Day 12 - Ballachulish to Drumnadrochit - projected distance 70 miles.

Summer arrived today in Scotland. We enjoyed bright sunshine and warmth for most of the day - the first real summer's day of the trip so far. I was expecting today to be a pleasant trip alongside several lochs, without too many hills to conquer.

First stop outside of Ballachulish was Fort William, a gateway to the highlands, where I heard a piper playing. I went over for a chat (when he stopped for a breather). Busking with the bagpipes is a fantastic way to make a few pounds, it seems. Just past Fort William is Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Britain. It's hard to see from the road, but I did stop to take a photo a little further on, when it was set against the sky. Each time I stopped today, my legs complained a little when I set off again. This was probably the cumulative effect of a few hard days' cycling, and yesterday in particular.

At Spean Bridge there is a memorial to the commandos who were killed in WW2, as this area was their training ground. It's a fine monument, in a lovely and dramatic setting (with Ben Nevis in the distance). The A82, which was just about the only road I used all day, then wound its way around to the north-east, alongside Loch Lochy (I suppose the English equivalent would be Lake Lakey), and then Loch Oich, where I stopped for a wonderful picnic by the water's edge. The children fed the ducks, paddled, and said the water was warmer than the Mediterranean around Sardinia in May. It was a hot day today, which meant I was drinking lots. Unfortunately I have run out of my blackcurrant-flavoured electrolyte drink, so I've moved on to the particularly vile watermelon flavour. Yeuch. The worst part is that the flavour is so difficult to get rid of. In the course of the day I had ribena, diet coke, and water in that water bottle - and they all came with a hint of watermelon. Never mind.

A few more miles down the road from Loch Oich, Fort Augustus signalled the southern edge of Loch Ness, where I waited as the swing bridge let some boats into the locks at the start of the Caledonian canal. Another piper was playing, and there were crowds of people milling around in the sunshine, looking at the boats and the water.

Then it was on around Loch Ness, which is enormous. The scale is difficult to describe, but I did hear this evening at the 'Loch Ness Monster Experience' (don't ask) that the loch is 230m deep in places, and that it is comfortably the largest volume of fresh water in Britain. There is more fresh water in Loch Ness alone than in the whole of England and Wales, apparently. No wonder it's so hard to find Nessie.

Around the loch I went, and along to Urquhart Castle, near Drumnadrochit, where we are staying tonight in a very nice family hotel. I was glad to reach the end today, even though the terrain was quite flat. I was also glad to see my total mileage pass 800 miles. Only another 135 to go.