Loch Lochy, Eas Chia-aig and The Mile Dorcha

What a day of two halves. A morning spent watching the cloud breaking over Loch Lochy, revealing the Nevis Range in its full glory, plus a visit to Eas Chia-aig waterfall and The Mile Dorcha near Loch Arkaig and then a frustrating afternoon trying to visit the beautiful Silver Sands of Morar and Arisaig.

When I left the hotel, Loch Linnhe and Fort William were shrouded in mist, but the forecast was good, so I revisited an old favourite, Eas Chia-aig near Loch Arkaig. The two lower falls of Eas Chia-aig can be viewed quite easily from the roadside, but for the more adventurous, a path climbs up through the forest to the upper falls. There wasn't too much water coming down, so I just took the easy option, parking up and walking along the road to see the lower falls.

I had an unexpected political rant with a young couple parked up in an old VW camper van, regarding the state of the country and the shower who are trying to govern it. I would hasten to add that we were all on the same side, but it felt good, albeit quite surreal, getting things off one's chest in the middle of nowhere whilst being surrounded by such beautiful scenery. You would have though politics would have been the last thing on our minds, but I think it was me asking them if they lived in their camper van permanently or were just holidaying which started it all off, as this led to the homelessness issue and progressed to the current situation in general.

After viewing the waterfall, I walked back along the road to the Mile Dorcha, or Dark Mile. This is a deeply wooded section of road in the steep-sided valley, flanked by walls and trees carrying an incredible thickness of moss. Obviously, the place sees very little sunshine and is consequently very damp, which allows the moss to take over. This area's other claim to fame is as the alleged hiding place of a consignment of gold landed by the French at Arisaig for the Jacobites in 1746. It was reportedly hidden somewhere near Loch Arkaig, but the hiding place, it is said, has never been found.

By now the sun had burnt the clouds off, so I got some fabulous photos of Loch Lochy, looking across to The Ben Nevis range of hills.

The afternoon was spent on a fruitless drive along The Road To The Isles, which runs from Fort William to Mallaig. I had wanted to visit the coastal sands which are normally very peaceful and beautiful, but I think that this year, due to the travel restrictions, everyone has flocked to the area so it was absolute chaos. The one narrow coastal road was gridlocked at one point due to inconsiderate parking.

I eventually managed to squeeze through but couldn't stop, so I headed back towards Fort William, having a short drive along the Ardnamurchan road to a small village called Glenuig where I called for a pint and sat in the beer garden adjacent to Loch Ailort.

It was a complete contrast to the earlier shenanigans, so for the foreseeable future, I think I'll leave the Morar coastline for out of season visits.