The West Highland Way with Simon - Brian's story

Me and my walking buddy Simon

With the benefit of a few days to recover and get back to normal I thought I'd write a few things down about my and, hopefully Simon's, experience on this once in a lifetime walk. For me, it's been on my list of things I must do for the best part of 30 years. Many a time have I driven north along the A82 trunk road north of Tyndrum, at the point where the West Highland Way passes next to the road and driven over the hill and watershed to witness the wild expanse and extreme beauty of Glen Orchy stretching out to the horizon open up before me. Loch Tulla is glinting down there in the sunlight and all around are dramatic mountains that, on a wet day can look very intimidating, but always dominated by the shapely pointed peak of Beinn Dorian, looking like a pyramid keeping silent guard over this land. Its when I know I've really arrived in Scotland, this is what I came for! But in a car you can only glance as you speed on through the glen and, all too soon it's gone and we're on our way to other treasures. I often glanced too at the hikers I could see on the West Highland Way enjoying that scenery at their leisure and always envied them of that pleasure. That's been my main reason for hankering after this route for all these years, but there are many others: the stunning beauty of Glencoe, the mountain of Buachaille Etive Mor, the Devils Staircase and the wild, remote glens where a little track winds it's way through dramatic landscape so full of history you could almost smell it. It's endless, it's beautiful and, above all, to be able to spend long days in it walking from one wild place to another, to savour those views, breathe the air and live amongst it is good for the soul!

Here's a map of our route. It's our actual track taken from my phone app and shows all the backtracking we did. If you click the square (top right) to make it full screen, you can zoom in to look at various parts of it. The markers are where we stayed each night and include photos of the places we stayed

Arriving in Glasgow with Tim, who I left here

Having spent years trying to persuade Jackie that we should both do some of these multi day, long distance treks, without success, I decided I'd better get on with it on my own before I'm too old to do it. In preparation, last year I settled on a six day hike along the Ridgeway in Southern England, from Avebury to Ivinghoe Beacon. That's a six day, 86 mile walk along an ancient path (some say it's Britains oldest road) and I decided to do that first to see if I'd be capable of the West Highland Way. You can read about it by clicking this link (it opens a new web page): https://brianandjackiecross.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-ridgeway-trail-britains-oldest-road.html. Well, anyway, I succeeded on that and, although suffering a bit I really enjoyed it and decided the West Highland Way was now in my sights and, like The Ridgeway, I'd do it on my own. Trying to find someone who hasn't done the West Highland Way before was very difficult, so I gave up and planned a solo trip. 

Getting our gear ready in our room at the Premier Inn in Milngavie on our morning of departure

Here we are, ready to start. Only 96 miles to go!

Planning:

May is a good time to do it, the daylight is quite long at that time of year in Scotland, the weather can often be a little more settled and slightly warmer and, most importantly, the dreaded Scottish midge hasn't made an appearance. For anyone who doesn't know about the midges in Scotland, it's difficult to explain how unbelievably irritating they can be. They mainly infest the west of Scotland where it's wetter than the east, they are dormant in winter months but, in the summer, beware! They are tiny and their bite, although small and harmless, causes an itch, but the main things is their numbers; they will swarm round you like a cloud and get in your ears, nose, eyes, just everywhere and their little bites just irritate the life out of you to the point you have to get indoors or jump in a river to escape them. To avoid them is heaven, to be in amongst them is hell!

The track already opening out. Eroded volcanic cones covered in trees

Lots and lots of picturesque streams on the way

Having settled on May, the next thing to do is to book accommodation as there are a number of pinch points along the way: places where accommodation is limited due to their remoteness. Me being me and, being in the very fortunate position of being able to afford it, I decided comfort was the order of the day, so I wanted a proper bed at night. Hotels would be good, but a private room in a hostel was also OK. I didn't want to camp, which is obviously the cheapest way to do it and carry a very heavy pack each day, however I didn't want to use one of those baggage transport companies, where they transport you luggage onto the next destination each day, meaning you only carry a daypack. To me, somehow, having your baggage transported by a vehicle seems a bit of a cheat. There's still a vehicle emitting greenhouse gasses, so your carbon footprint is almost the same as driving it yourself. Using hostelries and getting there on your own two feet to enjoy some local hospitality puts money back into the local economy and, mimics pretty much how our ancestors would have got about. The West Highland Way does follow some ancient drovers routes and some old military roads after all.

