DAY 18 - Strontian to Fort Augustus

At breakfast the clouds clear, momentarily, and reveal the most beautiful scene from our hotel looking back up Loch Sunart. The overnight storm had swept the head of the loch clean and the light that rose off the water and the rust coloured vegetation in the foreground was pungent. There is still a powerful wind and the skies look ever threatening.

As we leave the hotel my back tire looks flat. I pump it up but within 2-3 miles it expires. In a break in the showers that had developed I fit the tube I had previously patched. We continue down the valley towards the Corran ferry. There are squally showers but fortunately the wind is still behind us. With six miles to go there is a loud “pop” and I look down at a dead flat back tire that is now starting to wobble.  With no spare tube left we have a problem. The only option is for Simon to carry on to the ferry and I would try and get a lift. But, there are precious few cars, and none with space for a bike and two panniers.

Eventually a covered 4x4 is turning left at the junction where we had stopped. A young joiner, Rory Corrigan, is going to meet an architect and is late.  It is now hailing. However, he kindly throws the bike in the back and turns back towards the ferry. I am hugely indebted to this kind young fellow for going out of his way to get me out of my predicament. I would not have wanted to push a bike with a flat tire 6oo yds let alone 6 miles!  We pass Simon halfway sheltering under a tree from the hail and wind. Simon arrives at Corran and we manage to convince another fellow who has an open topped “ute” to take us on another 8 miles on the other side to Fort William. He is a quality control manager from a salmon fish farm.

We discover the casing on my back tire has split and there is a broken spoke and the wheel needs realigning. I get a new, more heavy duty, tire fitted with new tube while we have a bowl of soup. There is fresh snow on Ben Nevis.

We decide to get off the busy A road going north and pick up the Caledonian canal on the other side of the Loch as far as Spean Bridge. A dramatic view looking back across the valley as we pass a monument of 3 bereted commandos. They are looking back towards the mountains and the loch below - a stark silhouette against a black sky. We rejoin the busy A82 to Fort Augustus and continue through intermittent showers up Lochs Lochy & Oich through Invergarry

We arrive with the sun coming out in Fort Augustus  on the hill above the locks. We get a room in the lovely Caledonian Hotel – by far our best accommodation of the trip. Our host Christopher is most welcoming, even offering to dry our sodden clothing. The bedroom room is large and there are several reception rooms and a cosy bar. There is a comfortable elegance and charm about the place and their wifi actually works. The service and food is excellent. A great value B&B for just £40 each for a twin room.

Simon Sez,

Out of Strontian it was raining as usual. We were flying down a mountain towards the beautiful Loch Linnhe at real speed. When I got to the bottom and joined the Loch John was nowhere to be seen.  He eventually appeared half pulling, half carrying his bike. A burst tire and a broken spoke. We were 6 miles from the little Corran ferry so I took off to give John more chance of getting a lift with his bike. After a few miles the hail was so severe I was forced to take shelter under an oak tree on the edge of an oak wood. The hail was smashing into my helmet and bouncing and the noise was quite deafening like a million ping pong balls bouncing up and down. The ground was white with hail and the tree offered very little protection as the leaves were not fully out. I saw a small holly tree growing out of the trunk at head height. John arrives at the Corran ferry with his bike in a truck. We take a lift in another truck for the 8 miles to Fort William.

In Fort William lunch and bike repair.  We cycled about 5 miles alongside the lovely wide Caledonian canal past Ben Nevis covered in fresh snow.  At Fort Augusts we found the excellent Caledonian Hotel. We drank some very decent Stag bitter from Aviemore and renewed our journey through the Scottish Malts. I have tried so many by now they are a bit of a blur.

I could murder a cigar.