Day 64 - Drumnadrochit to Inverness
Once again the sun was shining when I set out this morning. First stop was the local supermarket to pick up a sarnie and Mars bar for my lunch and I was amazed when I saw that a whole load of cyclists were stopped outside : they were also doing the LEJOG challenge (their website is http://www.lejogcycle2008.co.uk/) this time for Macmillan Cancer but they had only left home on 22 June and were going to reach John O'Groats tomorrow whilst I've still got 9 days of running left! However, they were very impressed with my solo effort, stocked me up with fruit and nuts (they were being sponsored by Haribo sweets too!) and after a 'team' photo gave me a hero's send off!
I first followed the main road back through Drumnadrochit before hitting the fields again and climbing back up through the trees (there was an excellent view point looking back to Urquart Castle en-route). It was only once I was back in amongst the pine trees that the route really hit the incline button and once again I was zigging and zagging up and up with the weather also getting muggier and muggier until I was a little bit on the wet side!
After emerging from the trees it was then a km or so across open heathland and the sky turned incredibly dark whilst in the loch, what I initially thought was smoke turned out to be a deep mist that covered all the views back towards Fort Augustus - it was amazing how quickly it came in but it didn't progress any further than the loch. Back on forestry trails I suddenly became totally lethargic so walked for quite a while until the track eventually maintained a steady descent and then running became no problem at all and I covered several miles fairly quickly.
I once again met the family who had provided me with food donations last night and this morning : Jim and Mandy and their sons John and Craig (happy 18th birthday Craig!) and we had the most amazing experience at a 'coffee shop' - there were loads of home-made signs along the route and Jim had heard that the guy who ran it, Rory, was quite a character so we couldn't pass by without dropping in. It wasn't exactly a shop as such, more just a table and chairs in his 'garden' which stretched for 8 acres : he lived in a shack and had chickens and a rooster roaming free, a dragonfly pond and the odd red deer dropping in. He has a list of things he'd like to buy...including a house, but it never gets to the top of the list! Anyway, he had fabulous tales to tell like the 'townies' who plan to walk the GGW but only get as far as his shop with expensive and new boots and backpack only to find they are totally exhausted, end up staying two nights and then return home! We had 'real' tea with tea-leaves and scottish shortbread and he even gave me a receipt!
The next few miles were on a very quiet lane and fully refreshed I ran along extremely happily and easily - I saw 3 more deer but this time Roe rather than Red. The track then followed a Drovers Road used originally to 'drive' cattle from the top of Scotland all the way down to England. I left a thank-you message and a smiley face in the sandy trail for Jim and Mandy so hope they saw it. I then went back into trees and once more thoroughly enjoyed the journey along the flat sandy path : the trees are much less crowded than in other woods I've been through but again, the floor was covered in moss and ferns - the company that maintains the footpath is trying to revert the forest back to it's original state which includes careful management of the deer population to ensure the trees grow. They should also be congratulated on the fantastic markings along the trail : the pale blue posts with the Scottish thistle logo are regularly placed and there are numerous information boards all the way along the route - I certainly can't fault them and really didn't need any of my maps to be honest. Some of the woods appeared to be really old as even the stone wall was almost covered with a thick layer of moss and in some places the trees appeared dead with all their lower branches covered with spagnum moss. I did meet someone that I'd met a few days ago and they said that today had been 'boring' with all the trees and not much of a view of anything else - it just goes to show you how drastically different, peoples expectations and experiences can be.
Eventually the trail emerged back out of the trees and presented me with a fantastic view over Inverness below. The way then dropped back down to real civilisation, initially through a housing estate and then back along the Caledonian Canal for a short distance. After crossing the river via two lovely white suspension bridges it was then a shortish run upto the castle and the finish point of the GGW where I used my monkey-pod to take a 'congratulatory' picture next to the huge stone plaque. Less than a mile later I found my YH - I'm back here a week today once I complete my adventure.
I've really really enjoyed the GGW and it's definitely lived up to any hopes and expectations that I had before I'd even left home.
Mileage 21.3 and 4.24

Total mileage 1068.92