HIKING THE WEST HIGHLAND WAY
Seven-day trek starts in lowlands
The spirit of Rob Roy MacGregor was palpable as we gazed over the highlands where he roamed and did battle with the English some 300 years ago. Although history has treated him kindly, he was in fact a rogue who was lucky to escape the noose, but now he lives on in Scottish history as a Gaelic Robin Hood.
I was part of a group on a guided walking tour of the West Highland Way, which stretches from Milngavie (pronounced Mal-guy) just outside Glasgow to Fort William almost due North. The 96-mile hike transitioned from rolling lowland to majestic highland scenery with the beautiful Loch Lomond being the focus of the first few days of the walk. My fellow blister collectors were largely British with an American family rounding out the group.
The meet up night before the start left me shirking in the corner as the group compared training regime: I didn’t know we were supposed to train for it!
Whilst a reasonable fitness level is required — there are a few steep climbs, including the aptly named Devils Staircase — it is well within the capability of most folk. With seven days to cover the distance, the first day started at the stone obelisk in the town centre, and was a relatively gentle 12 miles, while we acquainted ourselves with both our equipment and each other.
We only carried day packs, our luggage was transported by road and was dropped off at our night’s accommodation. The bed and breakfasts that welcomed us each night were always clean and well equipped with Wi-Fi and differing levels of cell coverage. The traditional Scottish breakfast was gargantuan, although I never managed to eat the obligatory blood pudding, and set us up for the days hike.
One thing that surprised us from a Canadian perspective was clearcut logging with no apparent attempt to replant. Forests which had been shady rest spots on previous walks were now a litter of stumps and branches.
Wonderful photo opportunities abounded, as we stayed in the delightful town of Drymen, on our first night, which claims to have the oldest pub in Scotland.
The following day, we climbed Conical hill and left Loch Lomond behind. The next couple of days took us to Tyndrum via Inverarnan with delightful loch-side accommodation at Inverarnan and the supposedly haunted Drovers Arms.
The next day was the longest, an 18-mile hike across the rugged Rannoch moor. We passed derelict ruins, the result of English aggression and picture-perfect cottages perched on mountain hillsides. The hills were stark and grey with snow still on the highest peaks. The final two days saw us hike from Kingshouse to Fort William by way of the picturesque Kinlochlevan.
The bulk of the time was spent on old drovers roads used to take animals of yore to market and purpose-built military roads, to ensure troops could be quickly moved to quell any uprisings.
As we walked, each of us developed a rhythm in tune with our surroundings. The infamous Scottish weather co-operated wonderfully giving us sunshine every day so that we all came home with a truly unique gift ... a Scottish suntan!