Duncraig Castle from Plockton

Our Skye holiday started with a walk en-route.  We parked in Plockton, a village we had never visited before, treated ourselves to an ice cream and started our walk.  Walk Highlands said that this is 'one of the most picturesque footpaths you'll find anywhere' so they had built it up a bit for us.  Yes, it was a nice path but I wouldn't say it was one of the most picturesque.

The railway line ran parallel with the path and it would have been good to have a train run along side us. Eventually the path brought us out at Duncraig Castle which was in a state of renovation. We passed along the front of the building to head back to join the path. It wasn't a particularly eventful walk.  Ivor met three dogs who weren't particularly friendly.  Once back in Plockton we went to the Plockton Inn for some lunch before then carrying on our journey to Glendale and to Katies Cottage.

We arrived at Katies Cottage around 3.30pm.  This is a former wee but n ben which has been modernised and insulated and when we walked in the warmth just hit us.  We have lovely views over hills and small houses with sheep wandering around on the road outside.  We chose a house that had a secure garden so thankfully Ivor (or should I say the sheep) are safe!

3.75 miles/1hr 15 mins

Fannich Estate hills

We've enjoyed such lovely weather this past week, going out running nearly every day! One of our favourite walks with Ivor is the Fannich Estate just a few miles down the road from us. It's a secure estate with a good road, Caledonian pines and lots of deer and hares for Ivor to chase! On this walk in the past (usually a four mile circuit round the road and forest track) we've admired the craggy peaks off to the North of the main estate road (Meallan Buidhe at 437m and Carne na Beiste at 518m) and had regularly talked about venturing up the sibling hills one day. Well, with the sun shining we headed off to give it a go.

As soon as we passed the cattle grid and deer-gated section to the estate, Ivor is off on his adventures scouring for something to chase. We make our way onto the smaller hill and Ivor is off like a shot, no where to be seen for a good five minutes and we think he's somehow made his way back through the fence. Just as Blair starts heading back down the hill to find him, the wee blighter decided to comes running back up! The hill itself is grassy and heathery and thankfully dry underfoot following a couple of weeks of lovely weather; I would expect that it would be quite boggy otherwise. Climbing up we looked back for the view of Loch Luichart in hazy sunshine.

We carry on up to the top of our first hill, Meallan a' Mhuthaidh Beag, and the views are just lovely. We regularly marvel at the wonderful place we live in - on days like this there is no place better! We undulate over the hill towards the second peak and then we get Loch Fannich in full splendour.

Carrying on our walk, Ivor spots a hare and literally hares off after it yelping and squealing as he goes. He is no match for the hare though and he comes back five minutes later exhausted. At the top of the second peak Ivor bounds off again, this time we are assuming it is deer again and he doesn't make his way back to us until we are nearly at the bottom of the hill.

The way down was a bit lumpy and steep in parts with some boggy sections but overall not bad and my feet weren't too wet for the 3 mile run back to the gate and to the car.


Overall we ran/walked 7 miles with height climbed 1,750ft. Not big hills but that wasn't what we were after - the views over the Fannich hills were and we weren't disappointed. We reckon with Ivor bounding off a total of four times he must have covered double the distance we did and he spent the rest of the afternoon sleeping in the sun at home.

Three Lochs circuit, South Loch Ness

Topping off my weeks holiday with a day away, escaping the rain and heading somewhere with a bit more sunshine!  After dropping off some baking to work for the cancer fundraiser, we headed off to Loch Ness for our chosen walk (not one we have done before).  The first loch to view was Loch Duntelchaig, with rugged heathery hills at the far end and farm fields at the other end (with two lovely belted galloway's).  A cow was also dipping its hooves into the water!  The first mile or so was along the single track road before heading off along a forest track which gave Ivor a good running opportunity.  The next loch was Loch Bunachton and here we navigated away from a field of cattle who were showing an unnatural interest in Ivor.

A good few miles after that we joined the single track road again, heading to Dunlichity Church, with the original building dating from 1758 and where, it is told, that soldiers sharpened their swords on the walls when heading to the battle of Culloden.  The oldest headstone I saw was 1774 but I'm sure if we stayed longer I might have seen one even older.  We stopped here for our coffee and took in the scene and Ivor enjoyed a wee treat lying on the grass.

Soon we headed off again and skirted Loch a' Chachain.  A mile or so on and we got back to the car, changed and headed to the Dores Inn for a tasty lunch.

8 miles / 2.5 hours

River Beauly and Lovat Bridge circuit

We have done this walk before but this time we had the pleasure of Ivor's company!  It was a lovely Autumn morning though still a wee bit chilly in the shade and Ivor was wearing his brand new winter coat (which soon came off when he spotted his first dog to run around with - which wasn't too long).  This walk is a dog walkers dream and Ivor found lots of wee pals to play with, especially two border collies who were equally as excited to play with him.  The three good things which go for this walk are (1) no livestock which means Ivor can run freely off the lead; (2) no main roads to worry about traffic and (3) the paths are in good condition, though that has probably been helped by the lovely dry spell we have had in the past week.

On the return leg, Ivor was exhausted having been running around with all the other dogs he met and when we got home later that afternoon (after a lunch at the Old School House in Beauly) he slept the rest of the day until bedtime!

Torachility woods and Loch Kinellan

We started the walk at Contin woods (aka Torachilty) and climbed up to a newly formed cycle track which would take us out to the top of Loch Kinellan.  Loch Kinellan is a peaceful place which has been crying out for a wee bench to sit and watch the wildlife... wait a minute.... there is now a bench!



Some thoughtful soul has created a wee memorial 'garden' including a bench in memory of a relative who died decades ago.  Very touching that they are still remembered after all these years. The bench has been sited at an angle giving the best views and on the day of the walk the sun was shining and it was warm. We stopped for our coffee as Ivor posed on top of the wall looking out for anything he could chase.

Fannich Walk

We woke to a misty morning which promised to be a lovely warm and sunny day. It was only 4 degrees when we left about 8.30am and we'll soon need to consider our hats and scarves!

We always get good views out in the Fannichs and Ivor gets a run off the lead as it's free of livestock - only the odd deer for him to chase.

Ivor disappeared a few times into the woods as he was on the scent for some poor creature and when we stopped for a flask of coffee he took off on a chase. We didn't stop for long though as the midges came out in force and we reluctantly started off again, eventually re-joining the road back to the car.

3.9 miles/1hr 25 mins

Loch na'Cran

Saturday morning and we headed off with our wee man for a walk from Rogie Falls to Loch na'Cran. There were no salmon leaping at Rogie Falls when we crossed the bridge but a photographer was already in position and waiting for that perfect shot.

We shortly joined the mountain bike trail climbing up the small hill which would eventually lead us out to the forest track to Loch na'Cran. This trail was quite wet in parts and some of the bridges had seen better days but I guess the trail doesn't get many walkers and the cyclists don't mind a rough path!


The lily pads were still floating on the Loch although many of the flowers were spent. We stopped here for our flask of coffee and then carried on the circular route back to Rogie. We soon met other walkers and a wee cross breed called Otis who loved to play chase with Ivor. We had one happy and very tired dog for the rest of the day.

4.6 miles/ 2hrs