Scotland

West Highland Way, Kingshouse to Kinlochleven

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Day 7 of 8 on the West Highland Way wrapped up both in pouring rain and in sunshine…

We started today’s 14.5km trek from the beautiful Kingshouse Hotel in Glen Coe, after our 745am breakfast.

Today we had the infamous Devil’s Staircase as our first hurdle on the trail and everyone was keen to hit this highest point of the West Highland Way at 550m before the rain started. We made quick work of the meal so we could get boots on trail asap. By 815 am most of us were out the door!

The path started with some a couple of gentle climbs but largely level, open and wide track for about 3.6km from the hotel to the base of the Devil’s Staircase. The rain looked to be holding off for us and we were thankful!

I actually hadn’t had the chance to hike and chat with Niki (Spicy Hobbit) yet so took full advantage of this mostly level section for some good, deep trail chat when her and I started to pace with each other .. had to get the chats in before I didn’t have the breath to talk her ear off.

Arriving at the base of the Devil’s Staircase you can look over the road back into Glen Coe and get a great photo of this small, white cottage against the dramatic landscape – I remember this same view well from my first time up this climb in 2008. A quick pic and then the climb began.

The Devil’s Staircase is often thought to be the toughest part of the trail but I think the name suggests more than the punch it packs. It does peak out at 550m but you are technically already at about 270m elevation and takes about 45mins.

The path itself is a single, stone, loose rock or sand path that zig zags the Munro face to the top. While this trail design called ‘switchbacks’ is a clear sign to hikers that there is some decent ascent (or descent depending on your direction) ahead, it is much easier to hike than straight up (pr down) shenanigans!

Also, as a hiker terrified of heights – yes, that’s me – I will take switchbacks over a sketchy straight to the top climb any day!

You just keep swimming, just jeep swimming, just keep swimming .. if you get tired on the climb there are some little passing place pullouts for a quick rest, opportunity to be amazed AGAIN by the view, and then back at it. Just keep swimming. I was chasing our day’s pace car Kristi (Ka-chow) and Lori (Goose) up the path – stopping to take pics or film video along the way. If you look closely in the pic above you can just make out Ka-chow and Goose up ahead.

At the top you are rewarded with 360 views. Looking back across the valley and climb you just traversed and a view of the undulating track ahead. We made it up before the rain started.

With only a very light mist was in the air at the top, I had such fun greeting the crew as they came up and over the last stretch of the climb! Encouraging those who wanted to carry on to the rest of the trail ahead – assuring folks us lingering at the too peeps would not be far behind! A little too chilly up there to hang out for too long today but I did have to wait for Shar (Early Bear) and Nikki who decided to quickly bag the adjacent Munro top, Bien Bheag at 616m for kicks.If you zoom in you can see there wee little bodies at the top!

Once everyone was up, we were on our way down the other side for a fantastic afternoon of undulating forest path. The rain hit pretty hard a couple of times but with the biggest climb of the day behind us it wasn’t too much bother. Most electing to just wear a rain jacket and forgo the rain pants with such a short distance (less than 10km) to finish.

Unfortunately the day ended with a long, steep forest gravel road down into Kinlochleven. You were still largely in the forest so it was pretty all around but the grade of the decline was very ouch on any sore joints or feet. The image below is a photo looking back up the road to show the grade – and it does not do justice to the angle we were trudging. My knee hated every step of this part of the trail today!

But no worries, despite the pouring rain and sore bodies from that decline section, we all showed up smiling at the Trailrace Inn that greets walker’s as they enter Kinlochleven at about 130pm for an end of day pint and some lunch at their pub. Walkers were arriving in drive’s after us and soon the place was fabulously busy.

By the time we left the pub the rain stopped and we headed to the Edencoille Guest House – we had almost every room in the place for our overnight in Kinlochleven. Most of us electing for an afternoon of sunshine on their front deck before dinner. Amazing!

The stats of the day:

  • Trail: West Highland Way, Scotland
  • Day: 7/8 Finished!
  • To/From: Kingshouse/Kinlochleven
  • Start/Finish time: 8:15/1:30pm
  • Distance: 14.5km (14.9km Hiiker)
  • Steps: 25,736
  • Terrain: single track to, over and down from the Devil’s Staircase. The a wide gravel road decent into Kinlochleven
  • Breaky: full Scottish breakfast
  • Lunch n Snacks: baby croissant sandwich, Mac and cheese
  • Dinner: cottage pie
  • Pints: 3
  • Tonight’s home: Edencoille Guest House
  • Mood: smiling
  • Body: feeling great.. except on the gravel road decent, a knee killer!
  • Highlights: the views, wow just wow
  • Lowlights: the gravel road
  • People of interest: the Scots guy who ran the Balcony Bar and Inn like a well oiled machine
  • Spontaneous dancing: nope
  • Deep thoughts: empty ziplocks, a silk liner and laundry soap are necessary in a long distance hike

Next up is the finish line, Day 8 from Kinlochleven to Fort William!

Brande

West Highland Way, Kinlochleven to Fort William

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Finish line! That’s a wrap – our merry crew of West Highland Way walkers rambled into Fort William on Friday and sat down next to the guy with sore feet to celebrate our success!

And a special treat, our last day on the trail post is thanks to Shar (Early Bear) …

The morning started with a bittersweet (yet delicious) breakfast. Each of us filled with excitement for the finish line we have all worked so hard for and the sorrow of this amazing adventure coming to end.