End of day 1 - Dryman

But time for tea and scones!

I decided to contact Simon who, along with his wife Di, we have known since we met in Vietnam on a kayak trip in Halong Bay in 2014. We got along immediately and after a number of quite exciting trips in various parts of the world have seen each other two or three times a year since. Simon is not only 10 years younger than me, but also super fit, running often, hiking long days in the mountains all round the world often, a mountain leader and all an round energetic bundle of energy. Having lived in Scotland for a number of years they have long since completed all the Munros (mountains in Scotland over 3000 ft high), Corbets and Grahams and many long distance walking trails. He will be a great source of information I thought as I was sure he must have done the West Highland Way, so I rattled off a quick message to him outlining what I had planned. His reply was quite exciting: "actually, I've never done the West Highland Way, Di doesn't want to do it. Would you mind a bit of company on it?" Fabulous! I must have hit on about the only think he hasn't done in Scotland, how fortunate. It was also something he said had been eating away at him, particularly when telling people abroad he lived in Scotland and they replied "oh, have you done the West Highland Way" "NO!"

The Clachan Inn at Dryman, our first stop

Booking:

The Clachan Inn, the no breakfast Bed & Breakfast

Early start here is essential. Known pinch points book up early and, with May being the obvious best month to do it, even more so. The Kingshouse Hotel in the middle of Rannoch Moor is so isolated it's the only choice. They have the hotel, a four star, a bunkhouse and a campground. Nearby is Glencoe ski resort, a few miles away and they have camping and camping pods but, other than that, Glencoe village is the only option, about 5 miles and a taxi or bus ride away. For some fellow hikers we met that's what they had to do and we saw a group waiting beside the A82 at the ski resort in wild, rainy weather waiting for a bus as lorries sped by spraying them with mist. Glad we booked early! I phoned them in November and got that booked - one down. Bridge of Orchy was next, another limited choice. Missed the cheap rooms, but got the next level up (a mere £213 per night for a twin room including breakfast!). Only other option is Tulloch Station bunkhouse - glad we got the hotel! Rowardennan Hostel was next on my list. There is a hotel nearby, but we knew the hostel was a good one so got that too. Inveranan at the top of Loch Lomond has few choices, but I got us into the Drovers Arms, an inn built in 1705 and full of history. I did make a bit of a mistake here in that the very nice looking Beinglas Farm Campsite was right on the track and had good looking glamping pods we could have rented, a nice on site bar and restaurant and a shop. The Drovers, about half a kilometer off the track had a great bar and food, but didn't serve breakfast and was a very old building with a very strange bathroom and odd shower room! Anyway, having got all those booked the pressure was off as the other stops have a few more choices. Over to Si who booked the rest. I think he was a bit horrified at how much I'd spent on the hotels (as was Jackie: "you've spent more on a hotel room with Simon than you've ever spent on me!" Ooops!). So we had everything booked well in advance, we can sit back, enjoy our trip to Spain and Portugal, our trip to Egypt and Jordan and, just before the off, my daughter, Fiona and James' wedding.

On to Conic Hill and into the cloud and drizzle. This may have been the point of the fault line where Lowland Scotland meets the Highlands

Packing:

Or this may have been it!

Here's the next problem, packing. What do you take for Scotland in May? Waterproofs, obviously, but sun cream? Sunglasses? Sunhat? All difficult questions! Knowing I'd have to carry everything, less was more. I decided on my 50 litre rucksack, if it won't go in, I'm not taking it! So, four pairs of pants, three pairs of socks (I'll wash on the way), waterproof trousers, and standard hiking trousers, two thin long sleeve tops, two thicker synthetic tops (for warm layers), waterproof jacket. hat, gloves, buff. Sleeping bag liner, travel towel, first aid kit (with blister patches), book to read, headtorch. Toothbrush, razor (I always shave, Simon doesn't), soap, shampoo (tiny ones), deodorant, sunhat, sun cream, paracetamol (I might have a cold coming). 1.5 litre camelback drinking bladder and a 0.75 litre bottle with filter for drinking river water if I run out. Snacks in a bum bag. Map, compass, phone and charger. Indoor shoes (actually I made a mistake here, Simon took Crocs, which were perfect when on campsites, I must remember next time). I also carried stuff like a knee bandage and deep heat lotion that I didn't use. I'm sure there's other stuff, but that's the main. Bought food each day or ordered a packed lunch the evening before if they did them.

