Day 10, Saturday: Earlier in the week, Les had mentioned that if I left the curtains open at night, I was likely to see deer in the back yard some morning during my stay. On Saturday while I was still lying in bed, I noticed a deer make its way across the upper portion of the back yard and in to Les' yard next door. I grabbed my camera and got a few poor shots before it disappeared from my view, then was rewarded when a little while later it returned and came down to the lower section.

Later I decided to walk up the Corrieyairick Pass. While I was passing through the village on the way out, Les happened by and offered to see if he could get me in to St. Benedict's Abbey for some photos. The last of the monks moved out of the abbey several years ago, and it is now in the process of being turned into private housing (I guess the plans for turning it into a tourist attraction have been abandoned). Les has a friend who is helping with the construction work, so we went by to see if his friend might be able to give us access. Unfortunately his friend wasn't there, so I settled for a few photos of the exterior from the side and back.

After leaving the abbey grounds, I continued along the road running around the bottom of Loch Ness, then walked up towards Ardachy. Eventually I came to Wade's Road, the 18th century route through the Corrieyairick Pass between Fort Augustus and Laggan, built to allow easier tropp movements between Fort William and Fort Augustus. I walked up this road a few miles for some beautiful views over the valley, village and loch.