Greeted with showers as we left the B&B and made our way through Kinchlochleven to rejoin the trail only to be faced with a steep climb up and into a beautiful trail winding through a glen so green and generously speckled with heather.

As the trail wandered through this lush valley, we danced over many small creek crossing, passed through the shadows of the surrounding monroes, coming across ruins of an old farm and cottage.

Shortly after passing the tall lone pine on the hillside, the trail leads you into a conifer plantation and onto a single undulating forest trail where we were welcomed by a herd of grazing sheep.

It was shortly into this part of the trail that hints of the great Ben Nevis whispered in our ears and teased our sight.

A steep ascent up and onto a forest road lead is down and into the Nevis Valley as we inched towards the finish line in Fort Williams’s Gordon’s square.

Although the surrounding was intensely stunning as Ben Nevis dramatically comes into full view, the last of the trail leaving the wilderness behind us was underwhelming.

With a short journey leading us through a small forested recreation area and onto a tarmac sidewalk where we pushed hard to get past and into Fort William.

The treck from this point on was a bit torturous – pavement is not a welcomed trail surface after journeying through the amazing landscape of the past 7.5days.

Passing the original end marker and onto High Street was pretty exciting for those whom have not visited Fort William previous to this adventure! And exciting for Brande (Doctor Boots) as this was the only finish line that existed her first completing the Way in 2008.

As we made our way to the end of the Way all our group gathered to cheer each walker as they got the man with sore feet on the bench waiting for us!

We hit the Black Isle Bar (pictured behind us above) for a celebration pint. There was even a toast from our resident Newfoundlanders, or as some on the trail may know them as as Impossible Turtle and Twisted Lobster or more recently C&C Walking Factory. All rights reserved, copyright, etc.

A Toast to the WHW

Devil’s staircase couldn’t break us
the paths before did take us
through glens of thistle and heather.
We crossed them all together
today, we ended the way in style
and celebrate every mile.
So cheers to the fast and furious,
here’s to the last and curious
to the keeners and in-betweeners
Slàinte Mhath and long may your big jib draw

What an amazing journey. How can something that feels so many days, so many kilometers, so many blisters, so many trail hurdles away come to an end so very fast? Already there is talk of what trail is on the books for our 2025 reunion!

Brande’s stats of the day …

  • Trail: West Highland Way, Scotland
  • Day: 8/8 Trail Complete
  • To/From: Kinlochleven/Fort William
  • Start/Finish time: 9:30/5:20pm
  • Distance: 23km (25.4km Hiiker)
  • Steps: 37,493
  • Terrain: single track up and up out of Kinlochleven, wide track through the Glen, into single track through forest and finally gravel road down to tarmac in Fort William
  • Breaky: full Scottish breakfast (scones were warm! mmmm)
  • Lunch n Snacks: baby bacon sandwich, cheese, jerky, candy, orange juice
  • Dinner: Grog & Gruel Chili Dog
  • Pints: 4
  • Tonight’s home: Stobahn Guest House
  • Mood: smiling, maybe even happy tears
  • Body: feeling really good, the hips are all that made themselves know yesterday – need to make sure I am not changing my stride for this brace
  • Highlights: the second half of the day on single forest track, amazing scenery with some hard work – my favorite
  • Lowlights: gravel road down to tarmac
  • People of interest: the little 6yr old girl walking the entire Way with her family without a care in the world
  • Spontaneous dancing: nope
  • Deep thoughts: there may be a reason trail and trial have the same letters (trial, an experience to test quality and value)

Now off the prep for the East Highland Way that starts for 2 of us on Sunday July 16!

Shar

West Highland Way, Orchy to Kingshouse

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That’s a wrap on Day 6 of 8 on our West Highland Way adventure! What a fantastic day. l love how after a few days into a day after day walking adventure – the trail distances start getting easier and easier. We knocked off 20km in 5 hours when a similar distance days ago was taking the group 10!

We started with a lovely breakfast together, most having a full Scottish or at least something warm/cooked. As folks were ready to go (carry forward bag left in reception, packed lunch tucked away in a rucksack) they started out across the historic Bridge of Orchy.

The path started with a pretty good uphill climb up and up on a single track through forest and then clear cut forest to amazing views.

From there we dropped back down to walk along a tarmac road for about 30mins – where we passed the most energetic and interesting shop owner at the Inveroran Hotel. He was standing outside congratulating us on hitting the 100km mark and suggesting ice cream to celebrate. Everyone who passed had a little bit of a different but still wholly excited experience. Sounds like Cheryl and Charmaine even had the pleasure of hearing play guitar and sing with inside the shop grabbing something.

On the tarmac, we passed a few farms and field. You may get a chance to see some local cows on some of our group’s Instagram accounts – they were next to the fence and so cute. Shortly, we made a quick turn and we’re back in or among the forest to start our very long trek on the Drover’s road where we experienced the life of cattle of old.

Drover’s roads existed (with many still around today and often part of the National trail system) for farmers in the good ole days to drive / walk their cattle to market. There was usually an Inn or hut for the Drover himself to shelter in at night along the route. We saw many of these as ruins but some are still around as Inns, bothies or private homes. We had the chance to have dinner at one, aptly names the Drover’s Inn, a couple days ago.

