What is the West Highland Way?

The West Highland Way is Scotland’s most popular long distance hike.  Listen to two shows about Scotland’s most popular long distance trail:  On the first show, Kit shares her experience about her hiking adventure, the views she sees along the way, and the mishaps she has encounters.  She describes the charming villages dotted along the 96 mile (155 km) trail, walking alongside the gorgeous Loch Lommond and through the moors of the Scottish Highlands as she was walking from one medieval village to the next. Most hikers do the trail in 5-10 days.  The second show features Phil, who along with his wife, walked the West Highland Way as their primer, or tester long distance hike, before attempting the El Camino.

Along the trail, you’ll see castle ruins and monuments, along with stunningly beautiful countryside with cattle and sheep peacefully grazing. You’ll visit the historic lodging such as the Drymen Inn and the Drover’s Inn, visit medieval villages such as Rowardennan, Inverarnan and Kinlochleven, a cute town surrounded by fjord-like mountains.

In these episodes you will hear two perspectives on how to hike the West Highland Way is and why you should add it to your adventure travel bucket list: download them both!

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Listen to the podcasts here:

Kit’s interview of Phil about his adventures on the West Highland Way:

Kit talks about her own long distance walk of the West Highland Way:

 Where is the West Highland Way?

The start of the West Highland Way is in Milngavie, about ten miles outside of Glasgow.  You can take public transport from Glasgow, or do like I did and simply walk there on the Kelvin Walkway right from downtown Glasgow!  It’s a nice way to ease into your hike.

I would recommend spending a day or two in Glasgow before you start so you can get rid of any jet lag if you are coming in from overseas.  Glasgow is a fun and affordable city with a people justly proud of their town!  I love how the residents keep putting a traffic cone on the head of the statue in front of the Modern Art Museum (even though authorities keep removing it:).  Locals think the cone IS modern art!

Who Can Walk the West Highland Way?

Anyone who is reasonably fit, particularly if you train.  [Get a 10% discount on custom online training by telling Becki that Active Travel Adventures sent you). You can even BIKE the West Highland Way in many sections!

There are a few challenging accents and descents, but none of the mountains are very high, and if you take your time, you’ll be fine.

How Hard is the West Highland Way?

I would rate this trail at a three out of five difficulty rating, mostly because of the length of the trail.  Your last day along Loch Lommond to Inverarnan has some rock scrambles and lots of rock steps, which were hard on the knees.  The ‘Devil’s Staircase’ was steep, but certainly doable. Note that there is a ‘high road’  to Inverarnan that is a bit easier than the ‘low road’ right by the lake – ask a local.  If you book far enough in advance, you will have more flexibility in modifying your daily milage (there aren’t many places to stay along the trail, so if you wait too long, you might be forced to walk longer each day than you’d prefer).  Work with your tour company to tailor a trip to your needs.  I recommend walking more days with less milage per day so you aren’t so tired at the end of the day so will have energy to explore the cool villages you’ll be staying in.

Can You Walk the West Highland Way Solo?

YES!  I did and made some lifelong friends!  There is a very remote section that goes from Bridge of Orchy to Kingshouse that I would recommend joining up with others on the trail just because there is nothing for 50 square miles in case you should need assistance.  You can also take a public bus to skip this section if the weather is bad as you would be quite exposed.  This is what I ended up doing because of super cold rain.

Can you do a guided or self-guided walk?

YES!  I chose to do a self-guided hike.  This means that I paid a company to plan my itinerary, book my lodging and arrange for my daily luggage transfer and provide me with maps.  So while they made all the plans according to the number of days I wanted to hike, I hiked solo (although many times I hiked with fellow walkers along the trail).  I recommend using my affiliate, One Foot Abroad – use Promo Code ATA5 to get 5% off any of their guided or self-guided tours!

You can also hire a company to guide you in a small group if you prefer to always have company and a local keeping an eye out for you.

Is the trail well marked and safe?