Walking down to the bonny, bonny banks of Loch Lomond

The other thing I did in advance was to book a way of getting up to Scotland and back again. Easyjet were offering flights from Birmingham for £20 each way if booked sufficiently far in advance, so I booked those. I knew I'd have to add hold baggage but thought I'd do that later. I'd also have to book a train from Fort William at the end back to Glasgow, but thought I'd do that later too. I did look at travelling all the way there and back on the train, but is was so much more expensive.

Walking through the forest on Loch Lomond

As it got a bit closer, British Rail announced a sale and my train guru friend Tim asked how I was getting there and would I be interested in travelling up with him on the train as he was going to Glasgow for other reasons at the same time as me (he's a big Ingress fan if you know anything about that. I'll say no more!). Knowing how to work the British Rail booking system to get the best deal, he announced I could get there and back for about the same price as I'd have to pay for hold luggage and a train from Fort William. How nice it would be to relax on a train with plenty of leg room and wifi all the way without the hassle of airports and economy class flight seats. So that was all booked and the Easyjet flights were going to waste.

Arriving at our second nights accommodation, Rowardennan Hostel

It gave us the option of Jackie and I going up to Tim and Jills, along with all our other Monday night crew (Mark and Fiona and Bill and Martina) on the evening before for a meal and stopover with them. Jackie drove back on Tuesday morning and Tim and I caught the train up from Crewe and had a pleasant journey up to Glasgow, arriving around 10:30am. I left Tim at the Equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington which, true to form, still had a traffic cone on his head and caught the train for the few stops to Milngavie. If you heard someone mentioning Milngavie you wouldn't have a clue where it is as it's not pronounced as it's written. "Mulgai" is what they say - who knew!

And what a place it is. Beer on sale and a view to die for from the lounge

I got to Mulgai (I'm a near native now!), found where the start of the route was, had lunch, walked to the hotel and then went for a drink in the Beefeater next door to wait for Si and Di. They arrived, we chatted, Di left and then we started the serious talk of what was to come - over a beer of course! First time in a long time sleeping in a twin room with someone I'm not married to. Must remember to get back into the right bed if I go to the loo in the night and not cuddle up! It was fine, he doesn't snore and neither, I believe, do I. A good nights sleep was had, a hearty full Scottish cooked breakfast was eaten, shoes were put on, rucksacks finally packed and - we were on our way!

The route on along Loch Lomond

Day 1: Milngavie to Dryman. Distance: 21.36km, total ascent: 215m. The first thing to note is these are my recorded figures and may differ from others. We rarely agreed even with each others reading for the day, let alone figures in the book we had and others obtained from the internet. See a short video of our day 1 route with photos: click here

We started in the wrong direction as Si had said he needed to buy some lunch from Waitrose (I'd do with Aldi, but then I'm not posh). When I pointed out Waitrose was a short distance the wrong way his preference for high quality lunch evaporated and opted for the Co-op which was on the route. Through the pedestrianised market square we could see the start marked a quite a number of fellow trekkers, rucksacks donned and walking poles in their hands. We won't be on our own then! We got some people to take our photograph, we took their photograph and, whilst we were getting organised were asked by some others to take their photo, so we hurried away before anyone else asked us and we became the official photographers for the start. Maybe there's a business opportunity for someone there!   

Was this the bridge erected in memory of an ultra-runner Simon kept on about? No!

Route finding on this route is not a problem, it is very clearly marked throughout the way and, on the odd occasions where there's any doubt, just follow others! Having a map is pretty essential though and bad weather could mean you miss a sign. Anyway, we set off through a car park and then soon, onto tracks through pleasant countryside towards Dryman (pronounced Driman). Part of it was along an old railway track and, at an old station, a cafe, selling tea and cakes. Well, it would be rude not to! It's going to be a nice walk this one! The conversation made the miles speed by and, in seemingly no time we were in Driman (did you see how I talked like a native then?) and our first nights stop, The Clachan Inn. A bit smaller than we thought but a good looking inn with a great bar. It was 12 miles, I felt a bit tired, but it was still fairly early (we had beaten Naismiths calculation for timing: 4km per hour, plus 1 minute for each 10m of ascent - not including any breaks or stops on the way) and there was a teashop round the corner that Simon knew from his days of leading DofE's. Tea with scones, clotted cream and jam! Do you know, Simon puts cream on first and then jam! I tried to educate him but we were worried our lively discussion might upset the other customer. We'd discussed Wordle (that neither of us do), Worldle (identifying countries of the world), that I now really like and our friend in there suggested Nerdle (a daily number puzzle). I'm hooked on that too - thank you whoever you are. He was doing the WHW too and going off to camp on Conic hill that night, only the third time in his life he had wild camped. Good luck!