The actual Drover’s road itself reminds me of a cobblestone concept – rocks of all shapes and sizes across the road way pressed into the dirt to create a ‘road’ that unfortunately is pretty rough under foot. Good luck finding a flat spot to step. You really need to pay attention to each step or risk an ankle roll. We had almost 10km of this surface but the weather was great, not to much for incline or declines, and we had lots of rivers and bridges and the view to keep us entertained.

We had mostly great weather – some threat of rain but it settled itself into mist only and then back to sunshine – making for a great opportunity to take some photos and have a nice long break!

As we got closer to the end of the day, you could really see the view start to change – we were coming across Rannoch Moor with its beautiful expanse of open moorland (heather, grasses, some wild flowers and very very soggy soil without a tree anywhere for the eye to see) and then finally up and up over the shoulder of Bien Chaorach (a small Munro) and we had views of Glen Coe. Wow!

It was not too long from here where we could spot the Glen Coe Ski Resort in the distance and not too much farther the Kingshouse Hotel.

I was really excited to stay at this Hotel again. When I stayed in 2008 it was an oasis in the middle of nowhere after a pretty lonely day on the trail. I literally saw not a soul when I did this section back in 2008 – today we saw 50 people I bet including like full families! I also heard they had put in 12+million pounds to upgrade the place too.

The hotel did not disappoint – what a great place to stay! We met for drinks in the bar, our group growing as folks finished their day. A few took naps and/or met in the hikers bar (a little more our style aka less fancy) for some Quirkle and a pint before our dinner reservation and a much deserved good night’s sleep.

The stats:

  • Trail: West Highland Way, Scotland
  • Day: 6/8 Finished!
  • To/From: Bridge of Orchy / Kingshouse
  • Start/Finish time: 8:30/2:30pm
  • Distance: 20km (19.8km Hiiker)
  • Steps: 27,290
  • Terrain: single track up and up and up to start then down into wide track but like old cobble stone street – hard under foot ,
  • Breaky: full Scottish breakfast
  • Lunch n Snacks: half a chicken sandwich, gummy sharks, chips
  • Dinner: venison pie
  • Pints: 3
  • Tonight’s home: Kingshouse Hotel
  • Mood: smiling
  • Body: feeling great
  • Highlights: chatting and walking w sis
  • Lowlights: spot of rain
  • People of interest: n/a
  • Spontaneous dancing: nope
  • Deep thoughts: in future build a natural rest day into long distance hikes so you can get to know a place

Next up, 14.5km Kingshouse to Kinlochleven .. which includes the stretch of trail called the Devil’s Staircase!

Brande

West Highland Way, Tyndrum to Orchy Bridge

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Day 5 of 8 on the West Highland Way for our crew was a fantastic, sunny, social doddle!

The 10.5km walk from the town of Tyndrum to the Bridge of Orchy on wide track was almost like a rest day for the body and feet after some of the doozy days we have had already and those planned ahead. The weather was fabulous, adding to the joy!

Our merry band started out from the Green Welly shop at 10am. No need to rush with such a short distance so why not have a little lay in that morning!

The Green Welly shop is featured in guidebooks, blogs, YouTube videos and more by WHW walker’s as an oasis. It boasts a restaurant, service station and store, gift shop, liquor store, laundry and well kitted outdoor shop. We took advantage of most. Almost all of us picked up something from the outdoor shop – I blew out a pair of socks already so replaced those. I used the laundry machines for me and my roomies. All of us popped into the shop for snack refills for the next couple of days (there are no stores for the next 3 day on trail).

Myself, Shar, Cheryl and Rosa all accidentally stopped into that liquor store which had Arran Gold, a liqueur you can only get from the Isle of Arran. We fell in love with this liqueur when we did the Arran Way in 2018 and have been searching for it since! So yes, we all added a 750ml bottle to our packs lol.

Off we go, starting just around the corner from the Green Welly onto a minor road for a short distance then after a hard left onto wide track (think old, gravel road with no gravel left) which would be under our feet all the 10.5km to Bridge of Orchy.

Despite it only being about a 3hr walk, we could not resist a short break on a neat bridge with the sun shining. The view of the bridge side was of the rail track and we all had some Stand by Me comments of course.

At one point even the OG, the original crew, the brain child of ‘lets invites amazing women on a long distance walk with us in a breath taking country’ idea .. which resulted in this path and this crew today!

After our short break, we kept on walking – same track but maybe beside someone different this time. I love my quiet time on the trail but sometimes, when the track allows for u to walk 2 by each, good trail conversation is the best – even sometimes some trail therapy!

The tail end of the walk included an awesome tunnel under the rail line. And, if you have not noticed, tunnels require a photo!

Just before 1pm we rambled up the Bridge of Orchy Hotel – where we would have lunch, dinner, sleep and set out from tomorrow. We were not inside for 10mins before the skies opened up and it poured big time!

We enjoyed a great afternoon with pints, soups, scones with cream and jam, and more. Then a little quiet time in our rooms or chilling on the little deck at the back of each of our rooms. We were all in a row on the bottom floor so it was like being in a dorm!

At 6pm we met in Nikki and Deb’s room where Shar introduced everyone to a taste of the Arran Gold on ice – a resounding YUMMY from everyone. So amazingly delicious!

