Hiking above Loch Ness with Sven and Mary Beth
Our tour of Great Britain reaches its most northerly point here in Inverness, which is generally considered the capital of the Scottish Highlands. The name derives from the Scottish Gaelic words for “Mouth of the River Ness.” The city indeed sits at he mouth of the River Ness, six miles downstream from the beautiful, mysterious, moody Loch Ness.
We drove a little under three hours to get here from Braemire. That experience combines stunningly beautiful scenery with mildly terrifying road conditions. Many of the roads in Scotland are just BARELY wider than two cars. Every time we encounter an oncoming vehicle, it seems there are only inches to spare for each car to stay in its lane and avoid collision. And when that oncoming vehicle happens to be a bus or a truck or a tractor, there is even less room to spare because it may well spill into our lane. That means Jim (who has been driving) has to move uncomfortably to the left while Mark (the navigator) winces in fear that we are going to head into a ditch or hit whatever is on the side. So every drive combines great natural beauty with a lot of stress.
And of course there are significant stretches where the roads are not NEARLY the width of two cars. There you rely on frequent little “passing places” and pray that when you encounter another car you don’t have to back up too far to get to one. And on top of all this you have to add in the minor extra challenge of remembering to always stay on the left.
The best part about our stay here was joining up for two days with our great friends Mary Beth and Sven. We had lots of time to catch up over lunches, dinners, a bit of Scotch tasting, and a couple nice hikes along the River Ness and up above Loch Ness. Given how unpredictable the weather is here, we had nice clear conditions and lovely views of the lake. We were only disappointed not to get even one sighting of the Loch Ness monster herself.
The scenery helps make up for the treacherous driving conditions
A stroll though town after lunch
The view toward Inverness on our hike along the river
We managed to get some pretty ideal weather for our hike above the Loch
Happy hikers
Jim meets a dog
A bit of Scotch tasting. They tried to borrow from the wine industry, telling us the various flavors we could taste in each brew: orange peel, vanilla, stewed pears, etc. I really didn’t taste those things at all.
Another little turn in the weather conditions
A fantastic dinner in town. I ordered a dish that included haggis, and everybody dutifully tried it. If you read a description of what haggis is, it sounds truly revolting. But I’ve sampled it a few times now, and I’m making my peace with it.
The morning we drove out of town some pretty different weather hovered over Loch Ness
Reading and having tea at our guest house. Oh, wait a sec, that must be the time I was here with my parents 33 years ago!