We decided to change our travel plans and go to Inverness via Loch Ness and return in the reverse direction so we were doing the opposite of the drive in 2005. The forecast for Inverness was not great and it was meant to be better in the area we were in so we decided to have a drive around this area first. We wanted to see Rob Roy's grave and the loch that we were staying at the head of. There were also caches and it turned out that some fitted our plans.

The breakfast matched the evening meal with particularly nice bacon . The other 4 guests were French so we made very little conversation other than 'bonjour’.

From John:

"I noticed the flashy Frenchman with their gold necklaces and trendy glasses tucked into the front of their shirts. I decided to tuck my $2 specs into my shirt as well. Trouble is they fell into my egg, then when I picked them up I dropped them (and eggy bits) onto my shirt. I never did like the French!!"

We drove to Rob Roy’s grave which was in a cemetery by a still active church with an older church also in the grounds. John was taken by the comment on Rob Roy’s stone (‘McGregor – despite them’). There was also a war memorial in the grounds. The cache was on a sort pathway behind the church and by a waterfall. We went into the church which was quite bare but did have a few postcards for sale. We bought one to send but also as a church donation, something we have stared to do on the trip .

We then drove along the south side of Loch Earn. It was nice enough although we could se it would be very attractive if the sun was shining. It was cloudy most of the time. The road said it was not recommended for caravans so the first thing we had to do was back out to make space for one. The road was narrow but with lots of passing places marked. There were a few caravans parked by the loch and some had wet swimming clothes outside. Brrr. One cache made us stop by a river which had a large rock and would be a lovely picnic place. It did remind us of NZ.

We were doing a few caches on the way and many gave us interesting information. One gave us this story of Rob Roy.

While living at Corriechaorach, a force of forty men and an officer were sent from Inversnaid to capture him. On their arrival at Tyndrum, Rob Roy disguised himself as a beggar and entered the inn they had retired to for refreshment . He was made the butt of some of the soldiers jokes and pretending to be very angry, threatened to tell Rob Roy, who he said would soon show them what happened to people who made fun of a defenseless old man. This got the soldiers interest, did the beggar really know Rob Roy? and did he also know where he lived? After a show of reluctance, the beggar agreed he did know Rob Roy and also that he would be willing to take them to where he was staying. He even carried them, one by one, across the Fillan Water at Dalrie Ford, charging them each a penny for this service. When they approached Corriechaorach he stopped them. Going ahead himself he told them, to allay any suspicions. After half an hour the officer and two of his men were to come to the house and order all within to surrender. The plan worked perfectly, except that when the Kings men entered they were immediately disarmed and threatened with death should they make a sound. Rob then went to the door and called in two more soldiers. So it went on until eventually all forty were disarmed.


Next morning, after a good breakfast, they were sent on their way promising to return to Inversnaid without trying any further tricks. The weapons remained with Rob Roy and his followers.

We were also told that the word 'Blackmail' originated from this practice of 'Protection', carried out by Rob Roy in the area . The Scots word 'mail' meaning rent was joined to 'black', referring to a tribute that was paid to ensure the protection of the cattle who were black and smaller than the present day brown Highland Cattle.

We sidetracked to visit the top part of Loch Lomond as it was only a few km away. We didn’t go far down the loch, partly because of the traffic issues as there was road works as well as very narrow roads. We also stopped to look at a large rock called Pulpit rock where a cache was hidden nearby.

We started to recognise some of the scenery once we were back on the road to Inverness. We stopped first at a parking area with a view of Loch Tulla. There was a cairn there as a memorial to mountaineers who had died in the mountains of Scotland. It said all the stones had come from mountains that were at least 3000 feet high.

We drove through the marshy area then into the area with mountains all around . They looked so much higher as the road was less than 400m high. Although we didn’t see many people, the carparks all seemed to be full so there must have been a lot of walkers around. The cloud meant the tops weren’t visible. Parts were green and other parts, especially around Glen Coe were bleak. We called into the Glen Coe visitors centre but only briefly as we have been there before.

We went into Fort William for a latish lunch then did a cache here at an interesting lock system known a Neptune’s Stairs. It was a series of 8 locks that eventually lifts a boat 20 metres but it takes 90 minute to get through.

We spotted a sign for the Commandos memorial so stopped here along with a number of other people. The main memorial is a statue of 3 commandos with their slogan “United we conquer”. At the foot was a wreath from a German Panzer Division. There was also a memorial garden for individuals. There was a variety of things here including some formal stones, some personal messages and lots of flowers .

We went into Fort Augustus and found the visitors centre where we had bought Glen’s controversial tee shirt last time – you’ll have to ask him for the story. They only had blue (which he already has) and not in the right size so we didn’t buy another and we never did find another shop selling them. We could have bought Glen a ‘Great Glen Way’ tea-towel but we didn’t think he would want it. We looked around the town and discovered a bit more of it than we had last time. There was even a man in a kilt by the river and a Nessie topiary.

We ‘cached’ our way up Loch Ness as there was a ‘Monster’ series put out at the main view points, so there was good parking nearby. We lost GPS reception but got it back just in time to stop at a cache set near the memorial for John Cobb – the speed ace who was killed on the lake.

It was lovely as we drove into Inverness with the still,clear water giving lovely reflections on the river, and there was also some sun again. It never rained heavily during the day but there must have been about 20 changes of weather.