The morning started with a quick walk through the nearby Glenfinnan railway museum which, although small, was surprisingly informative and well done.

With a break in the inclement weather, we decided to take on the mighty mount of Ben Nevis, which  translated from the Gaelic is called  ‘Mountain Malicious’.

Needless to say, the hike lived up to the mountains name. We struck out at midday on an easy trail, which soon became boulders, which soon became lots of loose stone. The incline was fun and hard work at times but the views at the top made it all worthwhile.

After a simple lunch and a few photos at the top we started our descent,  where we bumped into Thomas from our Glennfinnan sleeper who had started at 10:00am. He seemed to be tackling the challenge without water or hiking gear but did mention he’d had a few naps on the way up… We started to wonder (and still do) how he coped and what time he completed the experience.

Luckily on the way up(and down) Katrine found plenty of mud/water to drink, some sheep poop flavoured and some drinkable, despite the occasional wild shrimp. So we were sorted.

About two thirds of the way down the ascent my right knee started playing up (an old war wound) which slowed us down a bit but we made decent time in the end.

Satisfied we made our way to Fort Augustus and our accomodation for the next two nights, Mhorags place, which turned out to be yet another  fantastic (and very reasonably priced hostel).  After some pub grub and an obligatory local draft, we turned in for the night and let our aches and pains ease away with our slumber.