YES!  You will see the iconic trailmarker, a thistle, at all intersections where you would need to make a decision.  The path is quite evident at all times so you are unlikely to get lost.  Much of the time you are walking along old trade routes, military trails and drover’s paths (paths that they transfer livestock to new fields), so it’s pretty simple with a low grade.

I never once felt unsafe.  The locals are helpful and friendly as are your fellow walkers.  This is a great trail to experience solo travel or long distance self-guided adventure travel for the first time!

When to Walk the West Highland Way

To me, the best time to walk the West Highland Way (WHW) is early June… the weather is warming and it’s before the midges emerge, or wait until fall.

Early spring is a popular time for locals to hike the WHW.  It’s a great chance to see wildflowers and experience less crowds.  Summer is quite popular, but you need to be aware of the dreaded midges that appear starting sometime in June and last for a couple of months (bring a head bug net).  You can hike the WHW into October. Weather Averages

What to Pack

ALWAYS be prepared for all four seasons EVERY day of the year.  Pack rain and thermal gear in your daypack.  Bring waterproof gloves and pants along with your rain jacket, plus bring a thermal jacket (and pants if you are hiking in spring or fall).  The photo below on the right is the summit near Fort William after my hike IN JUNE on Jamie’s birthday hike!  Cold, cold, cold wet rain!  But that can be Scotland, so be prepared, and pack your daypack accordingly!

One Foot Abroad

I recommend my affiliate, One Foot Abroad, to help you plan your West Highland Way adventure.  They can plan all the logistics for you so all you have to do is train and show up to walk!  Based on your needs, they can tailor your average daily milage, accommodations, arrange for luggage transfer and will provide you with a map and guidebook.  They can also arrange for airport transfers.  Use Promo Code ATA5 for a 5% discount on ANY One Foot Abroad (or their sister company, Follow the Camino for El Camino adventures). 

You’ll save money while helping to support the podcast and this website, plus helping to keep it ad free – thanks!  Kit

  Where to Stay on the West Highland Way

While you have many options of TYPES of lodging, there are not much QUANTITY of lodging so it is super important that you book in advance so you’ll have a place to sleep!  There are towns located a day’s walk so that you usually won’t have to walk more than 16 miles (25 km) each day.  The earlier you book, the better options you will have, and the more control over your daily milage!   You usually have a choice of:

Camping :  You can even wild camp almost everywhere along the trail, except along Loch Lommond, where there are campsites.

Guest Houses

Hotels

Towns along the West Highland Way

Glasgow:  You can start here and walk the Kelvin Walkway to the trailhead in Milngavie

Approximate distances:

• Milngavie to Drymen 12 miles (19 km)
• Drymen to Balmaha 7 miles (11 km)
• Balmaha to Rowardennan 7 miles (11 km)
• Rowardennan to Inverarnan 7 miles (11 km)
• Inverarnan to Tyndrum 12 miles (19 km)
• Tyndrum to Kingshouse 20 miles (32 km)
• Kingshouse to Kinlochleven 9 miles (15 km)
• Kinlochleven to Fort William 16 miles (26 km)

If you have the time, take a day off the trail at Kingshouse and then take the bus over to Glen Coe.  ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS area!!!  Spend the night and then take a bus back to the Kinghouse bus stop to continue your hike.  Your tour company can arrange transport as well (for a fee of course).

FAQ’s Frequently Asked Questions

ATMs

Many places only take cash and some of the smaller towns don’t have an ATM.  So get money in Glasgow, Milngavie or Drymen.  The banks have an agreement with the Post Offices to let you withdraw money from a debit card.

Dogs

Dogs are allowed ON LEASH only, and particularly in pasture land, must be strictly controlled to avoid endangering or fightening livestock.  Pick up after your dog.  NOTE: Dogs may not be permitted in lodging.

Do I have to walk the whole way?