Arriving at Inversnaid Hotel. They served tea and cake there...

Being shown to our room in the Clachan Inn I asked our man if breakfast was included as I couldn't remember from when we'd booked it. His reply of "No, we don't do breakfast" was perfectly timed to be next to their sign that said 'Bed and Breakfast'. I felt a nudge in my ribs from Si and decided to ignore it! A porridge pot from the local Spar and a bit of hot water from our room kettle did the job next day and, while at the Spar we picked up lunch for the day.

So obviously we had to stop! They allowed us to eat our own lunch in there too as long as we bought drinks from the bar

Day 2: Dryman to Rowardennan - 26.35km, 561.6m of ascent. Much more than than we were expected and, for me, our toughest day! See a short video of our day 2 route with photos: click here

What about this bridge, was this the one built in memory of an ultra-runner? No!

Now here's an interesting thing, most of our fellow hikers were setting off up the road past the Clachan Inn to reconnect with the route a little further up, the obvious way to continue on. But by doing that you miss out a couple of kilometers of the true path. Can you really claim to have done the whole of the West Highland Way if you miss out the odd couple of kilometers? We decided that wasn't on, if we're going to do it, we're going to do it properly, so we walked off in the other direction, retracing our last short distance to where we left the true track the previous day and then continued on. We saw no-one else doing this, but our purist mentality meant we had to.

There were lots of beaches like this along Loch Lomond. If you look carefully you can see a water skier being pulled by a motor boat

Our lunch spot on Loch Lomond. Not bad eh?

On we went though increasingly pleasant landscape, past some wooded peaks of old volcanic cones and then uphill towards Conic Hill, a highlight on the early trail and the views of Loch Lomond from it's summit are spectacular. I knew this view as Jackie and I had been to it's summit three years before on a day out. Not today though, it was clouded over, but hopeful it might clear we went up the optional detour anyway. Well, it didn't clear, the view being akin to looking at a sheet of white paper. The misty rain in the cloud didn't help either and we came down wet. It didn't matter, because at the col down from the summit a point know as Bealach Ard was our first geological (or geographical, I'm never quite sure of the difference) point of interest. Not only is this point the Highland Boundary Fault, a great geological divide that separates Lowland Scotland from the Highlands, but it's also a watershed where water on one side flows into the Irish Sea and, on the other side flows into the North Sea on the other side of Scotland. We stood where we thoughh the divide was and had one foot in Lowland Scotland and the other in the Highlands, watching the water flow off in different directions (not really!). We headed down hill with the many others to the town of Balmaha on the Bonny, Bonny Banks of Loch Lomond (how many times did Simon remind me of that? Only two Bonnies you say, you're sure there aren't more than that?). Lunch break here along with other fellow  walkers and scores of daytrippers. Here we first met our Scottish friend who was walking the WHW with a number of his friends. "Did you walk up onto Conic Hill while you were up there?" Simon asked. "F..k that" came his reply. A simple "no" or "it was a little cloudy to do that" would have sufficed, but I suppose we were left in no doubt. It became a bit of a phrase we used for the remainder of our trip when we encountered something we'd rather not do. 

Our final photo on the banks of Loch Lomond before we headed inland

The next stage was pretty arduous, only along the banks (the Bonny, Bonny banks - NOOO!) of Loch Lomond you might think, but it was tortuous, narrow, winding, muddy, tree root studded, hilly path through trees with only the occasional view of the loch. It seemed to go on and on and ages before we finally arrived at the pleasant Rowardennan Hostel. They sold beer and had a nice lounge overlooking the Loch with fabulous views of the mountains beyond. "Oh look, there's those three Swedes we saw on the walk, two girls and a boy walking out to the pier" "oh look, they are stripping down to swimwear" And in they go into the cold Loch Lomond on a cold, cloudy day. Well, they do come from Sweden, I guess they're used to it. We did notice they didn't stop in for long though!

