Fort William
Arrived around lunch time and really could have entered the lock to the CC but figured we should wait until tomorrow and get our money’s worth of our licence by going in first thing in the morning and getting a full day (as it isn’t cheap) and we were going to buy a 6 day licence. Therefore Fort William became our last stop before entering the CC and we also wanted to fill up with gas for the stove and some fresh meat as we don’t expect much in the way of supplies until we get through to Inverness at the other end. A gentleman from the local yacht club was kind enough to drive us to the service station to get gas as it was quite some distance from town, and on his way home, then he even returned us to the dingy which was nice as we were preparing to walk back.
Nothing spectacular about the town itself but it is situated at the bottom of the very impressive Mount Ben Nevis and if the views looking up are anything to go by the view from the top must be mind blowing! Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the United Kingdom standing at 1,345 meters above sea level (4,411 feet). There is a cliff face of some 700 meters tall and is very popular with rock climbers. The summit of the mountain is a collapsed dome of an ancient volcano and houses a disused observatory which was staffed from 1883-1904 collecting meteorological data. Each September Fort William hosts the annual Ben Nevis Race limited to 500 competitors (all of whom needed to have qualified via other mountain races), runners must carry waterproofs, hat, gloves and a whistle and then off they go racing to the top and back (14 kilometres). The current record is 1:25:34! Phew!! Sorry but I didn’t get a good picture of it.
Red Roo 
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