No, but there are places where it is difficult to easily get public transportation back to your base.  Here are places with bus services.  An alternative is a taxi.  The earlier you book, the better your chances of getting lodging the distance you want to walk each day!  Otherwise, you might have a couple of super long days, as lodging options are minimal in some of the smaller villages.  BOOK EARLY!!!

• Milngavie to Dryman
• Drymen to Balmaha
• Inverarnan to Crianlarich
• Crianlarich to Tyndrum
• Tyndrum to Bridge of Orchy
• Bridge of Orchy to Kingshouse (tell driver you want to stop there)
• Kinlochleven to Fort William

Luggage Transfer Services

YAY!!! There is a way to have your luggage moved each day to your next lodging so you don’t have to carry anything but your lunch, water and a day pack!

You could of course backpack it, but for a nominal fee AMS or Sherpa Van can move your bag for you.  They have a limit of one bag weighing under 44 lbs (20 kg) for the single fee.  This service runs from late March to mid-October.  Your tour company will make these arrangements for you.  Use Promo Code ATA5 to get 5% off your One Foot Abroad tour!

You have your bag ready by 9 am and they deliver it to the evening’s lodging by late afternoon.  You prebook everything in advance or your self-guided tour company can make the arrangements for you.

 

 

How Many Days to Walk the WHW?

My friend Simon backpacked it in three days, but most humans take at least a week to walk it.   I would recommend taking seven to ten days so you have time to relax and enjoy the cute villages you stay in without being so pooped!   I would also recommend taking a day off the trail at Kingshouse and go visit Glen Coe.  The drive alone is worth it (you can take a bus directly from the trail if you flag it down!).  If you don’t want to take the bus, your tour company can arrange transport for you (as an add-on).

Intrigued by Long Distance Hikes?

Check these out trails covered by the Active Travel Adventures podcast:

Kungsleden (the King’s Trail) Sweden

Mont Blanc (France, Switzerland and Italy)

El Camino

Machu Picchu Peru

Kilimanjaro Tanzania

Annapurna Nepal

Cotswold Way England

Fisherman’s Walk Portugal

St. Olav Ways Norway

Kumano Koda Japan

Costa Rica Camino

UK’s Best Walking Holidays

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 Welcome the Active Travel Adventures podcast where we curate multi-day active travel vacations from around the world for people who have kept themselves reasonably fit.  Subscribe here to the podcast so you don’t miss an episode (click view in iTunes under the ATA logo and then click Subscribe under the ATA logo)

 These adventures aren’t crazy hard or dangerous like climbing Mount Everest… they are doable, uber fun vacations for those that are in decent physical shape.  Just know that you’ll have to MOVE:  hike, bike, paddle, horseback ride (sometimes in combination) to get from one place to the next.

003 : Hiking Scotland’s Popular West Highland Way Trail

I flew over 3,600 miles and walked over 100 miles to attend a new friend’s birthday party in Scotland. To get to the party, I hiked on Scotland’s most popular and imminently doable long-distance trail through multiple medieval villages and the sheep studded countryside. The West Highland Way trail should be a consideration on your next adventure travel list. When Jamie, a Scot I met in Nicaragua, invited our hiking group to his 40th birthday hike with his friends in Scotland, I jumped at the chance. After all, how often do you get the opportunity to truly hang out like a local? You first met Jamie in the Nicaragua episode number one. He was the gent that danced with me in the town square. Jamie lives in Glasgow and his birthday hiking weekend was going to be in Fort Williams. It’s about 100 miles north. However, I couldn’t rationalize flying across the pond for a three-day weekend, so I figured that there must be something cool I could do while I was over there.

The West Highland Way Guide Book

I did a quick Google search. Scotland’s most popular long-distance hike, the West Highland Way, goes from just outside Glasgow, where Jamie lives and ends in Fort William where the birthday party was. Plus, there’s another trail called the Kelvin Walkway that starts in Glasgow and ends at the beginning of the West Highland Way. I was able to hike directly from outside my Glasgow hotel all the way to the birthday party. The West Highland Way is a stunningly beautiful moderately difficult hike through the Western Scottish Highlands. About 85,000 people hike the 96-mile trail each year taking anywhere from four to ten days depending on their pace. The trail is dotted with centuries-old villages, livestock, lakes called lochs in Scotland, castle ruins and gentle hills.

