Craig Henderson Europe ‘23 Part 1 - West Highland Way

14 June 2023 - Glasgow; day prior to start of West Highland Way

The broad idea of this hiking safari is to start in the north of the UK, work south, then cross over to the Continent and head for the Alps.

That thinking led to selection of the West Highland Way in Scotland as the ‘kick-off’ walk. The Scottish Highlands dominate Britain’s walking guides. There are numerous classic routes; for a keen walker the vast region is a sumptuous smorgasbord.

The West Highland Way is the most popular and the most accessible. Accessible in the sense that the route commences just north of Glasgow and has plenty of accommodation options, eateries and transport options along the way (if needed). It’s 153 km in length, so whether it’s accessible in the broader sense depends on your view of multi-day walks through hilly terrain.

I also like the fact that the West Highland Way transports walkers from Lowland Scotland to the Highlands. A great walk has a theme or historical significance or holds some human interest stories. This walk, through its landscape transition and its connections to pivotal historical events and turbulent times, takes you on a genuine journey and, as you venture further into the Highlands, the landscape and the stories grow increasingly dramatic.

Finally, there’s a family connection of sorts. The Henderson clan came from the Glen Coe region, which the West Highland Way reaches towards its end. I’m not sure whether that’s what inspired them, but my mother and father walked the West Highland Way in the 1980’s. They had waxed lyrical about the walk and I want to see what had excited them so much.

Milngavie: the start of the West Highland Way

15 June 2023 - Day 1 of WHW: Milngavie to Drymen (20 km; 5.5h)

Milngavie is the starting point of the WHW. It’s an easy, 30 minute train trip from Glasgow. By 9.00am, I’ve taken my first steps. It’s both exciting and a relief to be underway after so much planning and preparation.

Scotland is continuing to bask in unusually warm weather with a temperature of 25C forecast today. The temperature in most of Scotland has been around those levels and higher for a couple of weeks now. Even at 9am I can feel the sun, but the opening km’s of the Way are on a shady path beside a minor beck. It’s all very attractive and easy to develop a rhythm.

Despite the favourable conditions, only a handful of walkers are out. Most look like like day trippers, though a young Swiss couple and an even younger German woman could be tackling the entire route. The German woman is carrying a full pack. I later discover that she is a university student who will be camping throughout.

After a couple of hours, the route begins seeking height and we leave the protection of the trees. The sun makes its presence known. Lunch is under the shade of the massive beech tree that stands behind the Beech Tree Inn. Boots come straight off and bandaids are pasted to hot spots.

Post-lunch the path continues on an old railway embankment through varied rural country. Eventually we emerge on to a quiet road that meanders into Drymen. More asphalt than I expected (which heats the feet on this warm day), but the mauve rhododendrons lining the road compensate.

Arrive in Drymen mid-afternoon. I score an early check-in at the Buchanan Arms and promptly fall asleep in the sun-drenched room. Drymen is an attractive settlement with a cluster of pubs around a village green. It’s a walkers hub as many start the WHW at Drymen and it’s also the start of the Rob Roy Way.

Lucky enough to spot a “Hairy Coo” on Day One!

16 June 2023 - Day 2 of WHW: Drymen to Rowardennan (24 km; 7.0h)

A longish day in prospect, so I grab the earliest breakfast slot and am on my way by 8.00am.

At first the route follows a nature reserve between grazing paddocks but then it climbs through a mix of pine plantations and woodland. I take a wrong turn and would have sailed off on the wrong path but spot the German uni student in the distance on the right path and rectify matters.

A middle-aged couple range up behind me. Our voices disclose us as compatriots and we walk together for a while. Alan and Shirleen are retired dairy farmers from Echuca in Victoria. They’re linking the WHW with the Great Glen Way (which starts from the end of the WHW in Fort William). I learn about the challenges of dairy farming and their walking adventures since selling the farm.

Alan and Shirleen are cruising along faster than I want to, so I wave them on and drop the pace. I’m deliberately walking slowly. I don’t want to fall into the trap of turning the walk into an athletic event. I want to soak everything up. Plus, I need to ease my body into the demands of constant walking.

A few months before leaving Australia I contracted plantar fasciitis. So, instead of training the house down, as I’d planned, the lead-up to this journey was spent trying to protect the soles of my feet and visiting a sports podiatrist. I could feel the feet improving as my departure date approached, but I didn’t know whether the demands of the trail would send things backwards. Slow and gentle walking is part of my strategy.

