June 25 - Ft. Augustus to Inverness

Well, my first day totally on my own. It will be an interesting change, since I won't have to worry about anyone else. Back to my usual mode of travel... My first order of business is to get up and over General Wade's Military Road. This was a significant climb, but was pretty mild compared to some of the others from the past week. While climbing, and in my own little world, another bike rider zoomed past and said hello, scaring the crap out of me. This guy was cruising up the hill, and fully loaded, too. At the top of the next rise, he stopped for a rest, so I stopped to chat. He was from The Netherlands, and he was waiting for his friend who would be along shortly. Nice guys. I committed an international faux pas, because I misread their accent and asked if they were from Germany. Oops. But they were nice about it. "Ignorant American", I'm sure they were thinking to themselves. Anyway, they were out for a camping tour of Scotland, and had been out for a few days. We parted ways and I watched with amazement as these two guys cruised effortlessly on up the hill.

The two Dutch cyclists

At the top I felt like I was in another world. Gone were the thick forests that surround Ft. Augustus, replaced by barren tundra-like terrain. I could imagine that the weather in this place would be very harsh in the winter. I also ran into the two cyclists again, just as they were about to head down the other side and into Inverness.

Loch nan Eun, above Fort Augustus

Once down the other side and back alongside Loch Ness, it was a fairly easy jaunt into Inverness. I stopped at the town of Foyers to check out their waterfalls, and to grab a bite to eat. After that, the terrain opened up and I entered a farming area along the Drumashie Moor. This area really reminded me of the Finger Lakes region of New York, obviously sculpted by glaciers. It was quite a change from the mountains of the Highlands, but beautiful in its own way.

Cycling into Inverness was a bit of a shock. I had not cycled in a major town for the entire week before, so I had to adjust my riding style to include heavy traffic. It wasn't bad, just different.

Found my B&B with no trouble. I dropped off my bike, took a nice shower, then walked down to the river area to check out the town. I dunno... I've heard many people tell me that they didn't like Inverness, and if I wanted to visit a city in Scotland, go to Edinburgh. But I liked Inverness. It had some nice shops, a couple good pubs, and had that sense of vitality that I have always admired in some cities.

Before the original group had split up, I had arranged to meet with Caroline for dinner, since she was supposed to be in Inverness for a few days. I called her B&B, and was told that she was gone and would return on a bus at 9:30 that evening. Well! After a while, I called back and found out she'd be returning at the central bus station. So I decided to meet her then. I had to go over to the train station anyway, to find out if I could catch a later train back from Wick at the end of the trip.

So, as 9:00 p.m. rolled around, I went to the train station and checked (nope, the four bike slots were still reserved on the 12:09 train from Wick), then headed over to the bus station. At 8:55, a bus rolled in with "Orkney Tours" on the side, and lo and behold, Caroline was sitting in the first seat. She was definitely surprised to see me waiting for her. We found a local pub and had supper and a pint of ale. Nice evening.