Day 4
This was an easier day in many ways. This was partly because I'd lanced my three blisters the night before, partly because we only had 12 miles to go, and partly because the weather seemed to be giving us something of a break. The Way this day started out by followed the River Falloch through a low glen. Small streams and waterfalls, swollen with the recent rainfall, lay scattered across and around the trail. It was lush and green and there were blissfully few people around.
We made sure to wake up early this day. Not because we are morning people (we are not), but because we were scared of Day 6. Day 6, for us, was going to be a 21-mile day. We would need to get an early start if we were going to make it before sunset. If you look up suggested routes, you won't find any suggested 7-day routes that include a 21-mile day. Unfortunately for us, we'd discovered and booked stays along the West Highland Way only a month or so before doing the hike, which meant that a lot of places were booked up. So why were we doing a 21-mile day? Because that was literally the shortest space between beds.
Anyway, that was for another day. Today would be a mere 12 miles. And we were making good time.
The midway point for Day 4 was the town of Crianlarich, but the detour from the Way to Crianlarich would add an extra mile each way. Two extra miles?! Come on now, we're not masochists. Alexa and I instead hiked a little ways further down the path and found a nice rock with a good view and a good breeze (to keep away the midges) and set about having a sort of snack lunch of digestive biscuits, peanut butter, and chocolate. We may have also had a piece of fruit. Never say you can't eat healthily on the trail.
We continued on. The Way took a path through a wooded area now, which was a nice change of pace after the wide open landscape we'd been walking through all morning. It was a beautiful bit of woods, with a thick mossy floor and wide stands of birch and rowan trees. To our dismay, it came to an abrupt end. The hillside had been totally clear-cut. Alexa joked that it looked like the work of the Smog Monster from Fern Gully. We'd been warned that we might come across logging during our hike, but I'm not sure we were really prepared for it. We walked down the hillside, noting how strange it was that they clearly just razed everything to the ground, no matter the size of the tree. Small saplings and large trees alike were cut down.
At the bottom of the hill, we crossed beneath a road and followed a path that took us by fields of happily grazing sheep. A sign told us that they were part of a project to regenerate the soil of the valley. What an upswing! From a clear-cut forest to regenerative agriculture! Honestly, I think it made both of us feel much better about the state of the world to see those sheep.
Eventually we made it to our destination, Tyndrum. The weather had turned to a drizzle, in the typical Scottish way. On the bright side, it helped keep away the midges.
Day 5
The easiest day yet. I was looking forward to this day, because it would be the laziest of days. We only had a mere 7 miles to go! Though this was only because the next day would be 21 miles. Honestly, we were feeling a little beat up, so we were hoping the easy day would have us feeling well rested going into the long day.
We started early again, even though we didn't have far to go. The point was the habit. Sleeping in would have been nice, but it wouldn't have been doing us any favors in the long run.
The day started off with relatively good weather, which we were pleased about. This was Scotland, so it could start raining at any point, but for the time being, it was dry and there was sun. And indeed, it stayed that way for the whole 7 miles! We could freely enjoy the views of steep green slopes and cloud-skirted beinns. I think my happiest moment was coming across a herd of Highland Cows. I don't know why, I just love those hairy dudes.
It didn't take long before we'd arrived. Only about two and a half hours. It honestly felt strange to not keep walking, especially seeing others just stop by briefly and continue on their way. But it was also so nice to just stop.
Because this was literally the last room available, I'd ended up booking us a really nice room to stay in. I thought about it like this: either I book the fancy room or we don't do the West Highland Way. The choice seemed pretty clear. But wow, what a nice room it was. They gave us an entire cottage to ourselves with a view of the bridge. As in, the bridge that gives Bridge of Orchy (the place we were staying) its name. From our cozy nook, we happily snacked on shortbread and watched the rain fall. Dinner was fantastic, too. It was some of the best Fish and Chips I had the whole time I'd been in the UK and their sticky toffee pudding was top-notch. It felt very much like the kind of place I might like to go to again, just to get away. If I lived in Scotland, of course.
Day 6
The long day came at last. The 21 miler. The day to end all days. Okay, okay, maybe not that one. Anyway, we had built this day up a lot in our minds and it felt momentous for it to come at last. Best of all, Scotland decided to show us what it was really made of on this day. Wind? Check. Rain? Big check. Epic views? Bigger check.
We started early, getting to the breakfast room as soon as they opened. We are not fast hikers, so we wanted to make sure there was as much time as possible in the day for us to complete the hike. Luckily, the sun didn't set until after 10 PM, so we should be good. As we sat there, contemplating the rain outside the window, a pair of friendly faces sat down at the table next to ours. It was an older German couple that we'd met earlier on the trail. We had seen them briefly at dinner too, but hadn't had the opportunity to chat and since we were skipping ahead today, we were worried there wouldn't be a chance to chat with them again. Early mornings don't make for the best of conversations, but I think we were mutually glad to see each other. We exchanged emails addresses and promised to look them up if we passed through Germany later.
Then the day began. It was the windiest, rainiest day yet. Within the first mile, our pants and clothes were completely soaked through, far worse than they had been before. Alexa accidently left her pockets unzipped for thirty seconds and they quickly filled with water. Our shoes, waterproof though they supposedly were, had been tested too hard. Rain seeped in through the seams, soaking our socks. Twenty miles to go.
We crested a hill and made it to Inveroran, another rest spot on the Way. We didn't stop though. 18 miles to go. At the same time, an older couple passed us, joking about how they couldn't have picked a better day. It seemed they were on the same mission as us. Maybe one day we will all learn to book things in advance. Ah well.