We had a fabulous dinner at 630pm in the hotel restaurant (the only game in town) and yes I had haggis again. Everyone was ready for winding down at about 9/930pm for a good sleep before we challenge our 20km walk to Kingshouse, a tough but beautiful day on trail.

Brande

West Highland Way, Inverarnan to Tyndrum

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Day 4 of our 8 trek of the West Highland Way was yet another fantastic one folks! Mostly easy walking and largely great weather makes days like this one dreamy.

Once again our crew of 12 was split between 2 B&Bs, some were at the Glengarry B&B up the road (which sounds great) and then we had 4 rooms at the Tigh na Fraoch B&B (Heather’s House in Gaelic) which was amazing for our crew! At our respective homes for the night, we woke up to yummy breakfast before catching our transport taxi at 815am back to Inverarnan (Beinglas Campsite). This was the same spot we left the Way yesterday.

We piled out of 2 taxi’s at about 835 and gathered at the Beinglas parking lot to get packs sorted, sun screen on, final blister checks and start our walking / hiking apps! The crew was really excited about the largely level walking today and that we had sunshine!

The last time I was at this campsite it was a little cafe and a small shop and some places to stay. Since 2008 it has grown fabulously and now boasts a big shop, bar and restaurant, cabins and more.

From the Bienglas Campsite, we headed up and back out of civilization again. Largely on wide track or some skinny sections up and over the hills through bracken and trail that had been turned to stream with the recent rain fall. All very easy walking if you kept a close eye on a sure spot for your foot!

After a fantastic morning we all took a lunch break together! I love when people can walk at their own pace, dispersed on the trail and yet we still find each other for breaks! Especially when there are some benches and sunshine.

After lunch we had a steep, long climb up into the forest to follow forest track for a couple of hours. Some was unfortunately clear cut forest but they already have saplings planted to build up the next forest for walkers in future!

After a couple of fun tunnels (one was a sheep run that require some serious crouching), a few bridges and some decent decline sections, we were back on level ground and making our way into town on park paths or moorland paths.

By now it’s raining hard. Most of us thought it would stay to just a classic mist of Scotland but were quick to discover this was a serious deluge and quickly donned the rain gear for the last couple of hours on trail.

We passed some fantastic historic spots on our final kilometers of the trail. An old graveyard with a informative display of what the engravings on the grave stones mean; the ruins of the St Fillan Priory, and the loch where they believe Robert the Bruce’s sword was thrown into and legend suggest it still remains in the lake to this day.

We made it into town later afternoon. Our walking crew for the afternoon (Niki, Deb, Kristi, Lori, Shar and I) made our way to the Tryndrum Hotel for a pint and late lunch / early dinner. We were shortly joined by the rest of the crew as they made their way into town for an end of day pint!

The rain continued to pour down! We braved the quick walk to our B&B and I took my turn doing our laundry (Rosa, mine and Shar’s) while they finished up in the pub or went back for showers. The laundromat machines were outside! Gotta love the Green Welly shop.

It was an early, chill night for most of us. After laundry, a shower, and a chat we all got ready for some downtime and finally some shut eye.

The stats:

  • Trail: West Highland Way, Scotland
  • Day: 4/8 Finished!
  • To/From: Inverarnan / Tyndrum
  • Start/Finish time: 8:45am/3:00pm
  • Distance: 20km (19.7km Hiiker)
  • Steps: 27,598
  • Terrain: wide track on open ground or through forest. Easy walking for about 80% of the day mixed with some undulations and a few steep / long ups and downs
  • Weather: 19C blue skies in the morning into rain for the end of the day (and it’s still raining)
  • Breaky: full Scottish breakfast
  • Lunch n Snacks: ham sandwich, half a Kit Kat and a Juice Box
  • Dinner: haggis, neeps and tatties
  • Pints: 2
  • Tonight’s home: Tigh na Fraoch (heather’s house in Gaelic)
  • Mood: smiling
  • Body: body feels good, dealing with some abrasion from brace
  • Highlights: waterfalls and rapids
  • Lowlights: laundry
  • People of interest: the couple who say just a foot away from where we were having our lunch break in the middle of nowhere then proceeded to make loud phone calls
  • Spontaneous dancing: nope
  • Deep thoughts: let it flow

Day 5 we would to Bridge of Orchy – stay tuned for details!

Brande

West Highland Way, Rowardennan to Inverarnan

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Day 3 of our 8 day West Highland Way trek is in the books and let me tell you it was a doozy! Notoriously the hardest day on the trail and it lived up to its reputation, big style! Ouch!

The day started with a full crew breakfast at the Clansmen Bar (part of the Rowardennan Hotel where we stayed) with all kinds of chat about what to expect on the trail. Words like strenuous and torturous were being read from guide books. Yikes. But hey, nae bother, we got this – let’s get it done!

The crew tacking the trail today headed out at 830am with about 3km warm up before we decided on if we would take the low road (said to be hardest with lots of bouldering) or the high road (said to be the way to go for Loch views) for the first half of the day. In the end we split the uprights so we could get the best of both worlds! Half up and half down.

Myself, Niki and Shar decided on low road and off we set ready for the challenge ahead!

The low road was easier than I remember than the last time let me tell you. Lots of fun skinny trails on the edge of the 2m or 30m drop to the Loch, lots of rocks to climb up and over or down, a couple of scrambles, a few bridges and a bunch of stream crossings. All good fun on a dry day with all the time in the world – yahoo us!

