Glen Nevis, Loch Nevis, Loch Morar

I camped 3 nights in Glen Nevis. The 1st day I climbed the Ben as I've related.

The 2nd day I took an easier walk up the glen. After the glen narrows you follow a delightful path next to a gorge, where the Waters of Nevis tumble over huge blocks of pink granite. This rocky, at times slippery path winds upwards through woodland. Sometimes it fords streams. You have to be careful crossing them - as there's a big drop on one side. Soon you've reached the top of the gorge and, once over the lip, you're deposited in a beautiful, broad valley with the Steall Falls, one of highest waterfalls in Scotland, revealed in front of you. The change in landscape is sudden and dramatic. The valley is enclosed by some of the highest mountains in the land - the Ben Nevis massif to your left, the Mamores to your right - but it's so wide it doesn't feel at all claustrophobic or intimidating. After the rushing water of the gorge, the silence and calm there is wonderfully restorative. I savoured the peace...

The 3rd day I went to Mallaig. I ate some take-away fish and chips on the harbour wall, sharing them with the seagulls...

... then took a small boat to Tarbet on the North Morar peninsula. The view across Loch Nevis was simply stunning...

The ferry stopped first at Inverie on Knoydart - a wild and remote peninsula wedged between Loch Nevis and Loch Hourn. (It only has one road, and this connects the two tiny settlements of Airor and Inverie - a dead-end in both directions. The only ways onto or off the peninsula are by foot or by boat.) Here box-loads of provisions were unloaded and a gaggle of walkers and wildcampers disembarked. Then the ferry chugged on up the loch to Tarbet, which was nothing much more than a jetty and a shed...

I left the boat...

... and made my way through a cleft in the hills to Loch Morar, less than a mile to the south. The weather was cloudy, with a few rain showers...

... but soon the sky cleared, and the rest of the afternoon was sunny and bright. I walked back to Mallaig along the northern shore of the loch...

Loch Morar is the deepest body of fresh water in Britain, with a maximum depth of just over 1000 ft. It also has its own 'monster', which is apparently glimpsed from time to time. Just as Loch Ness has its 'Nessie', Loch Morar has its 'Morag'. But I scanned the loch in vain for a sighting. The beast must have been in its lair, for the surface of the loch remained calm and unbroken. Eventually I came upon the ruined Chapel of Inverbeg, where I paused a while, and ate my sandwiches, resting my back against one of the old stone walls, the shoreline wavelets lapping gently at my feet...