The rain did then start to let up for a short while and for a ways we were able to enjoy walking through a mere drizzle. The sky overhead was heavy, the clouds layered atop one another in a dozen tones of gray. Beside us, the land rose and fell like deep ocean waves rolling across the surface. It was bleak and beautiful at the same time, tall grasses and low scrub evenly matched with black rock and mud. We passed the time playing games, listing ten things we were grateful for one thing we had to complain about. What a lovely little game to play when you're soggy and have a long way to go. But Scotland was not done with us. It had barely begun.
As we left Rannoch Moor, the elements began to really mess with us. The rain came first, then the wind. In not very much time, as we made our way across the eastern flank of the Meall a' BhÚiridh, we went from happily walking about with our heads high to fully battened and huddled over, pressing our way through the driving rain. The wind whipped it into our faces, each drop stinging slightly in that way it does when it's nearly cold enough to be ice. We tried to turn our faces to the side, let it hit the hoods of our raincoats, but there was only so much we could do. Alexa's shoes had filled up with water and she was effectively walking in puddles at this point. I was not far behind.
As we walked, Alexa told me about the story of a woman she had read about on Humans of New York, taking the time to get into the details and recite everything she could remember. It kept us going. Gave us something to focus on that wasn't the cold and the rain and the wind. The wind was so strong and the rain so fierce as it pounded against us, the sound of it hitting our rain gear drowned each other's voices out, so we had to shout to be heard. It didn't take long for me to start losing my voice.
Halfway there.
The trail met up with a highway and we started to see other hikers on the trail, though mostly they were heading in the other direction. It had felt very strange, walking all this way and not seeing many others on the trail with us. On the previous days there had always been a small crew of hikers leap frogging each other. At any rate, we knew we were near Kingshouse, which would mark the 12 mile point for our day. We were both so thoroughly soaked, frozen, and battered, it was hard to imagine going any further. There was a bus that would take us to the next spot, we knew. It was an option.
Kingshouse saved us. It was warm and cozy and they didn't mind that we were soaked through or that we had brought a lunch with us to eat. Most importantly though, they made us hot chocolate and hot coffee and let us be for a while. We took our time, recharging and trying to understand what we had just walked through. It was hard to imagine going back out into that. And we still had to climb the Devil's Staircase. But slowly, as warmth seeped back into our fingers and toes, we started to feel better about our adventure. This was what we had signed up for after all. And for some people, this was what their entire time on the Way had been like. In a way, we were lucky!
We thanked the staff and were on our way. Stepping back out into the wind and rain, though it had let up quite a bit, was uncomfortable. I quickly became chilled and started to shiver. But I just had to keep moving. The movement would warm me, I knew. Sure enough, ten minutes later and I felt fine again. The wind picked up, but the rain wasn't so bad. I started telling Alexa the plot of a book I had read recently and before we knew it, we had reached the top of the Devil's Staircase. This was the grandest climb of the whole Way and the views were really, truly out of this world. Easily some of the best I've ever seen.
It was a long descent from there into Kinlochleven. The path meandered along the side of the mountain and across moorland before dropping into a wooded glen. My feet were really feeling long day by this point, in spite of the rest I'd had the night before, and I was so very grateful when the town came into view.
We made our way to the Bank House, an excellent bed and breakfast. Given our late arrival, by the time we were ready for dinner, most places in town had already shut down. There was just one place left open which was, of course, on the other side of town, a mile away. What's another 2 miles when you've just walked 21? For a good plate of food and an ale, it was worth it.
Day 7
The final day. This was not a short walk at 15 miles, but compared to the previous day it did feel like it.
The route was really quite a nice one. It climbs steeply out of Kinlochleven, but then that's really it for elevation gain and you're rewarded with spectacular views. We walked out to a point just slightly off the Way where you could see the whole of Loch Leven and the surrounding mountains. Especially noticeable is the Pap of Glencoe, which sticks out like a pointy little pyramid at the end of the range along the southern shore of the loch, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a part of that view to critique.
The trail continues along a valley for a long while. The views here are not sweeping, but they are pretty just the same. We passed whole new sets of hikers and it felt odd to be surrounded by strangers again. These were not the hikers whose faces we'd come to recognize in days past. What would it have been like to hike alongside these folk the whole Way? Strange how attached we get to any bit of familiarity wherever we are.
As the Way neared its end, Ben Nevis loomed in the background. It mocked us, as if to say, "Oh, you think you've done something grand? Try this." But it was not to be. I had only taken so much time off from work and, to be honest, I needed a break. I think Alexa could have kept going though. She's a powerhouse.
We did have time for a short detour, though, to an ancient iron age fortress a mere mile away. I think neither of us really wanted the hike to end and kept looking for little ways to extend it. So when we saw a sign talking about the ruins of an ancient fortress whose stone walls had become vitrified from the many sieges it had faced in ages past, we knew we had to check it out. The "fortress" was hard to recognize. All that was still left was a stone stairway alongside a high grassy mound which, when you got to the top, was surrounded by a slightly higher, ring-shaped grassy mound. There were some truly epic views from up there, though.
It was time to face the truth. Everything must end.
We made our way into Fort William. The transition from wilderness to civilization was not an easy one. And I have to say that I don't think I like how the West Highland Way ends. The Way takes you by a train and bus station, walking along a main road in a large, busy town, before dropping you in the very touristy center of Fort William. There is a nice statue of a man rubbing his sore foot that you can take a photo with, but the whole ending really just felt so jarringly different from the previous week that it left me with an unpleasant taste in my mouth.
We made the best of it, though. Fort William is a really nice little town and it has a lot of cool spots to check out. We found a pub with live music and whisky and had a blast. I can't remember exactly what they played or which whisky we drank, but I do remember that it was delightful. The venue was packed with visitors and, in spite of my curmudgeonly instincts, it felt good to be around people again.
The Way was done. Now to see the rest of Scotland.