Day 4: Oban to Fort William

Perfect cycling weather today - cool, light winds and sunny, and crystal clear air, a welcome change from the recent grey misty murk.

Oban

McCaig's tower

Before breakfast, we cycled up to McCaig's tower, a Coliseum-like structure on a hill overlooking Oban, with great views of the natural harbour and over to Mull.  Breakfast was porridge, beans on toast and lashings of tea and coffee, total price £5.50 for two, care of JD Wetherspoon and Rishi Sunak.

We were a bit alarmed to discover that the beautiful, vertiginous descent into Oban yesterday was also our route out of town. By the time we'd ridden 4 miles we had clocked up nearly 200 metres of ascent, but it got more sensible after that.  

There's a disused railway line between Oban and Fort William and we joined that after about 7 miles - riding close to the loch shore on smooth tarmac.  NCN 78, the Caledonian Way,  goes all the way to Fort William, hopping on and off the railway line whenever someone hadn't built a house on the line or whatever.  There weren't many cafes en route, and some were closed on Mondays, so we took a very hilly detour to Port Appin, overlooking the isle of Lismore, with a restaurant that, fortunately, was fully booked. 

Beside Loch Linnhe

Arty photos

Less arty

Fortunate for us, because we remembered that we only had a few hours to do the remaining 30 miles to catch the last ferry to Fort William, or face 20 miles extra to get there. So we got a few snacks in the post office and set off in a hurry.  No more stops for attempts at arty photos.  Still on the railway line some of the time, but when we weren't, it was surprisingly hilly for a lochside route.

Castle Stalker, as in Monty Python
& The Holy Grail

The old railway line left us at about 40 miles and we had a few miles of segregated but grim cycle track, on a narrow pavement facing fast oncoming traffic.  For the last ten miles we crossed Loch Linnhe on the (free) Corran ferry, and cycled up a delightful quiet road, avoiding the main Fort William road before crossing back to Fort William on a small passenger ferry (£3 each), our bikes lashed to the top.

Corran Ferry

Fort William, with Snowdon behind.

Camusnagaul to Fort William ferry

After a surprisingly luxurious hostel in Oban, the one in Fort William is perhaps more like what you'd expect, but it's right on the High Street, so a night on the town beckons.

Total distance today: 57.5 miles with 834m of ascent