A little overdue, but continuing with my urge for annual multi-day walks... we finally got around to the West Highland Way! As ever, we would be camping and carrying everything and had a vague plan, as usual - not too detailed due to enjoying flexibility, due to not really knowing what we would find, and due to knowing that this has served me well in the past. This is also the primary reason that I'm terrified of the idea of booking a long walk abroad - scary to be tied down to a pre-defined itinerary!
However, we did have a regular deadline due to Ana having limited holiday days left (as in, minus one after these five days).
It's a little weird how little I know of Scotland firsthand, excluding the endless map and online photo knowledge - my actual time spent there is pretty, sadly, minimal. With just a handful of Munros, a mixed bag of attempts at snowboarding and going to the Fringe once... it's actually quite far away and expensive. To the extent that somehow even Ben Nevis had never been done - so that was an easy and obvious addition to this plan.
Throughout this trip, the timings both daily and overall were entirely based on the weather and the joint efforts of the Met Office, Norwegian forecasters, MWIS and myself to make sure that Ana remained dry - as we have learnt from previous experiences that Gremlins do exist in real life and it's just not worth the watery risk. Hello Scotland.
As such, it was only two days beforehand and with a beautiful forecast for a couple of days, that I tentatively broached the idea of doing this in reverse too (once again, the joys of planning bugger all in advance!). She didn't disagree, so off we went. Ana had done Ben Nevis before, via the CMD Arete, but had been clouded out on top, so hadn't got the views... which I think worked in my favour in flipping this trip around... do the mountains and views section in a heatwave and deal with the rest later. Anyhow, drive up to Milngavie, catch a train back to Glasgow, an Ember coach up to Fort William and walk back to the car over the following week. The coach ride, delayed by endless traffic, was kinda a nice little preview of the entire trip too - with endless (rubbish) photos taken excitedly through the tinted windows all the way up.
It's a bit difficult to say how many days we did the walk in, as in total, with travelling and an additional day doing Ben Nevis it was 8 days... but that was somewhat broken up and not a reflection of daily distances actually on the walk. So here's what we ended up with:
- York - Glen Nevis (via Milngavie, Glasgow & Fort William)
- Glen Nevis - Glen Nevis (via Ben Nevis)
- Glen Nevis - Kinlochleven
- Kinlochleven - Glencoe Mountain Resort
- Glencoe Mountain Resort - Tyndrum
- Tyndrum - Inversnaid
- Inversnaid - Drymen
- Drymen - Milngavie - York
So Day 1 included doing the travel, seen above, followed by the all important snaps at the end/start point (just as a big group finished, and thought we were weird, and Ana being thoroughly confused also with the plan and direction in which we were walking - she kept wanting to go over the finish/start line in the same direction as the finishers... thinking we were walking south). An important stop at Lidl to stock up, and found some mole that we are running out of (the proper stuff, this needed trying even if not from the Americas), but couldn't carry - photo to hope that someone could pick some up back home!
And then our camping for the next couple of days...
A nice, comfortable spot to begin - with no midges, a previously scouted bit of river access on the walk up and plenty of food options... in principle. As it turned out, it was so busy this night that they ran out of the capability to do food for half an hour, just as we got to first position in the long queue. Not great, but we lived to tell the tale after Ana tried her best at small talk with the poor guy who stood waiting, but was unable to take our order.
Along: 19km | Up: 1386m | Down: 1386m
At this point, the forecast had changed again, and whilst we still had a hot (too hot, some may argue (but I would not)) day to do Ben Nevis, the rain was coming much sooner than planned the day after. We had already paid up front for the two nights, but it did cross our mind as to whether it would be better to do just the one night, Ben Nevis it, then continue on to Kinlochleven... so we were up at 5am to set off by 6am and beat the heat on the mountain. Definitely not alone with this plan, we were kind of in amongst the front runners for going up there on this occasion.
Then a little bit of time having an explore of the summit - may as well make the most of being up here for the first time!
