Glasgow to Inverness

On Friday, we made the journey from Glasgow up to Inverness.  As we headed north of Loch Lomond, the real Highlands begin with beautiful peaks and glens all the way to Fort William.


Glencoe is simply gorgeous, made even more so by a beautiful day!


A panorama shot of the Three Sisters of Glencoe.  Just south of here is where the famous Glencoe massacre took place, where Campbell troops that had accepted days worth of hospitality from the clan of the Glencoe MacDonalds, then turned around on orders and slaughtered many in their sleep.  Many fled and survived (though many did not survive the cold and snow on that January night).  Now, the area is well known for it's mountaineering and I must admit that I would have loved to go "hill walking" here!


On one of our small stops along the way, we stopped at this Commando Memorial.  It sits in a beautiful location with the "Munroes" (peaks over 3,000' elevation in Scotland) all around.  It was moving to see all the tributes to fallen soldiers, both from the distant past as well as those who have lost their lives more recently in the worlds combat zones.


At Fort Augustus, we arrived at the locks just as they were taking a sailboat through!  The water level drops well over 100 feet between Loch Lochy and the Moray Firth.


I loved watching the water levels change as the locks open and close!  What a feat of engineering!


The Caledonian Canal connects the lochs to make boat travel all the way from the Firth of Lorne on the west side of Scotland through Loch Linnhe,  Loch Lochy and Loch Ness to the Moray Firth on the East coast of Scotland.


Also located in Fort Augustus is this monumental tribute to Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee  in 1897!


As we arrived in Inverness, we passed the the Caledonian Canal as it arrived at the Moray Firth.  Looks like lovely place to be sailing!