Loch Lomond looms into sight mid-morning and we get a birds eye view from Conic Hill. The path is on its eastern shore which we follow for a few hours until reaching the attractive and superbly located Rowardennan Youth Hostel. I’m told that the ongoing sunny weather has warmed up the loch so I jump off the pier in front of the YH. What a tonic! The efforts of the day evaporate instantly.

The view across Loch Lomond from atop Conical Hill

17 June 2023 - Day 3 of WHW: Rowardennan to Crianlarich (32.5 km; 9.5h)

I want to complete the WHW in seven days. Given accommodation options, that means one over-long day. I categorise 32 km as an over-long day. Especially so, because I’m not using a luggage transfer service on this walk, meaning I’m carrying about 10kg. Today’s that day.

I’m on the track by 8.00am and spend five glorious hours continuing along the eastern edge of Loch Lomond. The path bumps and twists and drops as it addresses the ridges and outcrops and woodlands that line the shore. The midges are noxious today. They’re no trouble while you’re on the go but you need to be very selective about where you stop. Essentially, you want to be at a high point, a little away from the loch and preferably at a spot with some breeze.

Finally, I pass the northern end of Loch Lomond and enter easier walking terrain. Reaching the bar/shop of the Inverarnan camping ground, after six hours of walking, is an even greater relief. The feet get an airing. I drink a Poweraid in seconds and demolish a couple of granola bars. Suddenly all’s well with the world. The remaining stage of the day should be a cruisy three hour jaunt into Crianlarich.

Did I say something about a cruisy last stage? It didn’t quite turn out that way. There are more climbs and descents than I’d anticipated and as my energy levels sag, I flag. A flushed and dishevelled version of myself staggers into the Crianlarich Hotel at 6.00 pm. Apart from general weariness, the soles of my feet are aching and I’m very worried that I may have re-triggered the plantar fasciitis.

Approaching the northern end of Loch Lomond

18 June 2023 - Day 4 of WHW: Crianlarich to Bridge of Orchy (21 km; 6.5h)

The recuperative effects of food and sleep never cease to amaze me. My feet, and the rest of me, feel fine this morning and my spirits are high with yesterday’s long day behind me. I reward myself with a later start; it’s 9.30 by the time I saddle up. When the walking day commences on a soft forest trail, my mood is boosted further.

Historic sites abound today. We pass the remains of St Fillan’s Priory, a 12th century monastic site. Not long after comes the site of the battle of Dalrigh where, in 1306, Robert the Bruce was defeated by the MacDougalls of Lorne. Finally, the tranquil Lochan of the Lost Sword, a lake into which Bruce and his men supposedly threw their swords after their defeat. Seems like a bizarre thing to do unless the MacDougalls were “encouraging” them to do so, but the signage is silent on the rationale.

Lunch is at Tyndrum. The Real Food Cafe is known for its chips but the day is warm again and they hold no appeal. I sit on an outside seat and surreptitiously remove boots and socks. Fresh air on hot, over-worked feet is blissful.

Post-Tyndrum, the mountain scenery gets more dramatic but our path stays in the glens, ascending and descending gently. For a while, the track is closely accompanied by the railway line and a reasonably busy road. The railway line soon disappears up a different valley but the road stays close, almost until my overnight accommodation at Bridge of Orchy.

My little toes start giving grief this afternoon. I stop immediately and apply bandaids but I can still feel the rubbing. I think it strange that this should occur 3.5 days into the walk. Blisters have been a key concern pre-walk. I know that they can derail hiking plans. Tonight I’ll inspect them and come up with a treatment plan.

The historic Bridge of Orchy dates back to 1750

19 June 2023 - Day 5 of WHW: Bridge of Orchy to Kingshouse (19 km; 5.0h)

Wake up to drizzle which, it turns out, will be with me for the whole day. I’m quite happy about that as today I’ll be crossing Rannoch Moor, the most remote section of the walk. In the comfort of my room, I’m thinking the rain and mist will contribute to the atmospherics of the crossing.

The Bridge of Orchy Hotel is cosy, comfortable and full of character. I linger longer than necessary before confronting the elements. When, finally, I head out the door, my toes are tightly ensconced in elastaplast and ‘Injinji’ toe socks (that encase each toe). Hopefully, that will do the trick.

Rannoch Moor is how I imagined, and hoped, it would be. Windy, wet and moody. The moor is on an elevated plateau and is home to countless becks, burns, tarns and lochs. Today, even more than usual, there’s water everywhere - on the trail, in the air and throughout the landscape. The raincoat is secured up to my chin, the hood is on and several hours of contemplative walking ensue.

