Our day starts with breakfast at 8, although tea and coffee are set out for us at 7:15 (the engine is off from 10pm to 7am, so no electrics other than necessities during that time). Cereals and fruit are set out, bowls of yummy porridge come around, and then the bacon, eggs and toast come out. Did I say we were being spoiled?

We have about half an hour to get ourselves ready for the walk, grab our packed lunch and snacks and meet up to begin the day’s walk.

Since we start and end each day on the canal, we hike up to meet the Great Glen Way and then drop back down at the end of the day. Today’s walk took us through such varied and beautiful landscapes – meadows, forests, past sheep pastures, and moss-covered forests. It was magical walking through these areas. The day started out chilly and we walked through a few rain showers (even a little sleet at one point). We donned our rain gear and carried on. The sun did poke through a few times, which was very welcomed. Just past the halfway point, we stopped at a campground to have our lunch – getting rained on a bit more, making the stop shorter than it might otherwise have been. Luckily, none of the rain was enough to soak us, and we were able to dry out between sprinkles.

Views along the way…

We came upon a croft with lots to offer. They keep a food cabinet stocked with goodies and an honesty box, offer drinking water, and have a small camping area. Some hikers along the Great Glen will camp, others will stay at hostels and B&B’s, and then there’s us on the boat.

And we finally got our first view of Loch Ness. I wish the photos could capture the true beauty of all we saw.

14.6 miles and 1,650’ of elevation gain later, we had dropped down to the Loch Ness Lifesaving Station. Our boat was just off shore, and our bosun, Steve, collected us in the small tender.

Once back on board, we set off for our night’s mooring spot across the loch. Our path took us past the ruins of Urquhart Castle. It was nice to have a little cruise along the loch before dinner. Darren did not fail us, setting out tea and coffee and cookies fresh out of the oven for our afternoon snack.

Dinner was a delicious feast of Scottish cod and plenty of vegetables, followed by an apple rhubarb crumble with custard sauce. Once the table is cleared after dinner, the big map comes out for a review of the day and a glimpse of tomorrow’s walk.

While long, today’s hike was not as bad as I had expected. The uphill sections were gradual, and having company along the way made the time go by nicely. We were out for just under 7 hours, and the groupings of walkers was constantly changing. My fear going into this was that I would be the slowest in the group, but that wasn’t the case today. It’s a pretty well matched group and no one is trying to break any records.😁