I love to backpack but I have to say that I have a new appreciation for doing a long-distance hike where you get to take a shower at the end of the day. I can get to have a cold brew, a hot dinner and a cozy bed. I used a self-guided tour company so my main luggage was transported each day to the next stop. All I need to do is a daypack. At 57 years old, I’m sold on this new luxury. Leaving the city was more scenic than I expected. I had a little difficulty getting on the trail sometimes through the town but I found Charlie Loram’s West Highland Way guide was helpful. Most of the locals I asked had no idea there even was a trail. Locals not knowing about a trail is not as uncommon as you might think. There have been two times when I was in a trail town on the Appalachian Trail and couldn’t find a local who even knew that the trail went right through their town.

I never got seriously lost, but I want to give accolades to one if not the single best guide book I’ve ever bought. It not only tells you the nitty gritty about hiking the trail but also has color photos of the flora and fauna and a great hand-drawn little, “Don’t miss this little map,†along with official maps. The guidebook is put out by a company called Trailblazer and they have a guidebook on dozens of long-distance hiking and cycling trails. I’ve been experimenting with not doing much if any research on the places I’m traveling to see if the surprise adds to the experience. This has been making things a little bit more interesting. After booking this tour with zero knowledge of the landscape of Scotland or frankly anything other than its starting and endpoint, I did ask my friend, Jamie, if I had inadvertently booked a technical hike. He assured me that they didn’t have any dangerous or very high mountains along this particular trail. Frankly, I was so busy with work. I didn’t do any further research before heading over there. My tour company had sent me the aforementioned guide along with a nice waterproof map and I’m so grateful for it. It was fabulous. They have all this nice reference material to use for my adventure.

I met Mike from MikesRoadTrip.com. He makes all these cool videos of his trips. I spent an afternoon with him one day and he has this cool drone and a GoPro with a little gimbal. That’s the thing that stabilizes the video. I was like, “That’s so cool. I’m going to get all that stuff.†I had these visions of bringing you all these cool videos from Scotland so I bought all this junk. I brought it but I didn’t have time to practice with it or even get the thing working. It was heavy. It came in before my trip. I brought it over there. I don’t know what I’m doing. Anyhow, I carry around that heavy stuff and messed up my knee, which ends up troubling me for the rest of the trip. I should have known better. I usually train before I do an adventure vacation. Not only didn’t I train, but I was also carrying way too much weight. It’s a lesson learned. There are no videos on that.

The Great Glen Way

As there are many towns along the way, you can do this adventure in a short period of time like my speedy friend, Simon, who I met on the trail who blew through the trail in about five days. He went on to hike another long-distance trail called the Great Glen Way that goes from Fort Williams to Inverness or take your time as I did. The average day I did was about thirteen miles per day, which is about how long it takes before my feet start screaming. The trail starts in a town called Milngavie. There is a grand obelisk that starts the trail right at the head and you walk under this nice bronze West Highland Way overhead arch and off you go into this very gentle path through the woods. It was a very scenic and very serene woods at the start of the trail. It was a cool way to start.

A lot of the trail uses old military and drovers’ roads. Drovers’ roads are where they drive the cattle and sheep when they’re changing pastures. It’s a lot of easy grade on this trail. It’s not a very hard hike. The first day ends in the little town of Drymen. This is a little quaint village of fewer than 1,000 people in Scotland’s oldest pub called the Clachan pub. Officially, this pub’s license says it began operation in 1734, but local lore says otherwise. This pub serves fraoch, a heather based ale using a recipe that is over 4,000 years old. Drymen is also the western terminus of another long-distance hike in Scotland called the Rob Roy Way. Rob Roy who is a local legend died in 1734. He was part of the Jacobite uprising and in his lifetime became a local legend. Locals say that Rob Roy’s sister was the landlady of the Clachan pub.

