I slept well after a long day of hiking on day two, but also had the advantage of not having any roommates in the dorm room I had booked. The sun was shining as I started out from South Laggan with the plan to go around 15 kilometres to Fort Augustus.
The route was following the Caledonian Canal up to Loch Oich. The way cut west of the Loch to Invergarry and then headed north past the end of the Loch to Fort Augustus. The day was pretty uneventful. The small clusters of houses I passed revealed some nice vantages of the lake. I walked through various forested areas up over hills to the west of the lake. At the north end of Loch Oich I walked between the River Oich and the Caledonia Canal on my way to Fort Augustus.
Fort Augustus is the largest town I was going to encounter until I got to Inverness. It was a more touristy location than I anticipated but I enjoyed wandering the town and learning about some of the local history. This was where Saint Columba is alleged to have engaged a mythical water beast who was threatening people on the southern shore of the Loch Ness. From the sixth century the idea of there being a water beast led into the myths around the Loch Ness monster. It also helped create an active monastery that later became a school and now a high-end resort in Fort Augustus.
BorealHiker 