The reason for this stupidly zoomed photo of Schiehallion is that, as with Ben Lomond... it looks so beautifully pointy from some angles. It turns out, that's how I choose my hills to walk up... both done last year, and both now giving Ana a reference point for my map-mind when talking about other places we'd visited... linking it all together. Whilst taking these photos, we could hear that someone wasn't having as good a day as us, as a helicopter rescue was happening down below us (can just about make out the pixelated helicopter, below!)...
And by early afternoon, we were on our way down, enjoying a dip in this waterfall halfway down, which, weirdly, nobody else was taking advantage of - except for some young lads extorting money from tourists with expensive water-cooled Coke cans. We also had the usual eventfulness of Ana being (overly) surefooted and partaking in the most ridiculously slow-motion, multi-sectional fall... ending up looking like a spider scrabbling/tumbling face-first down the path, nearly right into the back of a guy in front of us, stood unaware on the edge of the path until he turned around to see a crumpled lady behind him. She was very impressively bruised, but once again managed to stop short of anyone falling off a mountain.
Then, upon surviving the rest of the descent and with Ana suffering from the heat and crazily seeking shelter from the sun in a closed-up (due to bugs) tent, I once again lured her out to the river for a further bit of afternoon cooling - way more effective than a tent! We had, by now, decided to stick to the original plan - meaning a nice, relaxed evening followed by another early start the next day to beat the incoming rain. Not all went entirely to plan, though, as I did manage to get stung inside my mouth by a wasp hiding in my drink... other than that, a lovely evening watching the football in the sun, where the wifi was.
Along: 23km | Up: 528m | Down: 539m
As planned, another very early 5am start to be off on our way by about 6... with the rain expected to arrive anytime from late morning onwards this at least gave us a chance of being most of the way there before getting soaked! It's a relatively pleasant distance to start the walk proper, and after the first, steep climb up and out of Glen Nevis, past this lone tree, it's a really rather gentle walk on a good path.
Due to wanting to get a move on, there were not really many photo stops for the first section of today... but I did take a wee detour to this little waterfall...
And then on we plodded towards this next photo... just before the half way point, when the first showery parts of the weather system arrived and I went running down the path to find a nice foreground for this little multicoloured treat!..
It was soon after this that we put our coats on for the first time. Miraculously, also the only time in the entire trip that they were needed for any rain... Although also miraculously, despite the sky suggesting otherwise, it managed to not piss down (yet). It was certainly stormy and windy and damp - but largely wet at a rate at which you dried off at equal speed... but certainly tough going as we headed on what felt like a very long slog up the valley and into the wind for the next couple of hours....
Finally, we came to the head of the valley and it opened out above Kinlochleven to these spectacular views. We could now see from both the radar and the surrounding mountains that the forecasted torrential rain was now only a single valley away - but that didn't stop us from at least taking a little while to enjoy this spot, knowing that we would soon be done for the day. Also useful, as ever, to spot some new shapely mountains to try to get up in the future too!...
But we did still have something else to be outside for afterwards, knowing that the Grey Mare's Tail waterfall is just a few hundred yards outside of the village, it would have been remiss of us not to visit it... although I did know that access up to the very bottom of it was a wee bit tricky (not to enough to stop Ana). This is where, as would be the case from this point onwards too, we realised how lucky we had been in Glen Nevis with the midges - they appeared with a vengeance here and even for me it was unbearable. Hence Ana's tent airlock and multiple nets! A bonus of this camping spot though, was a Co-op and access to a microwave!... so we made the most of a cheap meal by getting on-sale ready meals and braving 5 minutes of being eaten alive to access the microwave before running away to hide, and eat, in the tent.
Along: 23km | Up: 944m | Down 613m
This day dawned beautiful and sunny, again, but also again, we knew that it may or may not remain that way indefinitely. This day also involved by far the biggest ascent of the walk, up and out of Kinlochleven - something that is never mentioned by people doing it the normal way round - followed by the most hugely underwhelmingly named 'Devil's Staircase' which is no more than a few hundred yards of winding, gentle downhill (for us).
In many ways, have you ever seen a more perfect woman? Eating sweaty, unrefrigerated cheese for breakfast whilst tolerating being eaten alive and being dragged on yet another long walk?