Rowardennan

A recurring theme you will read is about the exchanges with fellow travelers. The locals that you meet in your travels and how they become the bedrock of your favorite memories. After finishing my first day’s hike, I arrived in Drymen before the rooms were ready. There are some sitting in the comfy lobby getting warmed up in front of the fire. I met an Australian named Russell and an expat American living in Canada named Linda. You bond so quickly when you are an adventure traveler. The three of us not only kept up for the duration of our hike but also thereafter. We all know that whenever we are in each other’s turf that we will reconnect. Russell and I ended up hiking together the next day to Rowardennan before taxiing back to Balmaha to sleep. The accommodations are tight along the West Highland Way because the towns are small so it’s best to book early or to plan on camping.

Even though at first I was disappointed that I wasn’t able to get a room in the picturesque Rowardennan, when Russell and I encountered our first midges while enjoying our little post-hike beer outside, it turned out to be a good thing. Midges are these super annoying teeny tiny gnats that bite but mostly drive you batty. Where I live in North Carolina, we have something similarly annoying called no-see-ums because they are so hard to see. I did pack this netty headgear in case the midges drove me crazy, but I never had a reason to put it on. In fact, the only time I had an issue with these bugs at all was over that one beer in Rowardennan. One reason that June is the preferred month to hike the West Highland Way is because the midges aren’t so bad then. Apparently, they can get maddening later in the summer, but this little inexpensive head nets can help you out there.

By now, Russell and I are hiking alongside the Loch Lomond. The Queen Elizabeth Forest Park is in the town of Balmaha and has a spectacular overlook on Conic Hill. We were blessed with picture-perfect weather for the summit. Less than 100 people live in this little town of Balmaha, but it is a popular day trip from Glasgow due to its scenic beauty on this Loch Lomond and this panoramic Conic Hill Vista. When you’re in Balmaha, you can take a ferry ride around the loch or go over to the Inchcailloch. They’ve got a little pub at the Oak Tree Inn, which is the only place to sleep and eat outside a couple of ice cream places. This little place has won Scotland’s best independent pub award twice. I thought the food was tasty too and I would like to say kudos to them because they are the only place in town that could get away with being awful.

Alongside The Loch Lomond

Speaking of summits, Scotland’s mountains aren’t overly tall. In Scotland, they call it hill walking. Most mountains aren’t over 3,000 feet or 1,000 meters. However, there are some 283 that are over 1,000 meters and many people like my Scottish friends, Jamie and Julie, count how many times they climb these 3,000-footers. They call it Munro Bagging after the gentleman who first counted how many there were that were over 3,000 feet. Going to back to my first night in Scotland, I thought there was something I learned from Jamie that was a very interesting insight into the Scottish humor. When I flew into Glasgow, Jamie and I met for drinks and dinner. We had drinks at a new American bar he wanted to show me that featured Pabst Blue Ribbon as preferred American beer. I thought it was hysterical that this bar was using one of our cheapest beers to highlight American beer. I thought it was pretty shrewd profitably on the owner’s part.

On the way to dinner, we walked past the Gallery of Modern Art in the Royal Exchange Square. In front of the museum is a bronze statue of the first Duke of Wellington sitting on a horse. On top of his head, people keep putting plastic orange traffic cones. Several decades ago, a prankster put a cone on top of his head. The locals thought this was a hoot and it was art so the cone keeps getting replaced. In 2011, Lonely Planet listed this tribute as one of the ten most bizarre monuments on Earth. I did sense that Jamie was proud of his countrymen’s in your face art. He said the locals consider it modern art because it’s in front of the Modern Art Museum. The locals are quite fond of it. The local government spends over £10,000 a year to continuously remove these plastic cones, but the locals are fond of it that somebody sticks that cone right back on as soon as they take it off. They are as persistent in replacing it. A Facebook “Keep the Cone†petition garnered over 72,000 likes in just 24 hours after the City Council planned to raise the statue up to inhibit the cone people. It’s not bad for a city with a population under 600,000. The photo of this cone hit is a hoot so be sure to check it out.