And in-land we went

Day 3: Rowardennan to Inveranan - 23.12km, 431.9m of ascent (the sting was in the tail, with an ascent up and over a hill near the end) See a short video of our day 3 route with photos: click here

To end our third day at the Drovers Arms and old and quirky place with a great bar

A pleasant enough day this one, most of it spent of the Bonny..(nooo!) banks of Loch Lomond. A better path passed some lovely little beach spots, one of which we walked down onto, sat on a log and watched a waterskier being pulled along by a motorboat while we ate our lunch in a bit of sunshine. You can only get to this spot by walking, there are no roads here. This is a special spot! A bit further on we took a final photo of Loch Lomond (I let Simon use his little song for a final time) and we headed off uphill towards the Drovers Inn and our route inland.

Setting off on day 4

The Drovers Inn was accessed by leaving our track, heading over a bridge on the river Falloch that flows into Loch Lomond and back to our nights stop on the A82 road. It has a great bar with a lovely atmosphere, but it was built in 1705 and had all the appearances of having had little renovation since. It was very old and rickety and fairly overpriced for the £104 per night we paid with no breakfast. Great meal, fabulous beer and great atmosphere in the bar though so we had a good evening even if the showers left a lot to be desired!

Is this the bridge Simon keeps going on about? Yes it is!

Day 4: Inveranan to Tyndrum - 20.47km, 478.5m of ascent See a short video of our day 4 route with photos: click here

And here's the plaque on the bridge. I'll miss him not going on about that!

We're getting used to this walking now and not noticing the miles go by. Maybe its the scintilating conversation, sometimes sensible and serious, quite often 'blokes talk' with plenty of crap jokes thrown in. I can't remember if it was here or somewhere else where we shared a bench at a cafe with another bloke on his own who was walking from John O Groats to Lands End as he had lost his faith in humanity and needed some time on his own. Turns out he has worked in the Atomic Energy plant in Oxford and told us about the work he has been doing on Nuclear Fusion, the Holy Grail of limitless energy production. He reckons a prototype nuclear fusion reaction has been produced that has proved the technology can work. I know little about this stuff, but probably enough to ask intelligent questions that led me to believe he really knew what he was talking about and not just having us on. Amazing who you can meet and we hope he manages to sort his mind out on his lonely walk.

This may not look very exciting but it is actually the British Watershed, where a drop of water falling here will split, one half going to the Irish Sea, the other the North Sea. It's also a jumction of old military roads, we're on the Crianlarich to Tyndrum track, off to the right, where we came from is the track to Inverarnan. If they existed there would have been traffic lights here at this busy junction!

A couple of interesting points on todays walk: up on the hills above Crianlarich (which we didn't go into) we passed over for a second time, the British Watershed and imagined again that drop of water that would split at this point, half of it running into the North Sea and the other into the Irish Sea, came down the hill, crossed the A82 again and walked past the 12th century ruins of St Fillans Priory, now just a few of the walls and the cemetery remain. A little further on we detoured to Holy Pool where, it is said, insane persons were bathed, before being taken to the chapel to be tied up all night to the font. The treatment also involved St Fillans bell being placed over the head of the person. It is said that no records seem to exist to suggest that the treatment actually cured anyone!

The remains of St Fillans Priory and it's cemetery

Back across the A82 we came to Dalrigh and the field which was the site of a battle where King Robert the Bruce was defeated by the MacDougalls of Lorne in 1306. A second defeat after being defeated by the English forcing him to retreat to the hills with a small group of supporters. A little further on was another peaceful spot, the Lochan of the Lost Sword which, legend has it, is the place that, following his defeat, Bruce cast his sword into the water. 

And this is Holy Pool where the insane were said to have been cured, along with a chaining to a font and a bell on their head!

We rambled on, did he mention the Bonny, Bonny banks again? Possibly. Finally we arrived at the By The Way campsite and the lovely Glamping pod Si had booked. This really is a nice place, lovely for camping, motorhomes, hostel and glamping and, as the name suggests, it is next to the West Highland Way. Just a pity we had to walk into town to get dinner and breakfast,  however, Simon's recommended Real Food Cafe was a definite score, as was the pub over the road selling fabulous real cask ales. That was the night three pints almost wasn't enough. It would have been so easy to have a fourth but we resisted the urge, mainly on Simons recommendation as we had settled down to watch the Liverpool (his team) vs Tottenham Hotspur and saw Liverpool go down. That'll let Manchester City in he was fretting and he preferred to go than sit through the agony of the final minutes. I would have been quite happy to get another pint and watch it to the end, but he was on edge!