But at the same time, the most impressive thing is the forethought to get the cheese inside the net. Something I continually failed to remember, especially with morning snacks... pre-brain kicking in and still distracted by de-tenting.
Anyhow... onto the very beautiful climb out of Kinlochleven. It's very much one big slog, and again, I don't say this for any showing off purposes (it is what I spend every day walking for)... but I just loved it. A morning of your legs feeling good, lungs feeling huge, weight feeling small and optimism high. For me, I could do this kinda uphill forever. I just could do without the horseflies making an appearance. They're my nemesis in the way the midges are to Ana... and they can get you through leggings.
And then a (sadly) exciting moment for me! After racing, again, the bad weather, we made it to these famous views whilst we could still see them. I've been past these places only a handful of times - almost always with no visibility... so it was certainly a highlight to see such a photographed spot with my own eyes for once.
Please excuse the mental hair and wind-based fat coat.
At this point, stopping for a snack, Ana decided to do something that both she and, later, I would come to regret. This was a really short day of walking and I already had one detour planned later on, but she suggested that I check any nearby summits (it's what we normally check for... Hewitts whilst doing Wainwrights). I did turn down my long-wanted visit to Beinn a' Chrulaiste and said we could do the very nearby Stob Mhic Mhartuin - just a 1km detour and 200m of climb... for some wonderful views down Glencoe. She immediately regretted this. Apparently, her suggestion was about any lists I wanted to tick off, not random views... but that was too late now. It was worth it. Some bonus views of a distant Ben Nevis too.
Next up (or down) - the Devil's Staircase. I know there's a history behind the name, from 18th-century soldiers through to the deaths of drunken workers a hundred-odd years later... but it really does seem misleading in terms of the gentle nature of this section... so... down towards Rannoch Moor and some excellent opportunities to tell this woman 'you should smile more'. She loves those words.
And then comes my long-planned detour for the day - it would be entirely wrong to be in this area and not visit the famous waterfalls. Of course, in the midst of the driest summer on record (although I'm not entirely sure that's true of Scotland?), it was always going to be doubtful that they'd be impressive - but worth a look nonetheless. We arrived and there was only a trickle in the nearest, popular viewpoint, but after a bit of exploring we found a few more watery sections!.. and I ended up quite pleased with the view I found through the trees. Small success from a difficultly dry spot!
Finally, the last few km, back uphill from the waterfalls and onto the main route to get to Glencoe Mountain Resort for the evening, via a quick snap of Black Rock Cottage (I had no idea that it was just by the road to the resort). Once again, we arrived and got our tent up in clouds of midges exactly in time for the rain to arrive. So, despite having the best of intentions to cook our own food again... we found ourselves taking advantage of the restaurant and bar for a few hours... something which ended up becoming a recurring theme of the trip. Little did we know at this point, but we would end up carrying our cooking equipment the whole way without using it once! Expensive, but good to have some treats each day and avoid the insects.
After emerging from our meal, the rain had passed and Ana headed straight for the tent... but I got all wrapped up and enjoyed an unexpected and beautiful evening (still being eaten alive).
Along: 29km | Up: 433m | Down: 573m
Waking up to such a beautiful morning was very lovely as, for once, today there was no rain on the cards at all... so nothing at all to rush for! I also realised that I was accidentally the most colour coordinated that I've ever been, and probably ever will be...
We had a lovely couple of hours walking across Rannoch Moor in the sun, although we were still never able to stop moving due to the midges and horseflies - the only downside to such a calm, dry morning. We had a quick breakfast/snack stop a short way in, but had to keep walking in loops even then - probably looking rather mental - whilst eating, just to avoid the bugs. 10km later, on the forested downhill towards Loch Tulla we finally (and weirdly, considering it was quiet and sheltered) realised we'd lost the bugs and, at last, got to have a 20 minute sit on the path... and a chance for Ana to sort out some blisters.
This whole day seemed to fly by, on good paths throughout, with this next section being no exception... Ana grabbed a quick coffee from the hotel at Inveroran, and we were soon doing the middle climb of the day, up, over and down to the Bridge of Orchy... where we also just continued on past without stopping, as most others seem to.
