There was no rain during the night but the wind began to increase from the north. This was good for me as this is my last night and it gave the tent a chance to dry out a bit before I packed it away. As my train was due to leave at 07:42am I went for an earlier start to make sure I was able to make the last couple of miles in good time.

Last camp by the Caledonian Canal

The Caledonian Canal

I packed up and cycled down the path at the side of the flight of locks, which are called Neptune’s Staircase, and join the main A830 at the bottom. It was still only 6am so there was nobody about. I saw a few cars on the main road but arriving in Fort William I was almost on my own.

At the Railway Station all the doors were locked as the first train is presumably not due for ages. As I cycled round town to kill time it began to rain. There was a Tesco shop but it didn’t open till 7am. By the time it opened the rain was coming down quite heavily so I took my time inside. Back at the railway station things were starting to come to life and several walkers and rucksacks were in the waiting area. There was a Malliag train already in but I had to wait a bit longer for my train to arrive.

A deserted Fort William

Fort William station

It came in about 07:25 and I was the only one with a bike to get on. It was the same system of hanging the bike up by the back wheel as I’d used at Glasgow Queen Street. We left on time in rain that was getting heavier. Somewhere around Tulloch Station we stopped. It turned out a small tree or large branch had fallen across the line. One of the crew and driver got out and armed with a saw soon had the obstruction cut in two and pushed down the embankment.