The high road crew surprised us by popping down to the beach on the low road where is low-readers would be passing by for a fantastic lunch break! Amazing views and awesome company – yes please. We all had packed lunches from the Hotel the night before so felt like little school kids excited to see what ‘mom packed for us today’. Sadly no chocolate bar but yummy cookies!

After our not so brief beach stop we finished off the morning on more undulating forest track, with some good and steep up and down hills to manage. Nothing horrible, especially as we passed waterfall after waterfall – the pretty stuff helps put the hard work in perspective.

We stopped at Inversnaid Hotel (half way on todays’s 22km trek to enjoy some more of our packed lunches and snacks on the lawn overlooking the Loch again. We could not get enough of this view. Today we would say good bye to Loch Lomond and move into our venture into Glen Coe our mod mountainous are – so we soaked it in!

After lunch (and a quick group photo, of course) we heading out to finish the last of the trek on the shore of the Loch. Now, full disclosure, this is when the trail got real-real.

Do NOT let anyone tell you the ‘low road’ between Rowardennan and Inversnaid is hardest, it’s not easy but it’s a doddle (in my opinion) compared to the next 2+ hours we would be spending horizontal scrambling up and over rocks on the precipice of the Loch! Squeezing between rocks and trees, between rocks and rocks, crossing streams and mud and all kinds of trail fun! Mind you, this was not a day for bad knees and darn it half the time the hinges on my knee brace were just wide enough to get stuck where I needed to precariously put my foot. Growl!

Having said that, it was all very fun and beautiful when if loads of work! We were all smiling but also ready for the chance to just walk on something flat for even a few steps.

On the second last beach of this section of trail we lost two of our crew .. the Newfoundland twins just could not resist the siren call of a large body of cool water on a hot day. We left them to dip in and meet up with us later.

And then there were 5, all keen to see the end of this stone scramble staircase shenanigan so we high tailed it through that last section of the stoney trail – taking one last photo at the end of the Loch to celebrate saying goodby to that particular flavor of trail hell.

From there the trail flattened (a little) under foot and wow the views opened right up to such amazing hills – the pictures just cannot do justice to how majestic it all was!

We made quick-ish work of the last section though bracken (pictured above) and forest track for another 2 hours. We were pacing very fast on this last stint – excited to finally find our way to the Drover’s Inn, today’s finish line.

The Drover’s Inn is a pub and hotel established in 1705 and has all the makings of a haunted stay! The Wi-Fi password even has the word Haunted in it! Rob Roy allegedly stayed here when avoiding arrest (there is a room named Rob Roy). I had the pleasure of staying there when I did the West Highland Way the first time in 2008 – an amazing stay but a little ghostie creepy.

After a quick bite and a quick pint or two, our transport arrived to drive us to our B&Bs in Tyndrum for the night. We deserved showers, feet up and a good sleep after the trail work we put in today. Wow!

The stats:

  • Trail: West Highland Way, Scotland
  • Day: 3/8 Finished!
  • To/From: Rowardennan/Tyndrum
  • Start/Finish time: 8:36am/6:11pm
  • Distance: 22km (23.8km Hiiker)
  • Steps: 30,355
  • Terrain: stone steps and bouldering and up and down and crawl and ouch – today is notoriously the toughest day of the Way and it did not disappoint
  • Weather: 22C blue skies, a few clouds to start and finish the day but otherwise it was wow!
  • Breaky: full Scottish breakfast
  • Lunch n Snacks: cheese and pickle sandwich with crisps trail side, naked skittles, cookie, almonds
  • Dinner: haggis, neeps and tatties
  • Pints: 3
  • Tonight’s home: Tigh na Fraoch (heather’s house in Gaelic)
  • Mood: smiling
  • Body: shaking legs after all that work, and sore arms using my hiking poles to full advantage but good sore not pain
  • Highlights: weather was amazing, our hiking crew today was perfection
  • Lowlights: tics
  • People of interest: the lady in reception at Rowardennan telling ghost stories
  • Spontaneous dancing: nope
  • Deep thoughts: just keep swimming

Day 4 we walk from Inverarnan (where Drover’s Inn is) to Tyndrum! Stay tuned.

Brande

West Highland Way, Milngavie to Drymen

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An exciting first day on the West Highland Way for our merry band of 12 Canadian rock star ladies. Most of which who have never done a long distance hike before! West Highland Way was my very first long distance back in 2008 and I am so exited to do it again with this crew. I bet it also won’t be their last. I can see the long distance bug building already!

We started the day at 8am dropping our carry forward bags (all the stuff we don’t need for the actual day of hiking) with Travel Lite. This company will drop our bags off in Drymen, our destination, at our respective B&Bs.

From there the crew had breakfast together at the hotel restaurant – many trying a Scottish breakfast for the first time. Not the best one I have had by far but does give you a good idea on what is available (but yummier) on the trail ahead. Mmm black pudding.

We made our way from there to the start of the trail, the obelisk near the center of town (pictured above) and after a photo montage and setting up our various and preferred hiker apps, etc we were on our way at about 945am.

The path quickly turns from city to park path and after just a couple of kms we had our first excitement – a little detour to the Mugdock Castle Ruins. About 2kms out and back off the trail, and of course with a large hill (castles are always on high ground) but totally worth it!