The site of the battle of Dalreigh where King Robert the Bruce was defeated. There's a steam train going past too - bonus!

Day 5: Tyndrum to Bridge of Orchy: 12.21km, 135.9m of ascent. An easy day, but chance to relax in the most expensive hotel on our trip! See a short video of our day 5 route with photos: click here

Lochan of the Lost Sword. Did Robert the Bruce throw his sword in here or is it just legend. Let the wind speak the truth!

Breakfast the next day was at the Real Food Cafe and then we had to visit the shop to buy lunch for the next day (not today as it was so short, but no shops after that). Poor planning found us at the shop that happened to be right on the track continuation. However, that meant there was an almost kilometer length of the track we would have missed out. Dilema, should we backtrack to do it or miss that bit out. I did negotiate with the lady in the shop to leave our rucksacks with her so we could go back, do the missing bit and collect our rucksacks on the way past in 15 minutes time. She had said OK, but Si said that if we're going to do it, it had to be with our rucksacks, so we backtracked to the campsite and continued the correct way. Purists or what (just because Liverpool lost, he's taking it out on me!).

Bed for the night in Tyndrum, a very nice glamping pod at By The Way Campsite

The reason we wanted to do this - into Glen Orchy

Off we went onto the part of the route both of us were so looking forward to. Alongside the A82, we headed uphill, crossed the British Watershed again and were greeted with the magnificent view looking down into Glen Orchy and the pyramidal Beinn Dorian and the spectacular Loch Tulla and mountains around. 30 years I've waited for this bit, I have to savour every last step and view here, this is without doubt the reason I'm here now. Savour every last step we did too. It turns out it was this section was the reason both of us wanted to do this whole route. Too many times had we been in those cars passing longing to be where we were now. We tried not to gloat, but enjoy it we did! We followed the road and railway for a bit on the old military road (at one time this track was the only means of getting into this part of Scotland), then across into wild glen, occasionally crossing the railway and, eventually on to Bridge of Orchy railway station and, by the 'new' A82 into the fabulous hotel. Bridge of Orchy is little more than the station, the hotel and a couple of small houses set amongst stunning scenery. It takes its name from the bridge that crosses the river Orchy on the old military road. The A82 road actually doesn't go over a bridge at all here but follows on along the banks (not bonny, bonny) of Loch Tulla before skirting round and going up hill onto Rannch Moor. Again, I have travelled this road many times, had never seen the bridge and wanted to enjoy the views walking through it. It's a lovely place, the hotel is good, we were housed in modern rooms built in the grounds, rather than the main building and had little view, but it had everything we needed. The restaurant was in the main building so we had good views from there and, in the evening, walked down to the bridge and enjoyed the views around

Through very beautiful countryside

Day 6: Bridge of Orchy to Kingshouse - 19.86km, 477.3m of ascent See a short video of our day 6 route with photos: click here

And here we are in Bridge of Orchy. There's the hotel, in front is the bridge over the river Orchy and beyond is Beinn Dorian

Overlooking Loch Tulla

We'd seen the forecast for today: heavy rain, they were mainly right. It started off as only light rain with some dry bits and we made progress up the hill behind the hotel and to a viewpoint high over Loch Tulla and fabulous views. We took the obligatory photo of the view by the lone Rowan tree as the book suggested and descended to Forest Lodge, a disappointing old shooting lodge before the rain really set in. Uphill over wild moorland and into Rannoch moor proper. I read somewhere that Rannoch moor used to be, many millions of years ago, a mountain as big or bigger than Mount Everest, but it had been worn away by wind, rain and ice ages. Amazing! Anyway, as we went over the crest to look down into Glencoe for the first time we saw sheets of rain. It did abate a bit and we made a detour to a high point to see a monument to Peter Fleming, brother of Ian Fleming (the writer and creator of James Bond). We're not sure if it was the correct place as there was no plaque on it, but the rain and big drop in temperature soaked us and then really chilled us. The walk down was unpleasant, we walked past the ski resort and it's tea shop, preferring to get to the Kingshouse and drying out there rather than stopping and then having to start again in cold, rainy weather. We made it, with an unexpected comfort break for me, early at the Kingshouse. Our room was not ready until 3:00pm and it was only about 1:00pm. We didn't stop after leaving the Bridge of Orchy, no lunch stop at all, who'd want to stop in that weather. Our only choice was to sit in reception in very wet clothes along with all our fellow walkers and wait. There was an open fire, but as time went on and more and more arrived we couldn't get near the fire. I certainly felt chilled to the bone and was shivering. A hot tea didn't even do it. It was two hours of being fairly miserable and cold in wet clothes. It was then that I posted our days photos on Facebook and described the day as 'grim'. Simon was taken aback when he read that and, after I'd showered and warmed up I agreed with him. It wasn't as bad as that and I edited my post accordingly.

