We’ve been travelling around Scotland for well over a week now, so it felt like the right time to take things a little easier. Yesterday, we first watched boats making their way uphill, before boarding a train and following in the footsteps of Harry Potter’s Hogwarts Express. Today, it was time to turn our attention to the loch that has been part of the Fort William scenery ever since we stepped off the bus.
Loch Linnhe
At first glance, it looks like a vast lake tucked between the Scottish mountains. But in fact, it isn’t a lake at all. The water is salty, as Loch Linnhe is a sea loch through which the Atlantic reaches deep into the Scottish mainland.
Its location is interesting too. Beneath it runs the Great Glen Fault, a major geological fault that continues through Loch Lochy all the way to Loch Ness. It was this same fault line that accompanied our journey along Loch Ness just a few days ago.
There, we were looking for Nessie. Today, we were hoping to spot seals here.
As we were heading back to our accommodation the previous evening, I noticed a sign by the shore advertising boat trips. Since we didn’t have anything major planned for today, I decided to see what they had to offer.
A cruise along the loch, views of Ben Nevis and the surrounding mountains, fish farms and shellfish farms, and above all, the chance to spot seals, otters and other wildlife along the way.
I think it was the seals that really won us over.
Our wildlife sightings, however, turned out to be a little more modest. During the entire cruise, we caught just a brief glimpse of a single seal’s head popping above the surface before disappearing back into the water.
But, of course, we didn’t know that yet.
Clear Skies
I bought the tickets online the evening before. Just as well, as the boat was full the next morning.
As often happens with groups, a few people were running late, so we had to wait. Once everyone was finally on board, we pulled away from the pier and our cruise on Loch Linnhe began.
As soon as you move just a few metres away from the shore, Ben Nevis opens up in front of you. As we had already noticed several times over the past three days, from a Slovenian perspective, there is something slightly unusual about it. You are looking at the highest mountain in the UK, yet its summit is still lower than our Vršič Pass.
But from the waters of Loch Linnhe, you can see it from its base all the way to the summit. The full 1,345 metres rise above you.
Looking back towards Fort William, you also get a good view of the long pier. Because of the large difference between high and low tide, it has to extend far enough out to provide access to deeper water even when the tide is out.
Somewhere around here, our captain came over the loudspeaker for the first time and began his commentary with a few words about the day’s weather.
“If I had to rate today’s weather on a scale from one to ten, I’d give it 45.”
Apparently, days when there isn’t a single cloud above Fort William are pretty rare.
Clear skies.
I was inclined to believe the captain, considering he sails on Loch Linnhe practically every day.
The tide was out during our cruise. We slowly left Fort William behind, and looking back towards the shore made it easy to see just how far the water actually retreats.
A Ship Without the Sea
As you watch the Moon’s gravity at work, a rather unusual sight appears ahead of you. An old ship sits on the shore, and it clearly hasn’t sailed anywhere for quite some time.
At first, you can’t tell whether it is simply the result of the low tide or whether there is another story behind it.
The captain explains that it is an old fishing vessel that was supposed to be converted into a floating restaurant. But no guest ever got the chance to enjoy a seafood platter here.
A little over a decade ago, a powerful storm swept through the area. The chain securing the ship broke, and the wind and sea carried it onto the shore.
There it ran aground.
And there it stayed.
Today, it is slowly being worn away by the Scottish weather, salt water and time.
Ben in Nevis
Here, Loch Linnhe narrows for a while before widening out again a little further ahead into yet another loch.
There really is no shortage of water in this part of Scotland.
We pass the pier that marks the entrance to the Caledonian Canal. It allows boats to take a shortcut straight through the Scottish Highlands instead of sailing all the way around the north of Scotland.
A little further from here are Neptune’s Staircase, where yesterday we watched three sailing boats “climb” almost 20 metres with the help of eight locks.
Corpach is also known for its sawmill. Of everything the captain told us about it, what I remembered most was their sense of humour. The two biomass boilers used at the sawmill have been named Ben and Nevis.
Apparently, everything around here really does revolve around the highest mountain in the UK.
When People and Animals Lived Under the Same Roof
The cruise continued towards the sea, and individual houses and farms began to appear along the opposite shore. Nothing particularly unusual, you might think, until the captain came over the loudspeaker again.
This time, instead of praising the perfect weather, he told us a story about how people once lived along these shores.
He began talking about traditional Scottish blackhouses.
People and animals once lived under the same roof. The family occupied one part of the house, while the livestock lived in another. In the Scottish climate, this arrangement had at least one practical advantage: the animals contributed their share of warmth to the house.
There was deliberately no chimney either. Smoke from the peat fire slowly found its way out through the thatched or turf roof, helping to preserve it and keep insects away. When the soot-soaked thatch was eventually replaced, it ended up on the fields as fertiliser.
A kind of cycle in which almost everything had another use afterwards.
Of course, you no longer see these houses here today. In their place are much more comfortable homes, with the occasional rather impressive villa among them.
