John o'Groats to Land's End 2013: Day 07 - Balbeg to Clunes

Today was a hard day! The reason being that the Great Glen Way kicks in with a vengeance from Balbeg. The first day on the Way from Inverness is pretty rolling and doesn’t really get tough. However, from the moment we set off this morning from our rough camp, it was steep hills and switchbacks all the way through Invermoriston and beyond. Fort Augustus marks the end of Loch Ness and the beginning of the Caledonian Canal and it seemed to take ages to get there. When we finally did, we needed to eat, so headed for the building that had “Bar, Restaurant, Lounge” in big un-missable letters on the wall. We ordered a pint, then were informed that “sorry we don’t do food”. They didn’t have a lounge either, but rather than argue about it we drank up and found somewhere that clearly did do food.

The Way from Fort Augustus onwards is a complete contrast to the first half of the walk as it follows the highly impressive Caledonian Canal which makes the Grand Union Canal look as if it should just be called the “Union Canal”. The walking was therefore much easier and we set about covering the remaining miles along the pleasant banks. By the time we made our final rough camp, we were both exhausted and it was getting late. We managed to find a spot in the pine forest that was just about big enough for two tents, but it was far from being flat and soft.

We can now take comfort from the fact that we have survived the first week of this walk and tomorrow is only 20 Miles to Fort William where we should be able to get a B&B and repair our aching limbs.