Christmas in Fort William away from the four walls of the flat in Innellan

Whilst heading down to London we received an email that sparked an instant response. An offer came in from a hotel in Fort William with last a minute Christmas break. Four nights for £225 each. All food and entertainment, plus lots of extras. Too good to miss, especially as the alternative was a Christmas in the flat. So, on Saturday 23^rd we headed North to fort William in heavy rain. In fact, it was horrendous, torrential rain forming floods across the road. Hitting these pools of water instantly blinded you as it was thrown over the top of the car blinding you. Frightening.

Eventually get to the hotel and check in and have our arrival drink and mince pies.

Then it’s a quick drive into Town for a few essentials, as you do. Playing cards, chocolate, sweeties and some flavoured water, its so much better than normal tap water. Especially as they say that carbonated water isn’t good for you. But the roads were now totally under feet of water, and it was getting even worse. At, one point l was fearing we would have to drive a 60 mile circle, just to get back to the hotel.

The following morning, Christmas eve the roads were still under water, so we opted for a drive over the hills towards Gairlochy and Spean Bridge. But even these high roads were flooded in places and the section that dropped down to the river was very scary. The banks looked as if they were going to overflow any minute. We were glad to get back to the hotel for a calming dram and a glass or two of wine prior to dinner.

Oyster Catchers looking for a feed

Christmas morning was totally different, it was really cold, but it had stopped raining and the sun was trying to creep out. So, after a late breakfast we opted for a short walk on the towpath alongside the Caledonian Canal. The views of the mountains were excellent, but only for a while until the clouds covered them.

On boxing day after the plethora of food and drink of Christmas day we decided to walk up the hill to the old iron age fort. A 10k 3.5 hour walk, with great views of Ben Nevis and the surrounding mountains.

as it was cold we were all wrapped up to try and keep warm 

The Ben Nevis range continued to be in and out of cloud

My shadow in part of the Iron Age fort. Unfortunately it was too icy for Judith to climb up the final assent to the fort. But the views were magnificent
 

Some of the paths on the assent to Ben Nevis

Zig zagging up the normal route to Ben Nevis