Between Mountains and Fish Farms
The captain picked up speed.
Valleys drifted past us, with streams flowing down into the loch, while for a few minutes we simply enjoyed the views.
Hills surround you throughout the cruise, giving you that unmistakable feeling of sailing across a loch in the heart of the Scottish Highlands. The yellow gorse along the shore contrasted beautifully with the brown hillsides and the blue water of the loch.
The captain only slowed down when we reached a salmon farm.
An industry worth well over a billion pounds a year.
Not far away, we spotted a shellfish farm, before heading towards one of the highlights of the trip.
Seal Island
Common and grey seals are said to gather on the rocks here, coming out of the water to rest. At least, that’s how it’s supposed to be.
We saw rocks.
Just rocks.
Not a single seal.
The captain explained that one of the nearby residents had apparently been chasing them away because they bothered him. If I’m completely honest, it also sounded like a rather convenient excuse for those days when the seals simply fail to show up.
But anyway.
I wasn’t particularly disappointed. Wherever you looked, there was another view opening up in front of you, and the cruise on Loch Linnhe alone was worth the trip.
Nia, however, wasn’t entirely convinced by that explanation.
Of everything we were supposed to see on the cruise, the seals were what she had been looking forward to most. Mountains, salmon, shellfish and the Scottish scenery weren’t exactly an adequate substitute.
It took us quite a while to cheer her up.
Nature doesn’t follow a timetable.
When Ben Nevis Becomes an Elephant
We were slowly making our way back towards Fort William when the captain came over the loudspeaker one last time.
He told us to take another good look at Ben Nevis.
“What does that shape remind you of?”
I looked towards the mountains.
had no idea. What was it supposed to remind me of?
Then he told us.
An elephant.
And at that moment, we all saw it. The head, the back and the trunk. What had been nothing more than the outline of the Scottish mountains just a few seconds earlier suddenly became a giant elephant.
And that was it.
From then on, all you could see was the elephant.
A rather nice final touch to a cruise that may not have delivered the promised seals, but had given us plenty of other things to see.
Once we stepped back onto dry land, nature quickly made way for a much more everyday problem.
We were hungry.
So we headed along the High Street, looking for somewhere to eat.
154 Kilometres Later
After lunch, we took another short walk around Fort William and sat down on a bench beside a bronze figure we had passed several times over the past few days without paying much attention to him.
This time, we had time to spare, so I actually stopped to read the plaque beside him.
The statue is called Sore Feet and marks the end of the 154-kilometre West Highland Way, which begins near Glasgow.
Just then, two hikers were approaching it. Backpacks, hiking boots, looking a little tired. When they sat down beside the bronze figure, the expressions on their faces could easily have illustrated the dictionary definition of happiness.
With full stomachs, we couldn’t really compete with that, so we continued up the street and stopped at the next statue.
This one was different. He didn’t have sore feet. He was sitting in a car.
And, of course, there’s a story behind that too.
The statue commemorates a rather unusual feat from the beginning of the last century, when a Ford Model T was driven up Ben Nevis. The kind of car you’re most likely to see today in old black-and-white footage.
It took them several days, but in the end, they made it.
154 kilometres on foot or driving a car up Ben Nevis. Quite a choice.
We went for a third option and headed to the museum just a few metres away.
Along a mostly flat route.
Slovenians Clearly Don’t Come Here Very Often
As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by two ladies looking after the museum, and almost immediately came a question we had become quite used to on this trip.
“Where are you from?”
When we told them we were from Slovenia, one of them said they didn’t get many Slovenian visitors. She had, however, visited Slovenia twice herself and absolutely loved it.
Naturally, we returned the compliment. We were slowly falling for Scotland too.
Then we set off to explore the museum.
The West Highland Museum is small and very much a classic local museum. Weapons, old photographs, objects from everyday life, traditional Scottish clothing, and a substantial section devoted to the Jacobites and Bonnie Prince Charlie.
In other words, those who wanted to put a Scot back on the British throne.
Nothing that would make me add Fort William to an itinerary just for the museum. But if you’re already here, have some time to spare, are interested in the area’s history, or simply don’t know what else to do with yourself, it’s worth a look.
One Last Evening in Fort William
The afternoon was slowly drawing to a close.
Considering we were already in the very heart of Scotland, it somehow seemed only right to step off the High Street and onto the terrace of one of the local pubs.
And for me to finally have a proper Scottish whisky.
Loch Linnhe stretched out in front of us, with the sun slowly sinking behind the hill beyond it. That very morning, we had been out there on the water, looking for seals that had refused to show themselves.
By now, nobody was looking for them anymore.
And so, over a glass of whisky, we slowly brought the day to a close…
All that remained was one last night and our farewell to Fort William. The next morning, we had a several-hour train journey to Glasgow ahead of us along the famous West Highland Line, one of Scotland’s most scenic railway routes.
But that’s a story for the next day.