Back down from the castle and on the Way again, we started to all find our individual pace and the groups that matched to establish the day’s hiking mini-crews. All of us were heading to the Beech Tree Inn or Turn up the Beet cafe’s in Dumgoyne just over half way so would see each other again there are or at dinner tonight. Walking your own pace is really important on these hikes – the body will thank you for it everyday!

Quite a few of us made the quick detour to the Glengoyne Distillery just before Drumgoyne. An easy detour on a nice day – involves maybe a 300m walk across a sheep field. We tried a 12yr old and an 18yr old whisky and both were equally disgusting to me but other visitors seemed to be enjoying it. Ha ha

From there it was just a few mins walk to Beech Tree Inn for our delicious lunch toasties and maybe a pint 😉 before heading back on trail. We were at 11km already and had only 8km or so to go before reaching tonight’s destination in Drymen. No problem!

Much of the last few kilometers of the day were on tarmac minor roads which makes the dogs bark a little (feet hurt) but allows for a nice pace and good conversations. Nikki, Shar, Mama Debster and I (my walking crew this afternoon) were having some pretty awesome laughs as we rambled on. We loved the one little community (self proclaimed the Shire) that set up a bunch of signs here and there playing on The Hobbit theme!

We rolled into our town for the night, Drymen, at about 545pm and clocked at 23km ready for a quick shower and change before dinner.

Most of the crew is staying at Kip in the Kirk B&B a converted church hall, the Hillview B&B of the Shandon Farmhouse B&B (about a kilometer out of town). We are at the Shandon and the hike up and out of town was totally worth it – what an amazing place!

For dinner we had 630pm reservations at The Clachan, on of the oldest bars establish in 1796 and wow was it amazing! The building had all the fun touches of being very old giving it a great ambience and the menu was amazing. Who needs to think about calories after walking that far? Not us!

We had a nice dinner on the restaurant side, then a few of us popped over to the bar side for a final night cap before making our way to our respective homes for bed. All of us pretty excited to get the feet up!

Here are the stats:

  • Trail: West Highland Way, Scotland
  • Day: 1/8 Finished!
  • To/From: Milngavie/Drymen
  • Start/Finish time: 9:35am/5:40pm
  • Distance: 19km + Detour trail (24.5 Hiiker)
  • Steps: 31.009
  • Terrain: mostly flat some steep inclines largely path or rail bed some road walking
  • Weather: 21C overcast not rain
  • Breaky: Full Scottish Breakfast
  • Lunch n Snacks: cheese n ham toastie with chips and a pint
  • Dinner: carbonara
  • Pints: 4
  • Tonight’s home: Shannon Farmhouse
  • Mood: smiling
  • Body: feeling good, blisters from knee brace and heat rash
  • Highlights: Mugdock Castle detour
  • Lowlights: road walking
  • People of interest: the old Scotsman Patrick Murray sitting outside the castle telling stories
  • Spontaneous dancing: not today
  • Deep thoughts: I have one pace when walking, is this me in life too?

Next stop Rowardennan .. just past the challenge of Conic Hill.

Brande

Speyside Way, Grantown-on-Spey to Aviemore

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Day 5 of 5 of Speyside Way is complete with our finish line reached in Aviemore, Scotland!

A pleasantly long 26km trek that included a tea break, a lunch break, fantastic trail, amazing scenery, loads of clouds but not a drop of rain – yahoo us! What an epic finish line day.

We started the day from the oh-so-cute Brooklyn Guest House in Grantown-on-Spey and made quick work to back track the couple of blocks to the Way where we would kick off our day on a forest track. Here we filmed our morning video, made some hot-spot compeed fixes on the feet and I did my usual brace strap adjustment process. Walk 20 steps adjust, walk 30 steps adjust, and then onwards and upwards kinda thing. Let’s go!

The first leg of the trek, a nice 9.3km (according to the trail book) took us to Nethy Bridge where we had our sights on a tea and scone with feet up and shoes and socks off. There is nothing better to a hiker than a mid day break followed by dry feet and socks to kick of the next leg.

The trail was easy going through forest and then onto the grassed-over rail track bed and finally some country roads past the Balliefurth Farm. This farm has a little shop in Nethy (where we were headed) but has been featured on menus where we ate in the last couple of days for their beef and chicken and lamb. I may have eaten their yummy friend at the Speyside Hotel the night prior as my Bangers and Mash entree and was a little worried the cows we passed would know. ‘Hey, that lass ate Barry’ was on the tips of their tongues I know it.

We loved that the Farm had a sense of humor with this sign posted at the first gate …

We did not see Fergus sadly, he is quite shy, but imagined hearing him as the steam train went by whistling it’s whistle. Good fun!

Once in Nethy Bridge, we did enjoy that tea and scone, shoes and socks off break and it was amazing. They may have given me too much cream for my scone but who is complaining!? Also what is too much cream?

From Nethy Bridge we were on our way to Boat of Garten, a further 7.7km away through the Abernathy National Nature Reserve. This may be my favorite section of the entire trail. Quiet forest track, well groomed with bird song all around, and we maybe say a half dozen humans! I like trees more than humans lol. I feel so grateful for the chance to hike these hikes and live this life especially when I am on track like this!

At Boat of Garten, after having our sweet (dessert) in Nethy, we grabbed lunch-lunch. A sandwich and small salad with a half pint. We sat outside in mostly sunshine watching hikers and bikers and steam train passengers bustle past the Hotel patio where we hunkered down. We could have stayed all day especially with a sock change and chance to again air out the feet while eating.