A lot of the next section runs parallel to both the road (that we'd got the bus up on) and the train track - so we'd already seen a lot of this a few days earlier and, as before, it just felt like an excellent walk and bit of landscape to make really good progress on. The views were big and distant, not changing all that often to provide distractions - just a beautiful background to some smooth walking.
There were certainly a lot more signs of civilisation along this stretch... with a nice snapshot of all the different levels of industrialisation in one view at one point. But also, some interesting views as you criss-cross the railway - very reminiscent of Lose Hill from Hope Station down in the Peak...
After nagging Ana some more to take a break, for her own sake, to deal with blisters which she likes to complain about but never seems to realise will only make her life worse by plodding on without dealing with... we arrived in Tyndrum still nice and early and then spent about an hour in The Green Welly Stop - a marvellous and misleadingly large shop/cafe/restaurant/petrol station/etc... that I was previously unaware of, but is certainly popular and well known. Firstly, I was cornered by the most lovely, chatty salesman in the whisky section (for at least 20 minutes) before I escaped to find Ana who actually did want to look at the whisky, where we proceeded to lose another 20 minutes of our lives... although we were repaid in tasters!.. and Ana did get a small but very pricey one off whisky that's only sold there - to celebrate with at the end.
Finally, a bit of complaint - we made our way to the Ben Lui restaurant in Tyndrum, where we ended up waiting a full hour for our food. It wasn't busy - it turns out that they had simply forgotten our order. Not great, Ana fuming, but also manning up and chasing after them about it... more awkward fun. Eventually, we got our food, we were bloody starving and angry at that point... but at least it was good... and then on to our Tyndrum Holiday Park and a camp spot down by the river for a peaceful evening...
Along: 32km | Up: 570m | Down: 570m
Waking up, it was another beautiful morning, but with a long day ahead, and one in which (as was becoming routine) was a race against an incoming band of rain. We were up at about 7am and on our way by 8, to give us roughly 6 hours of guaranteed dry walking before the wetness arrived... and also early enough to enjoy some beautiful whisps of low cloud and mist to begin the day. It was on this stretch that we also came across quite an unusual sight... a group of young men doing the walk carrying huge metal weights. It was only a few days later that I saw on the WHW Facebook Group that they were from a rugby club and were attempting to do the walk with that additional difficulty for charity. It didn't look fun. But also, I think we caught them just in time, as I believe they gave up on the weights soon after. A shame, but can't blame them. I also got my first ever "howdy" from a real life American. I think it's because I said "ow do" and he misheard me, but what a treat.
Despite the long distance to cover on this day, the good paths and quite steady (overall) downhill nature of the walk meant that it was another quick one... for at least the first half. We soon found ourselves rounding the bend above Crianlarich and pottering down Glen Falloch, with various views of bits of waterfalls but not a good view of the main ones...
Ana was starting to feel it again along the next stretch, but once again, an enforced snack and drinks break (as she is so terrible at keeping her own energy levels up) meant we made it to Beinglas - where I had planned to pick up something for my dinner. Turns out, the place most people go is across the river, which I didn't know, so I ended up having the fanciest pub food/walking lunch that I've ever had from the restaurant on our side... before going on another waterfall-based bonus adventure. Leaving Ana (and my bag) sat in the sun, I went to climb up and have a closer look at the enormous Beinglas Waterfall. It doesn't look far on the map, but the path actually climbs 200m at 35% gradient, winding through thick undergrowth, often with thorns, and rocks... making it (by a considerable margin) the most challenging section of my entire walk. Upon reaching the top - it is clear that the best views are from far below and across the valley... but still a worthy exploration until bashing my arse on a rock on the way down.
From the start of today, we repeatedly got told and were well aware of the fact that the last section gets trickier... and so from here on, we were ready and waiting for this tricky/slow section along the edge of Loch Lomond. Probably due to the anticipation, it made the small ups and downs along the next couple of hours seem to take an age... waiting for where it gets interesting, but then - a special treat for the North-South people - this view just suddenly smacks you in the face.
