The Great Glen from Loch Ness to Fort William

Beautiful Loch Ness, but no Nessie in sight! 

We had to visit Loch Ness and see if we could find Nessie.  Try as we might, no Nessie sighting.  Maybe she's on holiday somewhere warm.  Loch Ness is not user friendly when it comes to driving; not many pullouts with views as the trees have grown too thick to see through.  So we drove with occasional peeks at the loch.

Several sailboats were on the loch, which would be a great way to see it.

The south end of Loch Ness has a tiny beach with ducks, the only water life we saw.

At the south end there was a small pullout where we could walk down to a tiny beach.  A flock of ducks were on the water, but soon moved on away from us.  Climbing back up, Bill spotted this tiny field mouse ready to pose for his picture.

Could this be a Scottish Pack Rat?

Loch Ness ends at Fort Augustus, where the River Oich is used to make the Caledonian Canal after running out of Loch Oich.  Then you come to Loch Lochy.  They did a good job building pullouts around this Loch, complete with information boards explaining how the Great Glen came to be.  It's all geology, baby.

Loch Lochy 

This is how it all happened to come about.

Everywhere there are waterfalls, if you can get past the trees to see them.  Some have names, some don't, but all are beautiful.  We saw several on the drive on into Fort William.  We didn't stay long in Fort William, just hit the grocery store so we wouldn't have to stop on the way home.  (We are so lazy sometimes.)  Fort William was definitely a tourist town.  It not only is the gateway to the Lochs for tours from Glasgow and Edinburgh, but is has Ben Nevis, the highest peak in the UK, at is doorstep.

Waterfall on a stream that feeds Loch Lochy.

Lochs and waterfalls are everywhere in the Highlands, all you have to do is wander a bit and keep your eyes open.  It is especially true this year, as they have had their wetting summer on record.  Every one has apologized to us for the weather, but we came prepared.  All the rain makes everything incredibly green, besides, no rain, no rainbows!

Loch Lochy is very beautiful; I think I like it better than Loch Ness.

Small waterfalls are in abundance.