Did we mention the lone Rowan tree as a perfect foreground for a great Loch Tulla photo? Well, here it is. I suspect we're not the first to take this view

Anyway, we got the room, showered and went down for drinks and dinner. It's not so bad after all! The Kingshouse is a very nice four star hotel and replaced a much older traditional building a few years ago and is now owned by a chain. It's a bit 'corporate' really and has lost it's old character. People who don't know it of old will love it. it's quite luxurious and is in a spectacular, remote position with fabulous views of the iconic mountain Buachaille Etive Mor through the windows. It is hard to beat for views and location, but character it has none. Another real negative for me was the drying room. We put all our very wet stuff in there on the evening and next morning my boots were still as wet as when I had put then in the previous night. Storage room it is, full of luggage to be collected by the baggage transfer companies, drying room it is not!

This might be the monument to Peter Fleming, Ian Flemings brother. But it was so cold and wet by this time that we couldn't care if it was or not!

Day 7: Kingshouse to Kinlochleven over the Devils Staircase - 14.41km, 381.1m of ascent See a short video of our day 7 route with photos: click here

Arriving very wet at the Kingshouse

This was another day I was really looking forward to, a walk along Rannoch more up to the base of Buachaille Etive Mor and then up the hill over the Devils Staircase (that I've never done) and down into Kinlochleven. The weather forecast was showery start, getting gradually better, and so it was. We set off in rain, got wet(ter), but saw it ease and watched clouds blow in front of broody mountains. Not sure we saw all of the Buchaille, but we know what it looks like and what we saw was fabulous. Then we turned North-East and headed uphill over the Devils Staircase, taking in the increasingly fabulous views back down to the Buachaille, the Etive hills and Rannoch moor. Devils Staircase is really not difficult at all, just a series of easy zig-zags up the hillside. It is thought to have been constructed in about 1750 by Major Caulfield and it is thought likely his troops gave it it's name.

It was quite pleasant inside, but always stunning views outside whatever the weather

The Kingshouse next day as we set out

At the top, glorious views, one way down into Glencoe, the other way down into Kinlochleven. What a fabulous point! We could see Blackwater Reservoir in the valley above Kinlochleven and, on our walk down passed alongside the pipes leading from the reservoir that power the hydro electric plant in the town (electric that originally powered the aluminium smelter that used to be there). Kinlochleven is the town at the end of the long, thin Loch Leven and these days is not on any route, having been bypassed ty the bridge at Ballachulish up the glen. After the smelter closed the town fell on hard times, but it seems to have reinvented itself as a centre for tourism and adventure sports, having in town what it claims is the worlds largest indoor ice climbing wall (and climbing wall) in one of the old smelter buildings. I wonder if it is the worlds largest? Anyway, bustling it was, although few places to eat. Si had booked us into a glamping pob at the Blackwater Hostel, a much smaller pod than the one a Tyndrum, but just about big enough. Good job we know one another well now! Just as we arrived the heavens opened which meant everything was utterly soaked, however their drying room was superb and, by the morning everything was bone dry. How to get from our glamping pod to the drying room and then the showers, all away from the pod? Casting modesty aside, I borrowed Simons crocs and walked amongst the three venus in my underpants! Great showers, clean clothes and off to the Tailrace Inn for some excellent cask ale, good food and an early night, ready for a big day tomorrow 

The stunning views of Buachaille Etive Mor and Rannoch Moor from the top of the Devil's Staircase

Day 8: Kinlochleven to Fort William - the final day: 26.8km, 619.7m of ascent - our biggest day! See a short video of our day 8 route with photos: click here

