Caution…Snoring Ahead !

It had been a fairly windy night, with gales forecast for during today-especially on the high tops, and Ben Nevis being the highest in Britain, I thought ‘They may mean there’, and so,with the note of caution from Kate ringing in my ears…at the 7 a.m. alarm call…I switched off, and carried on sleeping..

I did eventually get up, - listening to the radio realised that my location in Fort William had got off fairly lightly, compared to the rest of the UK, but Wally had regularly been rocking during the night, and into the morning. I had a nice breakfast, read the remaining bits of the papers, I had forgotten I’d read, as the storm force winds eased, and by early afternoon I was ready for a walk into Fort William itself. I walked over Sugar loaf mountain, infamous as the location of the Jacobite muskets firing at Fort William in the siege of 1745 (how’s that for a memory ?), getting glimpses of Loch Linnhe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loch_Linnhe  below, which I’d never seen from this angle before, with an interesting warning sight by me ,although I didn’t see any Hairy monsters – maybe they’d also been to Billy’s the Barbers in New Mills also ?

I then had a wander around the outdoor shops, in this once bastion of the outdoor empire, now reduced to cheap rubbish, and ,you’ve guessed it, no purchases made –apart from some toe nail clippers !

As I passed Fort William rail station, the steam train was arriving from Skye ,and along with all the other people reminiscing their childhood took some pictures !

A bargain chocolate éclair cream tea and sandwich for £2-09 at Morrison's set me up for a brisk walk back to Wally, already thinking of tomorrow…and a wander up Ben Nevis.. passing the recently restored ice curling rink (no ice there, just yet!) back for a hot shower and change, ready for my evening meal…at the Pub !

So, Goodnight- as you awaken tomorrow I’ll be finishing my preparations for climbing Ben Nevis, in fact if you’re up late I’ll be half way up !