While walking along the Loch Lomond, Russell and I were fortunate to witness a young couple getting ready to get married. We watched the wedding party and the handsome young groomsmen in their cute kilts making all the preparations for the ceremony along the waterfront. We were tempted to stay for the ceremony. Gratefully, I had booked a rest day in Balmaha, which gave my knee a bit of a respite. The next day, I had a fourteen-mile hike that was challenging, but not a killer for most people. Yet, it still took me nine hours to hike the fourteen miles to the Drymen Inn in Inverarnan. This happened also to be the most difficult day’s hike of the entire trail, yet I still would rank this a 3.5 out of 5 for difficulty for this one day. There were some rock steps so it’s definitely more up and down stepping than the other days, but this is still a doable hike for most people that are in decent shape. It was hard for me because of my bad knee. I would give the whole West Highland Way hike a three out of five difficulty rating.

Let’s talk about the historic Drymen Inn, which is located at the north end of the gorgeous Loch Lomond. I was tired that day. My knee hurt, I was thirsty, I was hungry and all that stuff. This inn, which does have a charm and has been around for centuries is different. It is covered in Taxidermied stuffed animal and all sorts of trophies all over the place. I was so glad to get off my feet. Jamie and his mom drove up from Glasgow to join me for dinner and to see how I was doing. Our meals were good, the service is good and the ambiance is very festive. I felt like I wanted to bring out a feather duster to clean up the place a little bit. The Drymen Inn is a place that you’ve got to see, but it won’t be your favorite place to stay on the hike. I was in the new wing, which is a building across the street that was very retro. The furnishings were dated from the ‘70s. The bathroom was remodeled a little bit newer than that. It was clean enough but it was motel-ly, I would say. It was my least favorite room of the whole stay.

The next day’s hike seemed to be mostly level or uphill and happily, my knee now only troubled me when I was going downhill for some reason. Early in the hike, I met this funny and charming man named Simon from England. He and I hiked together all the way to my endpoint of the day at Tyndrum. Simon treated me to a nice lunch. Afterwards, he hiked on another seven miles to the Bridge of Orchy. He also went another long-distance hike from there. It’s another 73 miles on the Great Glen Way to Inverness. That’s another option for ambitious hikers. There are tons and tons of long-distance hikes in Scotland and a lot of them intersects so you can hike as long as you want.

My knee was still troubling me and I was scheduled to hike twenty miles. Mind you, I had only hiked twenty miles once in my life on the Appalachian Trail. Knowing that I was in for some unpleasant Scottish cold rain this day, I planned to start my hike at 5:00 AM. The weather was that nasty 40-degree rain shooting darts sideways piercing into your eyeballs kind of rain. Dutifully, I set out for Bridge of Orchy seven miles away promptly at 5:00. It wasn’t a difficult hike but it was cold. I had all of the right gear except my gloves were thermal but not waterproof so I didn’t bother to wear them because all I’ll do is make it nasty. Simon had mentioned to me about waterproof gloves, but I hadn’t found any stores to buy a pair. By the time I reached Bridge of Orchy, my hands were frozen claws from clutching my hiking poles.

Bridge of Orchy

I had all the right other gear so the rest of me was toasty, but I couldn’t even move the fingers in my hands. They were seemingly permanently hooked like they were holding the grip of my hiking sticks. When I made it to the town and found a little inn to get some coffee and a warm breakfast, I went in to wash up and I couldn’t even grip the toilet paper. My hands were so frozen. They kept falling out of my hands. In the restaurant, I was embarrassed about making such a puddle with all of my wet clothes, but the innkeepers seemed non-plussed. They smiled and said that they were used to it. Now toasty and reading my trusty guide, the next thirteen miles of the day were across the most barren land of the hike.