And eventually we made it to the difficult/slow/horrible section! In the moment, we were greatly undewhelmed and somewhat bemused by what everyone coming the other way had said to us earlier in the day, and what the internet had told me beforehand. I don't like diminishing people's difficulties, being someone who continually tries to get over a fear of heights, but ehhhhhh?!? Even some young lads (teenagers/20's) coming the other way were asking us when it was over... maybe I just take for granted a riverside wander along rocks through Billy Banks Wood in Richmond... but this is just a normal bit of waterside wandering.
The rain did arrive for the last couple of hours, but thankfully at a level where it was not worthy of coats, as the sweat would overcome the natural drying in the air... and I think we both agreed that this section really wasn't bad, or particularly slow, at all. If anything, it was a nice distraction to have to keep an eye on your footwork rather than an endless slog on good paths when getting towards the end of a 20-mile day. I should, however, add that Ana did trip (because that's what she casually, carelessly, confidently always does) and nearly fall into Loch Lomond... something that a few days later, a few people did need Mountain Rescue for... but, I d'no. A wee bit of care and it's a beautiful lakeside walk... slightly rushed by rain.
Despite only booking it at the last minute, as we never really knew where we would end up each day... I got a nice text from Inversnaid Bunkhouse telling us to give them a call when we had reached Inversnaid Hotel because they would come and pick us up and give us a lift up the hill (for those who don't know the way, this is an additional bit just to stay, not cheating). We took advantage of this and, after a 5 minute wait in the still pouring rain... we were whisked away up to our camping spot for thr night... unfortunately... very, very full of midges.
It was still the most beautiful place to stay, though, great facilities, even for the campers... really friendly owners and staff... and great food. I'll let the photos demonstrate this, but it was lovely that they let me sit, alone, late into the night, watching the women's Euros as England eventually won on penalties whilst they closed up the bar. We also spent a small fortune here... they earnt it...
Along: 33km | Up: 884m | Down: 859m
It's odd how a day can feel so flat when given the actual numbers; it clearly involved a fair few small ups and downs to add up to 884m of ascent, but that's a surprise to me. It should go without saying, though, that this is generally a boring, lowland day that really makes you feel every long, slow mile. We woke up and had to wait an hour or so in the tent, as it was still pissing down, before setting off from the Bunkhouse to walk back down to the actual route via some very small, overgrown and soaking wet paths and bushes... something I was keen to do in order to see Inversnaid upper falls... which were huge after the rain and well worth the visit.
The first section along Loch Lomond follows on from where it left off the day before, slightly tricky in places and with plenty of flooded streams to step across... so we had decided very early on to take the high road when the opportunity came to avoid more slowness. This decision, as always with us, was based on wanting to push on as far as we could to shorten the final day, which was forecast to be torrential rain from midday onwards. So, get as far as we could today and finish the final day as quickly as possible. It turns out, the high road was actually quite pretty - not what I'd imagined from the normal boredom of forestry tracks... even including occasional views across the loch to The Cobbler.
The high road and the low road join back up again just before Rowardennan, somewhere we knew from a previous walk up Ben Lomond and a place we knew we would make a good stop for a lunch break - with one of the best honesty boxes we've ever come across. As ever with me, sitting by the loch with my sandwich was never going to end without having a swim. I tried not to get lured in, but y'know... swim happens.
Anyhow... on we go... lots and lots of tedious flatness... with some pleasant greenery.
With a special thanks to Cashel campsite at this point for their shop selling small cheeses as snacks for 60p. Couldn't resist after a few days without a cheddar. Plus, these delicious Gold bars that I have never, ever seen in England...
Continuing on, we eventually reached more lochside views and (AT LAST) Ana was herself tempted to take the weight off for a bit, stop rushing to the end and tentatively get into the water... with my advance help to find those ever-elusive and mystifying warm spots.
Throughout the day, we hadn't been sure how far we'd get, with Drymen campsite being one option - but quite far. We knew we could get there, but quite late, and after messaging them, were told that they strictly don't accept anyone after 8 pm (which seems a bit odd on such a busy trail). Instead, we decided to wildcamp in the hills just before Drymen, so our swim was followed up with a stop off in Balmaha to have a slightly early evening meal and pick up some camping beers (our first night not near a pub!)... which we would have to lug up Conic Hill.
