Day 4: Fort Augustus to Invermoriston, 15km (9¼ miles)

[Continued from day three.]

We pop into the tiny Fort Augustus market for lunch supplies on our way out of town. The first part of the hike is a 100-foot ascent, winding through small-town parks and glades.

We finally emerge onto the logging roads that will take us most of the way to our destination for the day. We see the loch occasionally, but mostly the woods, which are lovely, dark, and deep.

Our elevensies stop is on a halfway-finished stone bench overlooking the loch. Some birdwatching ladies pass us by, and ask if we’ve put the kettle on. They are adorable. We are charmed.

Also: the British have way better chip flavors than we do.

We may have carefully engineered this shot for the purposes of an elaborate hoax. Some of you may have been taken in. It’s okay, you don’t have to admit it openly. We know.

We start to notice that Scotland is completely covered in scenic waterfalls.

Luncheon is on stumps again. The view’s pretty good, though.

We start to descend as we near our destination. The trail goes up into Glenmoriston, detouring around some private estates.

We pass some construction where the trail is being improved (including a guy working an excavator with an off-leash-but-apparently-very-well-trained dog), and find our way to the beautiful bridges in Invermoriston.

We even watched some grizzled kayakers go down this falls.

Passing through town, we find a historic well with its own legend. Becky forces me to climb down and pose for a photo.

Half a mile later, we find our lodgings, and tuck into the tea tray. We even made a little fuzzy friend!

We stroll back into town for a lovely 4-course dinner (including pigeon) at the Glenmoriston Arms. Back in the first king-size bed we’ve ever seen in the UK, we do some research and pass out around 10.

[Continued: Part Five.]