The house or road for 50 square miles, in this awful weather, if I had any mishap or got lost or injured, I would be in serious trouble. Plus, I was still having these knee issues. I decided to use my grey hairs and I made the executive decision to use the backup plan that my tour company provided me. I ended up taking the local bus to my next destination. It’s the best £4.50 I ever spent. The rest of the day was spent leisurely looking out the big picture window at the ski lodge while eating delicious hot soup and enjoying hot chocolate and just having a lovely afternoon. There is this big picture window and there were a ski slope and a mountain bike trail. There are these two young boys going up and down the ski and riding their biking down and their smiles were priceless. They entertained me for hours while I awaited my shuttle bus.

Kinlochleven

My right knee appreciated the time off so the hike to Kinlochleven wasn’t so bad, despite climbing the Devil’s Staircase. The view from the top of the Devil’s Staircase is a highlight and I was grateful that the weather was once again cooperating. It is straight up and it’s a bit hard. I’m inclined to believe the story that it got the name Devil’s Staircase from the builders of the stone steps rather than the climbers calling it the Devil’s Staircase. It’s a bit difficult but not that killer. The view is killer though. Heading into the town of Kinlochleven, you’ll see some massive hydroelectric tubes to your right built for an aluminum smelting business. Kinlochleven is a modest town of just over 1,000 residents can boast that it was the first town in the world where every single home had electricity.

When you make it to Kinlochleven, you’ll find that it’s a cute little town at the head of Loch Leven and is surrounded by fjord-like mountains. While you’re there, don’t miss stopping by the famous Bothy Bar in the MacDonald Hotel. Coming from the US where we think something is old when it’s 100 years old, it was amazing to me that all these places that are centuries old don’t even bother announcing how old they are. When hiking this trail, you can hear and read a lot about the MacDonalds, which is a large and proud Scottish clan. When you’ve made it to Kinlochleven, you’ve just past the Glencoe past area, which is stunningly beautiful. I thought it was the prettiest area in the whole trip. This is the site of the Glencoe massacre of 1692. It’s infamous because 38 unarmed MacDonalds were murdered by the Earl of Argyll’s regiment led by Robert Campbell. This massacre was authorized by the government. What makes the crime so heinous is that this regiment had been the guests of the MacDonalds for a couple of weeks before they turned around and killed their hosts.

Here it is 300 years later. I saw signs on some businesses saying, “No Campbell is welcome.†After Kinlochleven, we are into the home stretch of the hike into Fort William, which is a decent sized town of about 10,000 residents. It has all the amenities and a cute downtown area on the water. Fort William is an adventure traveler’s mecca. Not only is the hiking good in this area, but the mountain biking is also a big attraction. That Great Glen Way trail that Simon continued on can also be biked as well as hiked from this area. While in town, it’s a worthy stop to stop at the West Highland Museum so you can learn a little bit more about the history of Scotland and the clans. The original fort at Fort Williams was built in 1654 and you can see remnants of a fort on the hike as you come into town.

Mallaig

The trail ends in the heart of town on the pedestrian main road at the sore feet bronze statue designed by David A Annand. Another tip-off of Scottish sensibilities and humor, you can see my smiling face sitting next to Mr. Sore Feet at the website. Many hikers add to their hike a climb of Ben Nevis, the UK’s highest peak at over 4,400 feet which is in Fort William. I’m still a bit concerned about my knee so I choose a different path. I met up again with my new hiking friend, Simon and we had dinner the night I arrived in Fort William. The next day after a coffee with Simon, I’m still a bit concerned about my knee. I chose a different path. I ended up taking the famous scenic train ride to Mallaig. This is a picture postcard beautiful perfect ride. You take this extraordinarily beautiful train ride to Mallaig, have lunch, visit the museum to learn about the town’s history and its importance as western Scotland’s most important commercial fishing port, walk around a bit and take a train back.

