great to have completed the walk. I have now walked from Glasgow to Inverness via Fort William – approx 170m/274km. The Great Glen Way is a different experience to the West Highland Way. Of the two – I think I enjoyed the West Highland way more although on the other hand, it is a more challenging walk. The scenery is more spectacular particularly along Loch Lomond, Rannoch Moor and Glen Coe. You do not meet as many people on the Great Glen Way – but having said that, it is still a great walk to do./spanbr /br /span style=”color: rgb(102, 255, 255);”If you have done this walk – let me know what you think of it…?/spanbr /br /span style=”color: rgb(102, 255, 255);”I am now looking forward to the Endorse it in Dorset Festival (8/9/10 Aug), where amongst other things – I shall be seeing the Alabama 3, The Beat, The Skatellites and Hobo Jones amp; The Junkyard Dogs! I shall certainly be posting pics and thoughts on this event. The Alabama 3 are just fantastic!/spanbr /br /span style=”color: rgb(102, 255, 255);”I shall leave you with one of their own unique thoughts:/spanbr /span style=”color: rgb(102, 255, 255);”"…No Sir, Mr Dope fiend, no fish today…”/spanbr /br /span style=”color: rgb(102, 255, 255);”Back soon…./spanbr /br /span style=”color: rgb(102, 255, 255);”Rick/spanbr /br /br /br //span/span/span

Today is the last leg of the journey – a mild perambulation from Woodend to Inverness itself. The Great Glen Way ends at the castle. I prepare for the day with fruit juice, cereal, and boiled eggs and toast. There is no rush so I use the time to get this shot (see above) of Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness which is close by.

We are driven to the start point at Woodend – and it looks like we will get rained on today…You can see the rain clouds on the left of this shot:

Its a very gentle walk with no steep climbing which suits me fine. It is an interesting mix of crossing moorland and forest. We periodically have to don the rain gear as banks of rain cloud come in, dump their load and disappear. Not too many photo ops but I came across this plant with cuckoo spit evident.

At last we come across our first sight of Inverness…

As we head down into town, the heaven’s really open up and we get the heaviest weather of the whole week. The end of the road is incredibly circuitous and as ever – the last mile seems to take for ever. We eventually find ourselves walking along the River Ness and up towards the Castle and the Walks end!! Happily we can celebrate in the usual style at the Castle Inn. We all enjoy a tot of malt whisky which seems appropriate.

We meet up with Nin who drives us to our final b&b – just down the road.

After unpacking for the final time, and long, long soak in the bath we decide to return to the Castle Inn for some much needed fuel. If you are in Inverness – check this place out – excellent beer and grub.

I decided to get my camera out and take some late afternoon/twilight shots…




And finally – here are a couple of portrait shots of Dave with Mick, and Dave and Darren individually.

It feels great to have completed the walk. I have now walked from Glasgow to Inverness via Fort William – approx 170m/274km. The Great Glen Way is a different experience to the West Highland Way. Of the two – I think I enjoyed the West Highland way more although on the other hand, it is a more challenging walk. The scenery is more spectacular particularly along Loch Lomond, Rannoch Moor and Glen Coe. You do not meet as many people on the Great Glen Way – but having said that, it is still a great walk to do.

If you have done this walk – let me know what you think of it…?

I am now looking forward to the Endorse it in Dorset Festival (8/9/10 Aug), where amongst other things – I shall be seeing the Alabama 3, The Beat, The Skatellites and Hobo Jones & The Junkyard Dogs! I shall certainly be posting pics and thoughts on this event. The Alabama 3 are just fantastic!

I shall leave you with one of their own unique thoughts:
“…No Sir, Mr Dope fiend, no fish today…”

Back soon….