And here's the view towards Kinlochleven from the top. The beards getting longer Simon

The glen towards Kinlochleven

With dry clothes, but damp weather, we backtracked so as not to miss out any of the track and back round into town and to the Ice Factor cafe where breakfast was bought and heartily consumed. The Belly Buster breakfast was ordered but as it was so massive, we ordered 1 between two of us - quite sufficient! Who could possibly eat one all to themselves? We rejoined those other fellow hikers who had chosen to cut off that small corner (our consciences are clear) and carried on uphill into a really remote valley, following an old military road. It was wild, remote and very beautiful. We could just see our fellow hikers dotted about in front of us and a track that went on endlessly along the side of a mountain through nothingness. Rain showers, some really heavy kept coming and going with odd spells of sunshine and this only added to the wildness of this place. A ruined cottage stood testament to how hard life must have been for the people who lived here, half for them, half for their cattle/sheep. What an existence! Somewhere down there the track turns right round a mountain, but that track goes on and on as does that mountain! Eventually we reached that turning and headed through more remote moorland towards a small forest. The book tells us the military road forks off here and becomes tarmac and, for those suffering blisters or fatigue, it offers an easier route into Fort William. We're fatigued, but that tarmaced road isn't on the West Highland Way so, for us, not an option. Up hill on a smaller track which became up and down and very winding and an energy gap appeared. Si noticed it as I went quiet. We stopped on some tree stumps and scoffed our lunch watching very wet people walk past in full waterproofs.

And here's our compact glamping pod at Blackwater Hostel in Kinlochleven

It's certainly compact!

A little further on Ben Nevis appeared into view, well, at least the lower part of it, the upper section being enveloped in cloud, as usual. The path dropped down, people on day walks appeared, some asking us the way, and eventually we were on the Glen Nevis road. To finish, we walk along this road to a roundabout, where the original end to the West Highland Way is. Not for us though as the proper end is in the centre of Fort William about a mile further on. The Glen Nevis road went on for a long time, each bend hoping we'd see the roundabout, but eventually it appeared and we stopped to take photos of us at the original finish. I started to feel a bit emotional that I've almost done it, a 30 year ambition. Don't get excited there's a mile of road walking to do.

Setting off on our last day and that, down there is Loch Leven

Feeling mentally and physically tired my pace slowed, but we were still very fast (and much faster than Naismiths rule) and we slowly walked down the main road towards Nevis Sports, turning off towards the High Street and the finish. I looked round to cross a street and saw three American fellow hikers who we had encountered many times over the last 8 days just passing us at a faster pace. I watched them go ahead and said to Si that I can't go any faster. No problem, he said, it's not a race. We walked down the High Street, they about 20m in front of us. The finish is a bench with a statue of a tired walker rubbing his feet sitting on it. It's just down here somewhere on the left Si said and we could see the others were searching for it too on the other side of the road. Thinking that if they got there first we'd have to wait while they took photos, I said to Si, "shall we quicken our pace and beat them?" Yes, if you want to. With that we were quick marching, passing them and finding the finish first - how childish! We all congratulated each other took photos and found our nearby hotel for the night. Celebratory drinks and curry that evening and a few more photos of the finish the next day and I can now really say "I've walked the West Highland Way" But, what's more, I can say that I did it with someone I've really got to know over this walk, so "Thank you Si, we will do something like this again!"

Looking back down to Kinlochleven as we ascended

The old military road leading off into infinity

A ruined cottage in the middle of nowhere. What a hard life these people lived

Still on the long and winding road

A brief pause at a river crossing

That there on the right is Ben Nevis and, guess what? It's in cloud

And this here is the original end of the West Highland Way at the head of the Glen Nevis road. Time for a brief smile and photo and then on to the true end just under a mile away in the centre of Fort William

And finally, to our great relief our tired legs took us to the true finish and here we are sitting next to the sculpture of the weary but happy hiker. But look at that building behind, its a real ale pub....

Cheers!

We'll leave the weary hiker sculpture for others to have their photo taken at the end of their long journey

And look what Di bought for us, a nice little momento

And so the long journey home. A little longer than planned as the train from Glasgow to Preston got a cracked windscreen. This is shot of it but you can't really see the crack, its  in the top left hand corner as you look at it. It meant the train terminated at Carlisle and we had to wait for the next one. I got in at about 8:30pm, nearly 13 hours after the first train left Fort William