Glenfinnan to Inverie – a re-acquaintance

Motoring along the glorious Road to the Isles as we do every year (at least once), my mind always wanders to thoughts of walking in the rough hills that bear down on that ribbon of Tarmac.

Normally, this drive is on the clock. We need to get to Mallaig and negotiate the infuriating Co-op  to stock up for a week at the rental cottage before making the Western Isles.

This year was a little different though. We had more time at the cottage and had arrived in the Highlands early. Everything was less rushed. This gave me three days to amble though the glens to Inverie from Glenfinnan before heading to Tarbet on the ferry.

My other half dropped me at the visitors’ centre at Glenfinnan on a mizzly Monday morning. The forecast was poor for at least two days of my walk but I didn’t mind. I was relishing a re-acquaintance with this landscape and travel by two feet after the distractions of two wheels.

Given my lack of walking of late – not to mention my lack of walking with a full pack – I felt it important to take my time, to let my body adapt, to see if the muscles indeed had memory.

Tarbet to Inverie via Meall Buidhe

It’s a rather novel way to start a day hike to be standing by a pier waiting to be picked up by a boat. My hosts had to take a boat to Mallaig for a service (bit more complicated than an oil change and new plugs) and offered to drop me at Camusrory at the head of Loch Nevis.

The loch was glass this early in the morning, and we saw seals lounging on the rocky shore.

I alighted at Camusrory and watched my lift chug away. The rumble of the diesel engines diminished and I was alone… not for long, though, as workers on the estate were starting early. A flurry of activity on quad bikes and excavators seemed incongruous in this majestic place and I hurried by them, seeking the solitude of the glen.