ACTIVE OUTDOORS: Putting in the miles on the Great Glen Way
I’ve been putting in some serious miles in the running shoes recently, as I prepare for the Loch Ness 24 later in August.
The endurance event at Aldourie near Dores involves running as many four-mile laps in 24 hours as you can, either solo, in pairs or larger teams.
Meg and I are running it as a mixed pairs team, while juggling looking after the children when we’re on our “rest” laps – which should be interesting!
We’ve tried the format from the house on an eight-hour training session recently, tag-teaming each other as we tried to fit in as many laps of a similar length circuit as we could.
It’s hard to judge how comparable it is, but we managed to complete six laps each – which adds up to 24 miles each. It didn’t feel like we’d almost run a marathon, but it was certainly getting harder and harder to go again each time the other person returned. Another 16 hours of that while camping is not going to be easy.
In the meantime, we also managed to fit in one of our favourite off-road routes – again while juggling childcare.
While Meg was in Drumnadrochit with the children, I ran down the Great Glen Way from Inverness to meet them; then we swapped, and Meg ran the route in reverse.
From Inverness, the official route actually starts at the castle, but I always go straight from the door, picking up the Great Glen Way near the King’s golf course. It heads through a play park and over a residential road from there before climbing up the off-road brae known as Nurses.
It’s a popular local path that leads close to the old Craig Dunain hospital, hence the name. The route has chopped and changed over the last few years around here as new houses have been built, but you can follow the blue markers and signs which eventually lead you up past the reservoir.
If you take the older GGW route, there’s a great viewpoint over the city and out across the Moray Firth from up here.
After passing close to a pylon, the route swings left to soon join the old drove road. I love this section, which seems to go on forever but is only a few miles, in reality. The walls either side of the route are piled high with mosses and plant life, showing just how long they have been left to nature.
You can picture the cattle being herded along between the walls in the dim and distant past; now there are heavily laden long-distance walkers, mountain bikers and runners all making use of this excellent path.
It cuts through woodland at Blackfold before dropping to the minor road that leads along to Abriachan. The view ahead is pretty spectacular here too.
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There is a long stretch of road running next before you can eventually hit the trails again, taking a right turn into the woods past the eco campsite and café.
Just where you reach the road crossing before a wooden gate, there’s a free-flowing tap with drinking water – particularly handy on a hot day such as this. Next, I was heading along the track to the Abriachan Forest Trust car park, where I would have a decision to make.
The Great Glen Way used to just follow the forestry tracks around here, but an alternative high route has been signed that takes you over Carn na Leitire. It’s a bit further and involves more climbing, but I couldn’t say no to going up high.
It’s a steep climb in parts and I had to walk bits until I got up onto the moor, where a lovely path undulates along to the summit cairn. The way down continues on a twisting path that is great fun to run through the heather and young trees.
Keeping left at the first junction then right to follow the Great Glen Way signs, you come out on a wider track. Go right here and follow it until you reach the divide of the high and low routes at a sign board.
Going left here, I was back on track and had missed the relatively dull sections of the route that lead to Corryfoyness – a farmstead with a wonderful name!
Passing through a gate, you’re now on a wider vehicle track that climbs to a viewpoint – your first sight of Loch Ness for some time – before dropping to a turning circle. Here, a path continues, steeply down then up at first, before a long and fun descent – despite a few too many gates to pass through – to the loch-side.
The sting in the tail in this route is the last mile and a bit of pavement running alongside the A82. It’s pretty unpleasant after all that wonderful wilder country. I’m sure an alternative route for the Great Glen Way into Drumnadrochit could make the world of difference to the experience for all users, from near and far.
For me, it was a gentle jog now to meet the family and look after the children while Meg ran back – time for the real hard work to start!
Route details
Inverness to Drumnadrochit
Distance 20 miles / 33 km
Terrain Mixture of paths, tracks and minor roads, plus pavement alongside trunk road
Start/finish Inverness / Drumnadrochit
Map OS Landranger 26; OS Explorer 416
A run down the Great Glen Way taking in the high route over Carn na Leitire at Abriachan
Click here to see the route in OS Maps