Five hours after leaving Bridge of Orchy, I reach the renowned Kingshouse Hotel. It’s wonderful how the 18th century pub building has been incorporated into a modern development containing loads of rooms and plenty of creature comforts. A coterie of drenched walkers mingle in the reception area waiting for the 3.00 pm check-in time.

It’s Day 4 of the first test of the Australia/England Men’s Ashes series. By late afternoon, Australia is batting for the second time chasing 281 to win. In the Kingshouse pub, a throng of travellers are watching the telecast. Those that are English don’t think they’ve set the Australians a big enough target. Me and a couple of other Australians remember past unsuccessful run chases. The Scots don’t seem to mind who wins.

20 June 2023 - Day 6 of WHW: Kingshouse to Kinlochleven (14 km; 4.0h)

Still blowy today but not wet nor cold. The forecast suggests the temperature will reach 18C.

From Kingshouse, the Way heads towards the dramatic Glen Coe. Placards have been placed at various spots describing the battles that have taken place in that locale.

The trail gets to the entrance to Glen Coe then bears away and upwards on the Devil’s Staircase. That name was apparently bestowed upon the stone path that climbs to the saddle between Beinn Bheag and Stob Mhic Mhartuin by the soldiers that built it in the mid 1700’s. The top of the Devil’s Staircase is the highest point on the West Highland Way at 548m.

After the Devil’s Staircase, there seem to be few people on the Way. I’m not sure where the numerous walkers staying at Kingshouse have gone. No matter. The couple of hours from the top of the Devil’s Staircase into Kinlochleven involve a gradual descent. Once the tree line is reached, the trail joins a minor road that winds its way through pleasant pockets of forest.

Kinlochleven has an industrial background - an aluminium smelter and an associated hydro-electric scheme operated here until 2000. Today, only the hydro-electric plant operates. Given the demise of the industrial facility and the consequential drop in population, the town has a slightly disused and abandoned feel about it, but its location in a treed valley with the fast-running River Leven running through the centre of town still makes it an appealing overnight stop.

At dinner at Highland Getaway pub, I meet 28 year-old Yip from Rotterdam. He’s doing the WHW in five days. Gotta do it in that time so he can get to a Guns N’ Roses concert in London’s Hyde Park. Today he covered the 34 km from Bridge of Orchy. He hardly noticed it. After a couple of drinks with me, he’s off to the locals’ pub with his B&B host to watch the soccer. I decline the offer to join; despite having done far fewer miles than Yip, I need my sleep. I leave Yip (vaping happily) as he waits for his new friend to join him.

21 June 2023 - Day 7 of WHW: Kinlochleven to Fort William (22 km; 6.5h)

Drizzle and rain this morning as we climb out of Kinlochleven and up to a ridge line that provides superb viewing of munros all round and Loch Leven far below.

Soon we reach the the hidden glen of Lairig Mor. There is no road to be seen and mountains all round. This stretch is definitely one of the best of the WHW. Despite the overcast conditions, I keep reaching for my camera.

As I walk, I’m conscious of the blisters on the under-side of each of my little toes, but they are not overly painful. I’m worried about what they might mean for my subsequent planned walks, but I know that they won’t stop me finishing the WHW today.

I have quite a social morning. An English woman, Debbie, tells me about the glamping pods that are an accommodation option at the Blackwater hostel in Kinlochleven. I’d noticed them yesterday; they look like water tanks laid on their side and painted brightly. Apparently, they’re comfortable and include a tiny kitchenette. Debbie has some bad blisters and is walking in obvious pain.

Debbie has been walking with Michael, a middle-aged Australian fellow who is doing part of the WHW before joining some mates at the second cricket test. Michael and I walk together for a couple of hours. We discuss the cricket and work. He has cousins who live in the English Lake District. He’s walked in that area quite a bit and his cousins suggested that this time he try the WHW.

Late in the morning, Yip goes roaring past, conducting an animated video call on his phone. He realises it’s me and re-traces his steps. I’m introduced to the friend (whose name I can’t recall) and get recruited to the task of describing the scenery to the friend. I do my best. But Yip’s got a concert to get to and can’t dally, so I bid he and his mate farewell and before long Yip’s a blip on the horizon.

The end of the WHW is something of an anti-climax, as the route follows a reasonably busy road for the last three or four km’s. The official finish is at the end of the Fort William high street mall. Despite the blisters and sore feet, it’s hard not to strut along that busy strip self-importantly. Post the finish line our demeanour is a little different; we wearily shoulder packs yet again and hobble and limp off to our various accommodations.