Day 11: South Laggan to Fort William

Distance: 24.7 miles
Time: 7 hrs 25 mins
Weather: Sunny
Cumulative distance: 195.5 miles

A long stroll in the sun to end the Great Glen Way and a brief encounter with an End to Ender.

Last night's meal on the Eagle Barge Inn was a memorable experience. The restaurant is run by an older couple from London and seats about 14. After my wonderfully fresh sea bass and immense cheese board, I took a few short steps into the lounge bar and shared a few beers with Carleen and Debbie, both HR professionals from Calgary in Canada, and Ike and Max, both students from Dortmund in Germany. They were all walking the Great Glen Way, so we exchanged stories of our experiences. The chef entertained us with his magic tricks, then drove us back to the hostel.

I arose early after a poor night's sleep. Although the window in my dorm was open, it was warm and stuffy and the mattress was uncomfortable. Without my accustomed full Scottish breakfast, I decided to eat on the move. I left at 7.30am, by far my earliest start.

In glorious sunshine, I followed forest tracks which traced around Loch Lochy, eventually leading to the Caledonian Canal at Gairlochy. A sleepy deer bounded across the path just in front of me. Despite the distance to be covered, I made swift progress towards Fort William. In the area around Loch Arkaig, quite a number of executive country homes had been or were being constructed.

Along the canal path I met my first fellow End to Ender of the trip. Nobby had left Land's End in April and was hoping to reach John O Groats in 12 days' time. He said the strangest experience of his journey was encountering a wallaby in Cornwall (it had escaped apparently!)

I arrived in Fort William just as the steam train to Mallaig was departing, and duly completed the Great Glen Way. There were, perhaps, too many forest roads, but I won't forget the wonderful vistas of lochs, mountains, woodland, rivers and wildlife.

I was booked in to the Travelodge at the end of the high street, a brand new hotel with views across the loch. I noticed that today's room rate was £81, which compares pleasingly with the £25 I paid when I booked in January. Maybe I should have invested in a few rooms!