On to the last interesting thing of the entire walk!.. the climb up Conic Hill and the magnificent views across the bottom of Loch Lomond.
Despite reading loads of times, people asking if you actually have to include Conic Hill whilst doing the walk... it had always seemed nuts as I couldn't imagine any other reasonable detour, from the maps. Little did I know that, on very close inspection, the route does actually skip by the last steep climb to the summit and you do not, in fact, have to include it. What I can't imagine, however, is what sort of human (usually fresh and near the start of their walk) would look up at this and think 'nah, not for me', or even ask the question. Insanity. So I went up the front face of the hill as a bit of a bonus scramble (very surprisingly steep and scrambly) as I'd seen some nice patches of heather - before meeting Ana again, who took the path to the top around the back.
And then we ended the day choosing one of the many designated camping spots up in the woodland above Drymen, conscious of getting as far as possible but also aware that it was a weekend and quite a few were already taken. We ended up with a nice one just by the track with some distant views across the hills.
Along: 24km | Up: 182m | Down: 291m
Let's just start with some crazy Scottish pronunciation for this section - I almost can't bring myself to pronounce these places as 'Drimmen' and 'Milnguy'. It's like trying to force me to say 'croissant' without awkwardness - nope.
As mentioned before, we knew there was a storm coming for the afternoon, so we were up at the crack of dawn again (slightly above some clouds) and on our way before 7am to hopefully complete the walk without a single soaking. We needed a quick detour into Drymen itself for a coffee and some food, and met a wonderful lady walking her dog on the way down who chatted to us for way too long, but actually very enjoyably, about all the things that I bang on to Ana about - enjoying nature and the moments and taking it all in and all that.
After this, there really are very few photos from the day - it's just a lot of flatness and nowt to see. You know I'm getting desperate when you see me start taking photos of roadside flowers! I did say to Ana, that if we'd started the normal way around I'd have almost certainly got bored and been more than a little tempted to quit - an absolutely rubbish walk with no hint of the beauty you would have in the more northerly sections. But we knew this was the downside of going this way, still worth it for our genius forecasting and dry mountains... but this is what we were left with.
And then the end! We got there, dropped our bags on the floor and sat on a bench when two ladies approached us for a chat. Apparently, wondering if we were just starting... before, as they got closer and they looked at us properly... realising and telling us we clearly looked like we were finishing. I suppose it's a compliment that they presumed maybe I'd look clean at the start!
The end... we got into the car and as we drove out of the car park the first spots of rain landed on the windscreen. We won the week. Had we walked in the normal direction, as initially planned, we would have spent at least 4 days of this walk getting a soaking, but weather-Jesus stayed with us on this throughout. It was an evil joy every day looking at the radar and seeing how wet we could have been without the change of plan... and imagining the misery the other people must be going through in that direction.
Additional things to note from this trip:
- It turns out, on all of our long walks we've always walked in the direction of Yorkshire... quite sensibly, in my opinion... so that's something to help deciding in the future!
- Midge nets come in different qualities and mesh sizes - the proper Smidge ones are definitely better.
- Scotland is awful for collecting spoons! I couldn't find a spoon under £12 in any of the places we stopped along the way. Absolutely ridiculous, so I'm having to find a Fort William one online or something.
- Of all the walks we've done, we definitely didn't need to be carrying the cooking stuff for this one. Also, water was more plentiful than anticipated. So that was an extra few kilograms of stuff that we didn't use at all! We did, however, treat ourselves to pub food every single day - so it cost a fair bit more - but who on earth is sitting out cooking in clouds of midges?
- The car parking at the Premier Inn and donating to their charity was a great way to leave the car safe for a week - would definitely recommend that!
- I learnt that I quite like the leggings under shorts - I only had them for the bugs but was surprised at how comfy they were, and the weird cool sensation of wind on them!
- Loads of places to charge phones! That was a lovely surprise, a good amount of infrastructure.
Credits:
Mat Robinson & Ana Castro