From Locks to Loch

We pile gear on every part of our bodies, like pack mules, and hike back down the road to where we had stashed the boats the previous evening.  The journey starts along a short, beautiful tree-lined section of the Caledonian Canal, before we reach Loch Oich, much the smallest of the Great Glen’s lochs. We pitstop at the Well of the Seven Heads to pick up provisions for the day and have a bacon sandwich, whilst reading the story of the wells gruesome past.

The drizzle begins as we weave our way in and out of the green and red buoys that marked the safe passage for the larger vessels. Back on the Caledonian Canal, we regularly hop in and out of the boat to portage the many locks until we reach Fort Augustus. Here, we have the longest portage of the trip (750m), round a series of six locks. We get some strange looks as we walk through the streets of this small town with a boat balanced on one of our heads. Our efforts are rewarded as we canoe out onto the mighty Loch Ness, hugging the North coast to be one of the final guests of the SYHA Loch Ness, which sadly closes next week.