Loch Ness sunset leaves us racing the darkness at Dores
It’s easy to get caught out at this time of year. The clocks have just gone back, and the darkness descends apace almost before you’ve noticed.
So, the bike lights are charged up, the head torch is in the rucksack at the ready for those long days hiking, but there are always those times when you’re not quite prepared.
This was one of those times. After a slow morning and a late lunch, we meandered down to Dores for a quick visit to Loch Ness while we had visitors staying with us.
The wind was whipping up the Great Glen, waves pounding on the pebble beach and we were dressed for the deep cold of winter that the wind chill felt like it was delivering. Standing around at the play park, the adults at least were in need of warming up.
So, much to the protestation of most of the five children in our midst, we headed into the woods for some shelter – along the path behind the beach.
What started out as an innocent stroll to get out of the wind ended up as this exciting walk through the woods as the daylight quickly disappeared.
Just before the end of the beach, we cut onto the stones to follow a route into the woods along the shore – the same route as we’d followed during the Loch Ness 24 event this summer.
With every root, rock and tree etched into the memory from the long laps through the night, Meg and I relived our experiences. By the time we’d done the little climb up to meet the main path, I think we’d convinced Peter and Katie to join us in next year’s event!
We turned left and followed the path north of Tor Point and then north-east towards Aldourie Pier, passing through these beautiful pine woods that are so familiar to us.
“I bet you take all this for granted,” Peter suggested to me. To some extent, he’s right. Living so close to places like this makes it easy to dismiss these familiar routes, but people travel from around the world to see Loch Ness and enjoy walks like this.
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The children were playing games, while we caught up and reminisced about old times, as well as planning our next adventures; Peter is part of my “quad” team for January’s Strathpuffer mountain bike endurance event, so we’d already been up to Contin to do a couple of laps of the course during his stay.
This was an easier paced outing, and we diverted off the path to get a close look at the loch where it overlooks Lochend and the steep slopes opposite Aldourie Castle.
Changes are afoot at Dores after the billionaire owner of the castle, Anders Holch Povlsen’s company WildLand, bought the Dores Inn. They plan to close the pub for two years while it is refurbished, so it will be interesting to see what the details are and how they might affect the area here.
After enjoying a bit of time by the water’s edge, we realised the light was starting to fade. We weighed up the options, but decided it wasn’t that much further to keep going and complete the circuit of the woods (looking at the map now, it turns out it was a wee bit further…).
We passed through a gate to reach Aldourie Pier and then immediately after a concrete storage unit on the right, we turned right up what Meg has renamed the “Kate Bush hill”. The name comes from the Loch Ness 24, when the marshals for this area had placed motivational signs all the way along this stretch – including the Kate Bush song title, “Running Up That Hill”.
I did run it for half of my laps during the event, but a slow plod was enough for today, while encouraging the youngsters to run!
At the top we got a glimpse of the setting sun turning the sky red through the trees. It was time to step up the pace, as none of us had packed a torch, not thinking we were going for one of my usual long walks.
We turned right and marched along the track to an inconspicuous crossroads of paths and tracks. Going left here, the path is a bit vague under the heavy bed of fallen leaves, but it bends round towards the edge of a field then round to the right to drop back towards the loch.
Watch out for the massive roots that you have to hop over, which are not so easy to spot in the darkness. We made our way carefully down, then cut left at the corner of another field, passing a rope swing (which the kids didn’t even see it was so dark!) to reach the gate leading out to the path behind the beach.
The sky was glowing crimson behind a few looming dark clouds, making for a spectacular sight as we made our way back along the path to the road at Dores, where the streetlights made it a simple pavement plod back to the car park at the church.
Route details
Dores loop
Distance 3.5 miles / 5.5 km
Terrain Woodland paths with some big roots, steep slopes and short section of pebbly beach
Start/finish Dores beach car park
Map OS Landranger 26; OS Explorer 416
A late afternoon woodland walk through the woodland at Dores on the edge of Loch Ness
Click here to see the route in OS Maps