From Boat of Garten we were just 9.1km from our finish line in Aviemore. This too proved to be a fantastic section of trail! More forest track, a bridge tunnel or two, and we were walked pretty much along side or in sight of the Strathspey Railway (the historic steam train) almost the whole way.

Knowing we were in reach of the finish line, even if things hurt on the ole body a bit it was nae bother. The conversation was flowing, there may have been some spontaneous singing once or twice, and loads of laughs!

Coming into Aviemore, we headed for our finish for a ‘for the record’ selfie before heading for a celebration pint!

An amazing walk, no bad days to be honest. The usual up and downs, on trail and in our own heads or bodies, but smiles each day and just an overall sense of gratitude to have had a chance to walk the Spey together.

The stats:

  • Trail: Speyside Way, Scotland
  • Day: 5/5 Finished!
  • To/From: Grantown-on-Spey/Aviemore
  • Start/Finish time: 9:06am/5:59pm
  • Distance: 26.5km trail (28.6km All Trails)
  • Steps: 29,020
  • Terrain: flat mixed with undulating
  • Weather: 14C overcast not rain
  • Breaky: Full Scottish Breakfast sans Haggis and Black Pudding
  • Lunch n Snacks: tea w scone/cream/jam and a Brie bacon sandwich w salad
  • Dinner: noodle soup and a ham/cheese croissant
  • Pints: 1
  • Tonight’s home: Eriksay B&B and Glamping
  • Mood: smiling
  • Body: feet are sorest today, crazy heat rash
  • Highlights: the options to stop for a break
  • Lowlights: nothing open for dinner
  • People of interest: the B&B owner from
  • Brooklyn Guest House, just an amazing women so clearly in the right business
  • Funny bone: learning Rosa sings just as much as me
  • Spontaneous dancing: a wee bit
  • Deep thoughts: why wait, eat the cake first

Now we will take a couple days to try and get rid of the heat rash on both of my feet and under my knee brace, see if I can get the swelling down on my right foot so both feet again have an arch and just be plain old tourists for a day or two. Did someone say steam train?

See you in a couple of days when we kick off the West Highland Way. All 12 of us!

Brande

Speyside Way, Ballindalloch to Grantown-on-Spey

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That’s day 4 of 5 in the books for this crew and so far this was our most favourite stage of the Way! A longer one at 21km but with the varied terrain, great conversation and decent weather, so far as all day rain goes, we loved it

Today was animal sitting day, crazy how much we saw – must have been how far away from villages or towns we were most of the time.

  • We stood and watched 4 beautiful Roe Deer check us out, confirm we were not aliens here to harm them and then slowly make their way across our path and walk up into the forest hills. We saw another that stayed just ahead of us on our route for quite some time too.
  • We quickly stopped walking to watch a ‘richness’ of Pine Martens (about 6 of them maybe more) see us, check us out, move on into the grass, stop check us out again, repeat. These guys are officially my favourite – they are like little Meerkats the way they stand up to look over the grass.
  • We actually, believe or not, saw the Red Squirrel. This little guy is going extinct here in Scotland and there is loads of initiatives underway to try and keep them around. We were chatting with an older Scottish women the other day at breakfast and she has never even seen one. We feel so lucky and reported the sighting to the save the squirrels website thing.
  • We also saw quite a few pheasants. One male and quite a few ladies, they were pretty quick to run and hide but we were able to catch a few pics. This was the only sighting where we actually got a decent pic.
  • We of course also saw Sheep (used some of their fields as our path), Cows which we mostly skirted around their fields, and one massive bull that we gave a very very wide berth too. We also saw many a bunny and while cute the holes and tunnels they make in the ground can make for sketchy walking so boo them.
  • Not sighted, but hopes are still high, the hedgehog or the unicorn.

We saw as much of a mix in terrain today as we did the animal kingdom! The day started on a fairy magic path (the overgrown track bed where the railway line used to be) – so green and quiet!

From there we had to make our way up and out of the magical forest through farmland to a path that was so full of bracken and thistle we were well drenched and poked by the time we made it through. The cold rain makes the nettle sting hurt less so that was a bonus!?

We were then back to farmland which was ugh pretty slow going under foot for some time here. The local farmers have set up these corridors (corridors of hell now so named) where they leave about 5 feet between the barbed wire (or electric) fences of one field to the next and that little area is designated the path. Sounds lovely actually … if there was not a chain gate every 100m or less (which are fun the first few times but less so the 20th) and they were not filled with large boulders overgrown with grass on a rainy day.

Slippery, ankle-breaker paths make for slow work! We celebrated and picked up to our normal pace when the boulders were to the side, then slowed and happily grumbled when they were underfoot again.

After the corridors of hell it was time for our first break of the day, we found a sheltered spot under a nice tree to stand and eat a half sandwich, some chips for salt and a few Skittles for my dessert. Too wet and no where to sit for a proper break where you take off the boots, feet up, switch the socks. We will regret the lack of proper break later of course as all hikers do, but we are still smiling so nae bother!

From there we headed up and up through farmland, across a fantastic bridge, past Mr Muscle the Bull and back into our favorite place to be – the woods!

After the woods we headed back down (steep) through some farmland then into some more woodland which we stayed in for quite some time and then finally some more farmland to start making our way past the first civilization we actually saw today.

