Fort Augustus, Loch Oich & Laggan Avenue
After breakfast the Lord of the Glens started her march up the five-lock flight in down-town Fort Augustus, one of three staircases along the Caledonian Canal. We were the center of attention to be sure; even the sun beamed down on us between the clouds threatening rain.
The morning had several components, and folks chose to wander in different directions. Three went golfing, ten went kayaking, and many followed our Expedition Leader, David Barnes, as he led them on an interpretative walk around Fort Augustus which even included the cemetery lying on the outskirts of town.
I went with the kayakers to paddle around Loch Oich, under the Laggan Swing bridge and into the narrowest section of the canal often referred to as Laggan Avenue. We started off in the southwestern end of the quiet Loch Oich. So small it is often over-looked on large-scale maps of the region, narrow enough to blend easily with the man-made canal portions. This body of water marks the highest point of the canal at 106 feet (or 32.3 meters). What is fascinating to contemplate is that the water runs out of both ends: towards the North Sea off Inverness to the northeast and to the Atlantic Ocean at Fort William in the southwest.
Larch, birch, Rowan and beech trees shade banks lined at the waterline with hewn stones placed by the Thomas Telford workers back in the 1820’s. By kayak, and later on the Lord of the Glens, we floated over this portion of the canal that offered jobs and therefore enticed people to stay in the region rather than emigrate at the turn of the century. It allowed for safe passage for naval frigates and so much more as trade in tar, oatmeal and coal increased in the area.
Nowadays it is a popular waterway to transit for not only safety reasons but also the scenery. Private yachts, small fishing vessels, long-distance kayakers and canoeists pass by when we are moored, or when traveling in the opposite direction they hug the shore. The Lord of the Glens was designed to fit exactly through the locks and is the largest vessel known to transit the Caledonian Canal.
Late afternoon allowed us one more opportunity for exercise. Despite the rain, light but insistent, a group of twelve decided to risk leaving the ship for a long six to seven-mile walk along the Great Glen Way. There would be no way to jump back on board until the arrival of the ship in Laggan. Almost immediately, the rain stopped, and for the remaining two and half hours we hiked along a wooded trail, much of it originally following an old train line now overgrown with moss and lichens. One train platform hosted two enormous Douglas firs, huge in circumference. Sheep “baa’d”, and their wool was frequently seen caught on the bark of birch and caught up in ferns.
Meanwhile the others traveled in comfort and style on the Lord of the Glens through Loch Oich and Laggan Avenue, a twisting part of the canal with tall trees ruling the banks and crowding the waterway. The glens, the valleys, are indeed great in many respects.
After breakfast the Lord of the Glens started her march up the five-lock flight in down-town Fort Augustus, one of three staircases along the Caledonian Canal. We were the center of attention to be sure; even the sun beamed down on us between the clouds threatening rain.
The morning had several components, and folks chose to wander in different directions. Three went golfing, ten went kayaking, and many followed our Expedition Leader, David Barnes, as he led them on an interpretative walk around Fort Augustus which even included the cemetery lying on the outskirts of town.
I went with the kayakers to paddle around Loch Oich, under the Laggan Swing bridge and into the narrowest section of the canal often referred to as Laggan Avenue. We started off in the southwestern end of the quiet Loch Oich. So small it is often over-looked on large-scale maps of the region, narrow enough to blend easily with the man-made canal portions. This body of water marks the highest point of the canal at 106 feet (or 32.3 meters). What is fascinating to contemplate is that the water runs out of both ends: towards the North Sea off Inverness to the northeast and to the Atlantic Ocean at Fort William in the southwest.
Larch, birch, Rowan and beech trees shade banks lined at the waterline with hewn stones placed by the Thomas Telford workers back in the 1820’s. By kayak, and later on the Lord of the Glens, we floated over this portion of the canal that offered jobs and therefore enticed people to stay in the region rather than emigrate at the turn of the century. It allowed for safe passage for naval frigates and so much more as trade in tar, oatmeal and coal increased in the area.
Nowadays it is a popular waterway to transit for not only safety reasons but also the scenery. Private yachts, small fishing vessels, long-distance kayakers and canoeists pass by when we are moored, or when traveling in the opposite direction they hug the shore. The Lord of the Glens was designed to fit exactly through the locks and is the largest vessel known to transit the Caledonian Canal.
Late afternoon allowed us one more opportunity for exercise. Despite the rain, light but insistent, a group of twelve decided to risk leaving the ship for a long six to seven-mile walk along the Great Glen Way. There would be no way to jump back on board until the arrival of the ship in Laggan. Almost immediately, the rain stopped, and for the remaining two and half hours we hiked along a wooded trail, much of it originally following an old train line now overgrown with moss and lichens. One train platform hosted two enormous Douglas firs, huge in circumference. Sheep “baa’d”, and their wool was frequently seen caught on the bark of birch and caught up in ferns.
Meanwhile the others traveled in comfort and style on the Lord of the Glens through Loch Oich and Laggan Avenue, a twisting part of the canal with tall trees ruling the banks and crowding the waterway. The glens, the valleys, are indeed great in many respects.