While I was there, I found an Outfitters so I was able to buy a pair of waterproof gloves. You can also take a historic steam train up there. It’s the same view and it’s the regular train so it just cost a little bit more. I took the regular one. Jamie and his friends arrived the next day. It was so cool to hang out with his friends and they didn’t seem to mind that I was an old lady. Granted they’re young enough to be my kids, but they seemed cool having me around. Jamie’s mom, Carol, also came too so I wasn’t the only one of a certain age. We were at a large party. It was hard to find a restaurant to take us to dinner without reservations so we ended up at this Chinese restaurant that had no customers, which made us a little bit nervous as all of the other restaurants were packed. Gratefully, everything went well and happily. There had been many customers before we left. I had been worried about food turnover and sanitation issues, etc. I’m happy to report that no one got sick and we all enjoyed our meal.

The next day was the big hike for Jamie’s birthday. We took a train to the mountain for our climb. The weather that day was as pleasant as my clawed hand day. It was bitter raw cold awful piercing rain with about ten feet of visibility. I was so grateful for my new waterproof gloves because I was fine even though the weather was miserable. My mom always told me that if you have the right clothes, it doesn’t make a difference what the weather is. She is right. The funny thing about adventure travel is that when you look back, it’s the things that didn’t go well that you remember most fondly. I think about how I couldn’t hold toilet paper that morning. My hands were frozen, but I notice that I am smiling when I think about it or I tell the story. I think about climbing Mount Munro for Jamie’s birthday when we were pretty much in whiteout conditions and unable to see a few feet in front of ourselves in this bitter cold piercing rain. We only pause briefly at the summit for a quick photo op before racing back down to get into some heat. It was one of the highlights of our trip. I was blessed with good weather on most of my trip except for the two days I just mentioned.

Back To Fort William

I find that it’s overcoming the obstacles and persevering that I remember most and that I remember most fondly. Overcoming obstacles seems to make me proud of myself and I seem to enjoy pushing myself. When we’re back down the mountain, we’re now safely warm with soup in our bellies while we waited for the train back to Fort Williams. We were laughing in the cold and the rain. We cheered our endurance. We relished reliving the misery. On any adventure trip I take when I look back, it’s the things that went wrong or the most difficult challenges that set the adventure apart from others and that’s where the memories come from. When I look back on this adventure, I smile more about that clawed hand than I do about the perfect view on the top of Conic Hill. I think it must do with us pushing ourselves, enduring the challenges and then triumphing over them.

People who choose to do adventure travel for their vacations are different than most people. We seem to have this odd pat ourselves on the back for overcoming the challenges mentality. We seemed to thrive on it a little bit. We get dirty and sweaty and are often uncomfortable and sometimes in a little pain. My family and friends sometimes don’t understand why I’m doing this. Some friends are envious, but they wouldn’t do it themselves. If you are reading this, I’m betting that you are one of my people and you get it. I’m so glad you do.

My takeaway of hiking the West Highland Way in Scotland is that this is a very doable hike for almost anyone in good shape. You can do it self-guided as I did it, you can plan your own adventure and even backpack the trip like Simon did. Although when he heard about how I had my luggage transferred, he wished he had done that. The West Highland Way is a very popular trail and the accommodations in these small villages are limited so you need to plan well in advance. Be sure to download the free West Highland Way cheatsheet that you can find on the website. You’ll get it automatically if you subscribe to the newsletter and in that way, you can either file it in your computer or print it out and have a little dream bucket list book.

If you haven’t done so already, please subscribe to the Active Travel Adventures podcast. If you don’t know how to, you can visit any of my webpages to find the link that will show you how. If you have subscribed, thank you. You’re one of the early adopters of this podcast technology. Most people don’t even know what a podcast is. Could you please do me a favor and honor of grabbing a friend’s phone and subscribing them to Active Travel Adventures so you can enlighten them on this cool new tool called a podcast. At any time, please feel free to email me at Kit@ActiveTravelAdventures.com. I love hearing from you, I like to hear your suggestions, your comments and destinations. Let’s keep in touch. Until next time. Adventure on.

 

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