A little village called Cromdale – where the old train station has been reverted to someone’s house. We have seen most of the old train stations done up this way. So neat!

We were still not done. Channelling our inner Dori … just keep walking just keep walking! We had a fantastic (but felt long being the end of a big day) walk through the Anagach Woods that connects Cromdale with Grantown-on-Spey our home for the night.

Speaking of home for the night. We are at the Brooklyn Guest House and it is amazing! The lady who runs it is so sweet, the rooms are fantastic (carpet in the bathroom is weird but kind of oddly nice at the same time) and we both slept so well. Important stuff when we have 23km to cover on our last day!

  • Trail: Speyside Way, Scotland
  • Day: 4/5
  • To/From: Ballindalloch/Grantown-on-Spey
  • Start/Finish time: 9:48am/5:24pm
  • Distance: 21.1 trail (24.3km Hiiker App)
  • Steps: 29,020
  • Terrain: up then down then up then across slippery stones then a boardwalk then up then down
  • Weather: 12C rain all day
  • Breaky: Full Scottish Breakfast sans Haggis and Black Pudding
  • Lunch n Snacks: 1/2 Mature Cheddar Sammie w Prawn Crisps, Skittles
  • Dinner: bangers and mash
  • Pints: 2
  • Tonight’s home: Brooklynn Guest House
  • Mood: smiling
  • Body: feeling sore today, the knee is not impressed with today’s activities
  • Highlights: all the local animal sightings: sheep and cow of course but also pine martin, the elusive red squirrel, bunnies, row deer, osprey, pheasants
  • Lowlights: no sunny breaks
  • People of interest: the Old Man of Glasgow hiking the trail and wild camping that was just so chatty and kind (and maybe got lost once but found the trail and is again)
  • Funny bone: realizing that you maybe do like singing but no one should ever know
  • Spontaneous dancing: too soggy
  • Deep thoughts: why not do the good stuff first, just go, just do!

See you when we report in on Day 5 of 5! Today we have about as much chance of sunshine as we do seeing that unicorn 😉

Brande

Speyside Way, Craigellachie to Ballindalloch

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Wrapped day 3 of 5 on the Speyside Way with a flat, flat, very flat walk from Craigellachie to Ballindalloch today.

After a near full Scottish Breakfast (missing the haggis and black pudding), we left the Highlander Inn and walk literally a few steps to join back up with the Speyside Way where we left it yesterday.

The day started flat and stayed flat for us ALL day – a speed bump would have been exciting! But no complaints here, it was a well groomed path along the river (in some places so close you could hear the water rushing over the rocks) that connects small village to the next and made for such easy walking!

To make the 19.6 flat terrain a little more entertaining we started to map ahead the number of kilometers to the next milestone – a bridge, a tunnel, a train station turned into someone’s home, a church, etc! Definitely some gems enroute!

We stopped at Dailuaine Halt for our 11-sies break. This was a train station in year’s past but there are no longer any buildings although it still boasts a very nice picnic table that we enjoyed. Then we stopped at Tamdhu for our 2-sies break which was also a train station and still has buildings but they are now a classy whisky tasting room.

As we were wrapping up our walk we crossed a long, amazing aqueduct bridge – so long and really just a great finish to a long day.

We arrived at our pick up spot, Ballindalloch Station (now someone’s home), 30mins earlier than the arranged time. Luck was on our side though, the taxi also arrived early just a few minutes later! We are staying at the same place as last night, The Highlander Inn, so will taxi back tonight and tomorrow the taxi will drive us back to the Station to start again!

The threat of rain was real all day! We lucked out through, despite a few short stints of mist and pretty ominous clouds all day breaking up across the blue sky, we stayed dry all day! The strong winds kept the clouds moving on. Perhaps this explains the heat rash on both feet and under my knee brace 😦 booo!

We wrapped up the day with a pint on the sunny deck at The Highlander Inn. Maybe a nap, maybe some reading, maybe some social media scrolling and for sure some fish and chips followed.

The stats:

  • Trail: Speyside Way, Scotland
  • Day: 3/5
  • To/From: Craigallachie/Ballindalloch
  • Start/Finish time: 10:09am/3:31pm
  • Distance: 19.6km trail (20.1km Hiiker App)
  • Steps: 21,046
  • Terrain: flat, flat, so very flat
  • Weather: 14C Overcast w Wind
  • Breaky: Full Scottish Breakfast sans Haggis and Black Pudding
  • Lunch n Snacks: banana, cookies, 1/2 Mature Cheese on White Bread with Prawn crisps
  • Dinner: Fish and Chips
  • Pints: 3
  • Tonight’s home: Highlander Inn
  • Mood: happy big style
  • Body: feeling great knee does not hate me, rest of the body is loving this but the heat rash could tone it down a little please
  • Highlights: taxi arriving at near the exact same time we did end of day (30mins early)
  • Lowlights: Rosa feeling all blah
  • People of interest: the nice old gramp that recommend the vanilla and raspberry scone, told us it has no calories; and the distiller dad at the bar chatting up how fantastic his kids are
  • Funny bone: discovering you are sitting next to a cabinet of whisky bottles that all cost a 1000bucks then you proceed to elbow the thing putting your sweater on
  • Spontaneous dancing: stay tuned for tomorrow on this one

We are off to Grantown-on-Spey tomorrow!

Brande