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Before we left I called Jacobite Cruises to book a Loch Ness / Urquhart Castle ('Freedom' Cruise) trip for 3pm. We were on the move soon after 9AM. We took the A9/A835 past Loch Glascarnoch to Corrieshallock Gorge. Once past lots of traffic it was a great romp over moorland and varied landscape. It took about an hour to reach the gorge.
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| The A9 Kessock Bridge over the Moray Firth. | Low clouds on the hills as we drive Northwestwards. | At Tore we turned left onto the A835 towards Ullapool. | Going alongside a train at Loch Garve. | Carrying on Northwestwards into the hills. |
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| Approaching and passing the dam at the East end of Loch Glascarnoch. | Driving alongside Loch Glascarnoch. | Loch Droma with the An Teallach mountains in the distance. | |
We then proceeded with the Corrieshalloch Gorge Short Walk, taking us over a bridge high above the gorge. It was so narrow, steep and high! Further along were a couple of view points before the path rounded back up to the car park, with a view Northwest to Loch Broom where Ullapool is.
Clips of Corrieshalloch Gorge are compiled into a You Tube video. Click here to view the video.
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| Walking the path down from the car park to the gorge. The bridge is already looking impressive from a distance. | Looking at the gorge from on top of the bridge. | On the other side there is a viewing platform a little way downstream. | |||
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| Renée on the viewing platform. | Vertical panorama of the gorge looking upstream. | A closer view of the gorge from the platform, with the Falls of Measach waterfall prominently visible. | A dead tree on the other side. | One last look at the viewing platform from this bank. | The main bridge as we are about to cross back to the Southwest side. |
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| A zoom panorama of the gorge below the bridge. | Panorama of the Falls of Measach. | Looking at the viewing platform as we walk along the other side. | The pleasant footpath on the Southwest edge of the gorge. | |
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| Another view point further downstream. | Looking at the gorge from the lower view point. | Higher up closer to the car park we found a nice bench carved cleverly out of a branch. | From the bench was a great view of the Southern end of Loch Broom. | |
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| Panorama of Corrieshalloch Gorge from above. | Bench view. | Above us beyond the gorge cloud shrouds Meall Doir Faid and the higher Beinn Enaiglair beyond it. | Mike in front of the Glen leading to Loch Broom. | One last look at the bridge as we return to the car. |
We decided not to do any other walks. So instead we headed West on the A832 and eventually reached the coast. We followed the road as it snaked in a big, varied and fun loop. We stopped briefly at a lookout point above Loch Ewe and again in Gairloch to soak in the lovely views and terrain. Then the road looped back past Loch Maree and various other lochs. There was only one small single track section. Most of the single track sections on my old map have been converted to 2 way roads and most of it was very fast too. Eventually we emerged back onto the A835 near Garve and proceeded back to Inverness.
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| Heading West on the A832 towards the An Teallach mountains. | Little Loch Broom. | A distinctive house on a bend as we approach Badbea. | Beinn Ghobhlach stands prominently on the other side of the Loch. | |
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| As we go uphill it becomes clear that Beinn Ghobhlach is on a narrow peninsula with Loch Broom / Annat Bay behind it and Little Loch Broom in front. Ben Mor Coigach is visible in the background. | Once over the peninsular we descend towards Mungasdale with Gruinard Island visible to the right and Gruinard Bay beyond. | Ascending a steep rocky section of road near Little Gruinard. | ||
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| Lots of buildings scattered around the higher ground above Gruinard Bay. | After crossing another peninsular we reach Loch Ewe. | We stopped at a lay by with a view for this panorama of Loch Ewe, the Isle of Ewe in the centre. | |
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| Continuing on around Loch Ewe. | A distant shower lit up by the sun in front of a mountain catches our eye. | Mike enjoying driving this lovely road. | A great view of Loch Gairloch as we approach Gairloch. The distant hills are the Northern end of the Isle of Skye. | |
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| Just above Gairloch another car park with a view was found. Loch Gairloch in the foreground, Northern Isle of Skye far background. | Just down the road was a car park and memorial. Looks like a lovely picnic spot too. | |
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| 360 degree panorama taken next to the memorial. | Gaineamh Mhor beach. |
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| A little bay at Charlestown that leads into Loch Gairloch. An Ard is the village on the right bank. | Driving the only single track section of the A832. | Looking across Loch Maree to Slioch. | A sculpture at the Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve where we stopped for a break. |
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| Glen Docherty. | Loch a' Chroisg. |
We got back to Inverness soon after 1:30pm. We made a booking at the Kitchen restaurant for tomorrow, and returned to a place that sold tartan scarves and shortbreads to buy some as presents. Just after 2pm we set off for the Clansman Hotel where the boat trip starts. We stopped at a parking place where a staircase took us down the bank to the shore of Loch Ness.
