Stop 2: Fort William (Sept. 13-15)

Our Glasgow hotel was just across George Square from the Queen Street Station where we caught our train. The four hour train trip passed through many miles of beautiful highland scenery. We shared a table with a couple from the Midlands. His degree was in geology and we received a running description of the geology of the highlands all the way up to Fort William.

Accidental selfie

The station at Fort William let us out at one end of the High Street (a pedestrian only street that was home to most of the shops and restaurants in the town). Our hotel was 3 or 4 blocks away at the other end of the High Street.

High Street

Kristen on High Street

Church at the station end of High Street

Another church at the station end of High Street

Couldn't resist adding a picture of this poster that we saw at the train station.
As Grant said "We're known for our never ending seascapes".

For dinner the first night, I decided that I might have wimped out in Glasgow when I had the tapas version of haggis. I decided to try the real thing.

The haggis was good but I've probably reached my haggis limit for this life.

Fort William is at the northernmost tip of Loch Linnhe (which isn't actually a loch since it opens to the ocean). Loch Linnhe, Loch Ness and others are all along the same rift and have been connected by a series of locks to form the Caledonian Canal.

Loch Linnhe. Glen Nevis, the highest peak in Scotland, would have been in this shot if the clouds had ever cleared. The town was full of people who were there to clime Glen Nevis.

Of course, our main activity in Fort William was the Jacobite train to Mallaig and back. The Jacobite and it's route was the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter films.

Boarding the Jacobite

Crossing the 21-arched Glenfinnan viaduct. We had the last seats in the last car so we couldn't have had a better seat for taking this picture.

A brief stop at the West end of the viaduct. This stop featured pipers and a monument to "Bonnie Prince Charlie" (which we never found).

Harry Potter must have booked very early to get First Class tickets.

At the Mallaig end, we had just enough time to grab some dinner and go for a walk out to the docks. The ferries to the Isle of Skye depart from Mallaig.

Mallaig Harbor

On the trip back to Fort William it was getting dark (we later learned that this was the last afternoon round trip of the season). The deer must like the dusk. We saw several large groups of deer and one large stag.

-JC-