Rick

span style=”font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);font-family:Tahoma;” span style=”font-size:130%;”span style=”font-size:78%;”br /br /Ispan style=”color: rgb(102, 255, 255);” have cereal and scrambled egg with toast – as I have had too many full English breakfasts! Today is relatively easy – a 9m/15km walk up to Woodend. There is no accommodation – so Nin will pick us up and deliver us back to the Benleva Hotel this afternoon./spanbr /br /span style=”color: rgb(102, 255, 255);”I take a few shots of this old tree at the front of the hotel./spanbr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp0.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SI7DJIYwNKI/AAAAAAAAALM/L9OS6ZddR5w/s1600-h/0807_Great_Glen_Way_197-Edit.jpg”img style=”margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp0.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SI7DJIYwNKI/AAAAAAAAALM/L9OS6ZddR5w/s200/0807_Great_Glen_Way_197-Edit.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228330779061269666″ border=”0″ //abr /br /br /br /br /br /span style=”color: rgb(102, 255, 255);”I also liked these colourful flowers (once again, I cannot name them)./spana onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp3.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SI7DjCOXXgI/AAAAAAAAALU/SGhDsJPqpb8/s1600-h/0807_Great_Glen_Way_195-Edit.jpg”img style=”margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp3.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SI7DjCOXXgI/AAAAAAAAALU/SGhDsJPqpb8/s200/0807_Great_Glen_Way_195-Edit.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228331224083684866″ border=”0″ //abr /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /span style=”color: rgb(102, 255, 255);”We set off down the A82 once more for about a mile or so and pick up the trail. The weather is good and I get a group shot at the start of the track up back into the hills./spanbr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp2.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SI7F6mXskSI/AAAAAAAAALc/lRjb2haoSfQ/s1600-h/0807_Great_Glen_Way_200-Edit.jpg”img style=”margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp2.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SI7F6mXskSI/AAAAAAAAALc/lRjb2haoSfQ/s200/0807_Great_Glen_Way_200-Edit.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228333827946746146″ border=”0″ //abr /br /br /span style=”color: rgb(102, 255, 255);”I snap a distant shot of Urquhart Castle before setting off again./spanbr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp2.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SI7GfGbaP8I/AAAAAAAAALk/StPSwDKLtY4/s1600-h/0807_Great_Glen_Way_203-Edit.jpg”img style=”cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp2.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SI7GfGbaP8I/AAAAAAAAALk/StPSwDKLtY4/s200/0807_Great_Glen_Way_203-Edit.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228334455027548098″ border=”0″ //abr /br /span style=”color: rgb(102, 255, 255);”The weather is holding out and so far on this trip we have been lucky on the midge front! This stretch is a nice forest walk – but as the forest is largely pine – there is very little sound or sign of animal life./spanbr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp3.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SI7HUFgXvsI/AAAAAAAAALs/8w7ekcPUpCw/s1600-h/0807_Great_Glen_Way_209-Edit.jpg”img style=”cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp3.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SI7HUFgXvsI/AAAAAAAAALs/8w7ekcPUpCw/s200/0807_Great_Glen_Way_209-Edit.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228335365312986818″ border=”0″ //abr /br /br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp1.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SI7HUVwMq3I/AAAAAAAAAL0/AvHQgibK19A/s1600-h/0807_Great_Glen_Way_206-Edit.jpg”img style=”cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp1.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SI7HUVwMq3I/AAAAAAAAAL0/AvHQgibK19A/s200/0807_Great_Glen_Way_206-Edit.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228335369674337138″ border=”0″ //abr /br /span style=”color: rgb(102, 255, 255);”We stop for a bite to eat and in my case, a little livener from my hip flask – stocked with highest quality Laphroaig./spanbr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp3.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SI7IDtRprpI/AAAAAAAAAL8/MhTblab4qrA/s1600-h/0807_Great_Glen_Way_211-Edit-2.jpg”img style=”cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp3.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SI7IDtRprpI/AAAAAAAAAL8/MhTblab4qrA/s200/0807_Great_Glen_Way_211-Edit-2.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228336183442517650″ border=”0″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp2.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SI7ID_knOJI/AAAAAAAAAME/FsGJRsGd1Hw/s1600-h/0807_Great_Glen_Way_212-Edit.jpg”img style=”cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp2.blogger.com/_weyimvkODWI/SI7ID_knOJI/AAAAAAAAAME/FsGJRsGd1Hw/s200/0807_Great_Glen_Way_212-Edit.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228336188353886354″ border=”0″ //abr /br /span style=”color: rgb(102, 255, 255);”The walk continues without incident and we meet up with Nin who transports us back to the Benleva. The whole week has gone so quickly – and tomorrow is our last day, a short hop from Woodend to our ultimate destination Inverness./spanbr /br /span style=”color: rgb(102, 255, 255);”We eat at the Benleva and I demolish a Rogan Josh quicktime. A few games of pool later and it’s time to go to bed, but not before meeting possibly the most boring man in Scotland, if not the UK. You shall remain nameless…/spanbr /br /span style=”color: rgb(102, 255, 255);”Bedzzzzz/spanbr /br //span/span/span

I have cereal and scrambled egg with toast – as I have had too many full English breakfasts! Today is relatively easy – a 9m/15km walk up to Woodend. There is no accommodation – so Nin will pick us up and deliver us back to the Benleva Hotel this afternoon.

I take a few shots of this old tree at the front of the hotel.

I also liked these colourful flowers (once again, I cannot name them).

We set off down the A82 once more for about a mile or so and pick up the trail. The weather is good and I get a group shot at the start of the track up back into the hills.

I snap a distant shot of Urquhart Castle before setting off again.

The weather is holding out and so far on this trip we have been lucky on the midge front! This stretch is a nice forest walk – but as the forest is largely pine – there is very little sound or sign of animal life.

We stop for a bite to eat and in my case, a little livener from my hip flask – stocked with highest quality Laphroaig.

The walk continues without incident and we meet up with Nin who transports us back to the Benleva. The whole week has gone so quickly – and tomorrow is our last day, a short hop from Woodend to our ultimate destination Inverness.

We eat at the Benleva and I demolish a Rogan Josh quicktime. A few games of pool later and it’s time to go to bed, but not before meeting possibly the most boring man in Scotland, if not the UK. You shall remain nameless…

Bedzzzzz