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| Driving Southwards on the A82 from Inverness to Loch Ness. | Parking at a layby to look at Loch Ness we found some steps that took us right down to the shore. | 180 degree panorama of Loch Ness near the Northern end. The water is very dark due to the peat content of the water flowing off the mountains. | |
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| Water's edge closeup. Is that the Loch Ness Monster just off shore? :O | A shower passing over Lochness to the Southwest as Renée poses next to the shore. | Renée and Mike at Loch Ness. | |
Then we carried onwards down the road to the hotel. We were a bit early so had a look around the gift shop before proceeding to the boat trip booth by the lochside. The boat trip was a pleasant affair, and after 30 minutes we reached Urquhart Castle.
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| The Clansman Hotel. | The Clansman Hotel's pier where the Jacobite Cruises boat goes from. | |
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| Looking back at the Clansman Hotel from the pier. | The Jacobite Spirit boat coming to pick us up. | Views to the Northeast as we depart for Urquhart Castle. | The Clansman Hotel from the middle of Loch Ness. | Looking towards Urquhart Bay and Glen Urquhart where Drumnadrochit is situated. | |
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| Looking on Southwestwards into sun as showers float around in the distance. | Urquhart Castle and the landing stage where we were soon to get off the boat. | Looking back Northeastwards along the way we came. | Passing the Tower House at Urquhart Castle as we approach the landing stage. |
We had an hour to have a good look around Urquhart Castle.
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| Approaching the Gatehouse and looking along the moat that runs around outside the walls of the castle. | Looking back at the boat we just left behind. | Renée in front of the Gatehouse. | The castle wall to the left of the Gatehouse. | |
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| Looking Eastwards from above the Gatehouse. | The Tower House. | The view Westwards towards the Motte. | A window with a view! | Looking up at the ruined walls. | |
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| Looking up from below the Tower House. | Entering the Tower House. | more windows with views in the Tower House. | Looking up from inside the Tower House. | The view across the castle from the top of the Tower House. | |
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| The view across the castle from the top of the Tower House. | Looking out across Loch Ness towards Inverness. | Looking down the spiral staircase to the cellar under the Tower House. | The cellar under the Tower House. | ||
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| The Tower House from another angle. | Panorama of Loch Ness from a lower part of the castle. In the background a shower can be seen moving in over Loch Ness. | The Water Gate. | Wandering around the lower part of the castle. | |
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| The Corn Drying Kiln. | Another view of The Water Gate. | Renée underneath a large ruined wall. | Looking around as we climb up to the Motte, the highest point of the castle. | ||
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| The view from the Motte. | A trebuchet on display outside the visitor centre. | The view from the visitor centre. | ||
After half an hour we had covered the whole castle ruins and proceeded to the visitor centre. It was all very expensive there so we didn't buy anything. The film timings meant no time to see the next filming of a documentary about the place. So we waited under a gazebo outside. Meanwhile a heavy shower arrived. We watched the boat come back for us through the rain. As it arrived we dashed down to the mooring, getting soaked in the process. On the return leg we stayed inside, relaxing. I had a tea and some nosh. Still pleasant even in the rain. Once back we hopped straight into the car and back to Inverness away from the shower. I went for petrol (stuck in traffic in town for a while) before we parked up back in Greig Street at about 5:45pm. By then the aircon/dehumidifier had dried us out nicely. We went straight to a nearby Italian Pizzeria called RIVA where we had a tasty meal.
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| Returning back on the Jacobite Legend boat. | The Pizzeria where we had supper. | |
After the meal we returned to the BnB to retire for the night.
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