After my cycle journey up the Caledonian Way and around the Cairngorms in 2023, I settled in for 12 months near Fort William. One thing I’m certain of, it ain’t going to be warm!

Fort William is a tourist attraction due to Ben Nevis, but sadly is a bit of a grubby town … so best not go into town!

Caledonian Canal

My initial adventures were centered around the foot of the Nevis Range. I particularly enjoyed the Lochaber Narrow Gauge Railway, affectionately known as the ‘Puggy Line.’ This historic railway was originally built to serve the aluminium smelting plant in Fort William.

It’s delightfully peaceful in the autumn, with hardly a soul around. As I discovered in the Highlands, it’s easy to escape the crowds … perfect!

The Caledonian Canal (Way) starts just north of Fort William feeding in from Loch Linnhe and heads north-easterly for 100km’s to Inverness and out into the north sea or is it the north sea feeding Loch Linnhe?!

Achnacarry

Achnacarry’s history is dominated by its Castle/house, which was used by the British Commandos & the US Marines as a training base during WWII. The area his dotted with memorials & plaques to the service men & women.

Gairlochy is a 15 minute cycle away and is 1 of the 29 locks along the Caledonian Canal (Way). Gairlochy opens up onto Loch Lochy 🏞️

Glen Loy

Glen Loy became a favourite haunt of mine.

It’s way off the main tourist route that runs through Fort William heading north & south. The Glen is a dead-end (as are most), unless cycling or hiking 😀

Beinn Bhàn proved an arduous (staircase) for the first kilometre of the ascent.

Loch Arkaig

Loch Arkaig … what a beauty!

Great cycling on an undulating single hard-top road following the northern shoreline for 24kms to Strathan. From Strathan, some awesome gravel riding.

It offered lovely hiking too on forestry roads or the more adventurous Walk Highlands routes … there’s many to choose from.

Glen Mallie

Glen Mallie hosts the popular Invermallie bothy. It’s fairly large and is well looked after.

From the bothy one can ascend the Graham of Mullach Coire nan Geur-oirean.

Scotland’s mountains are often categorised based on their height and prominence.

• Munro (282) : Over 3,000 feet (914.4 meters) high.
• Corbett (221) : Between 2,500 and 3,000 feet (762 and 914.4 meters).
• Fiona (was a Graham) (219) : Between 2,000 and 2,500 feet (610 and 762 meters).
• Donald (140) : Between 1,500 and 2,000 feet (457.2 and 609.6 meters).
• Marilyn (loads): A prominence of at least 492 feet (150 meters).
• Pillar (too many to count): A prominence of at least 1,000 feet (304.8 meters).

Strontian

The village of Strontian lies on the north shore of Loch Sunart, close to the head of the loch.

In the hills to the north of Strontian ‘lead’ was mined in the 18th century and in these mines the mineral strontianite was discovered, from which the element strontium was first isolated. The mines at their peak employed 600 miners on the moors.

Here was an ideal base to explore the lead mines and other Walk Highlands routes.

Cona Glen (The Cape Wrath Trail)

Cape Wrath Trail is a hiking route that runs through the Scottish Highlands and along the west coast of Scotland.

It’s approximately 321 km (200 miles) in length and is considered to be one of the most challenging long distance walks in the UK.

The official southerly start of the Cape Wrath Trail is by a little red ferry out of Fort William and across Loch Linnhe to Camusnagaul. From here, the intrepid hikers have a 10km walk along the shoreline road to access the entry to Cona Glen.

The trail doesn’t have many supply options en route, so all needs have to be catered for within ones pack. As it’s Scotland, water is not one of them! 🌧️