Two for one

This is one from today (right) and another from Saturday (left), Cullochy lock at the eastern end of Loch Oich and Corpach lock where the Caledonian canal meets the sea at Corpach near Fort William.
Today finds me at Fort Augustus, half way along the Great Glen Way. 
Leaving Laggan this morning the trail took me along an old railway line above Loch Oich, easy walking with the sun filtering though the trees, the wooded slopes to my right strewn with moss covered troll-boulders and the slopes down to the waters of the Loch dotted with birch and alder. Across the water, Invergarry castle raising its ruined towers above dense forest. 
A sudden opening out of the landscape and expansive views back down the loch before the Bridge of Oich swing bridge, a disused but very elegant suspension bridge and then this lock with its keeper's cottage.
The canal towpath led towards Fort Augustus with great stands of birch, oak and alder punctuated by tall scots pines on the far banks and thick alder and rowan occasionally revealing the dark swirling currents of a river down below me, the canal engineering maintaining its height well above the river. 
Suddenly the locks of Fort Augustus appeared, and the shock of moving from peaceful tranquility to the hubbub of bank holiday tourism in full flow hit me head on. I sat and gazed in disbelief waiting for check-in time at my B&B.
A relatively gentle 18km (11 miles).

A note about the sketches. The book is tiny, A6 in size so you are probably viewing the pages bigger than they actually are.


PS. Apparently the Queen and Princess Anne 'disembarked' at Cullochy. Sounds like a royal euphamism perhaps? :)