West Highland Way
The West Highland Way (WHW) is a 154km trail in Scotland that starts in Milngavie and ends in Fort William. I completed the hike in August of 2019 over the course of 8 days, and it is the first multi-day hike that I ever did.
Day 1 - Milngavie to Drymen
Distance: 19.5km
Time: 4 hours
Accommodation: Kip in the Kirk (https://www.kipinthekirk.co.uk)
I was so excited to start the WHW that I woke up well before my alarm. I started the day in true Canadian fashion with breakfast from Tim Horton's. (Surprisingly, there are Tim Horton's restaurants in Glasgow.) I then hopped on the train from Glasgow to Milngavie. When I arrived at the monument marking the start of the WHW, there was a gaggle of hikers around it, so I had to patiently wait my turn for a picture. The trail was busier than I had expected and I passed many hikers who had started earlier in the day. The Walk Highlands website said this section would take 5 to 6 hours, but I did it in 4 hours. This meant that I arrived much too early to check in at Kip in the Kirk, but the owner, Frances, kindly let me drop off my backpack so that I could explore Drymen without being weighed down. In the afternoon, she served up tea and scones, which were delightful. This brought all the guests together in the dining room and I chatted with a group of Americans who were hiking the WHW as well. My hips were extremely sore from carrying the bulk of the weight of my backpack and I noticed there were visible bruises, which caused me to worry that my backpack was not the right fit for me and that the pain of wearing it each day would compound and become unbearable.
Change of Plans
That evening, I received news that a section of the trail ahead had been deemed impassable due to mudslides that had washed away two bridges. In broken English, my French bunkmate and I tried to figure out a new plan. On the third day of our hike, we would have to catch a ferry across Loch Lomond from Inversnaid to Inveruglas. We were advised that it would be unsafe to hike from there because it would be along the highway, so we would have to take a bus up to Crainlarich. This would mean that I could only complete the first half of the section I had planned to cover on day 3 and only the later half of the section I had planned to cover on day 4. While many people would likely feel that skipping 20km of the trail is not a big deal, I firmly believed that I would not be able to claim I had completed the WHW if I had not set foot on every single kilometre, and a major source of my motivation for doing this hike was the bragging rights I would earn. I was absolutely devastated.
Day 2 - Drymen to Rowardennan
Distance: 25.1km
Time: 5.5 hours
Accommodation: Rowardennan Youth Hostel
It was sunny when I started up Conic hill, but I saw the clouds rolling in once I neared the summit, and the rain began on my way down. I briefly sought refuge in the Balmaha Visitor Centre before carrying on. The rain was torrential for the rest of the day, which was another 4 hours or so. My waterproof hiking boots became so waterlogged that bubbles pushed out the top of the toe box as a I walked. Not only was I miserable because I was soaking wet, but each step I took had become agonizing because massive blisters had formed on both of my heels. I thought that my passport was safe from the rain the pouch on the belt of my backpack, but I was wrong. When I got to the hostel, I desperately tried to fix my passport with a hairdryer, but the colour from my photo had washed away and the pages were crumpled once dried. When I was lounging in the common area of the hostel this evening, I met two girls from Switzerland.
Day 3 - Rowardennan to Ardleish
Distance: 19.1km
Time: 4.75 hours
Accommodation: Ardlui Hotel (https://ardlui.com)
Today I was supposed to catch a ferry from Inversnaid to Inveruglas in order to avoid the parts of the trail that had been damaged by mudslides. When I arrived at the ferry terminal in Inversnaid, I chatted with a number of other hikers who were trying to decide whether to take the ferry or risk the trail. In the end, I was the only person either brave or stupid enough to skip the ferry and continue hiking. At one point along the trail, I smelled a strong, distinct odour and looked up to see a goat napping on a ledge in the mountainside to my right. While waiting for the ferry at Ardleish, I dipped my feet into Loch Lomond and the cold water soothed the aching. There were two middle-aged ladies from New Zealand waiting as well and we struck up a conversation. Once we arrived at the Ardlui Hotel, they asked if I would like to join them for dinner later and I accepted their invitation. I later found out that they had secretly paid my bill, and I am very appreciative of their generosity.
Day 4 - Ardleish to Tyndrum
Shortly after setting off for the day, I met a young guy from the Netherlands who was hiking alone because his friend was injured and sitting out this section of the trail. He and I arrived at the first damaged bridge and were able to easily get across the river just a few meters downstream by hopping across rocks. Not long after, we arrived at the second damaged bridge, which looked intact but was roped off. There was a group of hikers ahead who yelled back, "If we die, don't cross the bridge!" Everyone made it just fine. When we were getting close to Tyndrum, I noticed that my fingers were swollen to nearly twice their normal size, indicating that I was getting pretty dehydrated. After recuperating at the hostel, I joined the Dutch guy and his friend on a trip to the Green Welly Stop to stock up on food and supplies for the next two days.
Day 5 - Tyndrum to Inveroran
Distance: 15.4km
Time: 3.5 hours
Accommodation: Inveroran Hotel
When I woke up, there was a storm raging outside, and I did not want to leave the comfort of the hostel. The Dutch guy and his friend had planned to have today as a rest day, so I set off without them. The look on his face before I walked out the door was reminiscent of a dog being left behind. The rain held off for a little while, but soon it returned and brought heavy winds with it, which made me anxious about falling tree branches. I had my first fall today, slipping on wet rocks going downhill, but I sprung back up unharmed. Near the end of the day, I caught up with and passed the ladies from New Zealand that I had met on day 3. I wished that I had stayed longer at By the Way Hostel this morning because I was alone and without Wifi once I got to the Inveroran Hotel, so it was hard to ward off the boredom.
Day 6 - Inveroran to Kings House
Distance: 15.8km
Time: 3 hours
Accommodation: Kings House Bunkhouse
Again today I caught up with the ladies from New Zealand. I hiked with them briefly so we could swap stories of our time on the trail, but they told me not to let them hold me up, so I sped ahead. Today was the first day I really noticed the midges. I got swarmed any time I stopped moving, so I simply did not take any breaks. Shortly after arriving at Kings House, I was joined by the Swiss girls I met on day 2. There was an issue with my reservation at the bunkhouse, so I was offered an upgrade to the hotel. I gave the upgrade to the Swiss girls because they had been tenting every night, so I thought they would appreciate the room more. When I was watching Netflix in bed that night, I kept swatting at midges and looked up to see a cloud of them in an upper corner of the room. The two guys I was bunking with had the brilliant idea to spray them with Axe body spray, which did not harm the midges but made the air suffocating for us. I covered my entire body and head with the blanket to protect myself from the midges and I tried to go to sleep, but I was having difficulty breathing due to the Axe and I was overheating from being wrapped in blanket, which was an awful combination. I really regretted passing up that room upgrade.
Day 7 - Kings House to Kinlochleven
Distance: 14.8km
Time: 3.25 hours
Accommodation: Kinlochemore Bed & Breakfast
Today I had to climb Devil's Staircase, which was by far the most difficult part of the trail thus far because of the rapid elevation gain. I slowly trudged up the mountain by willing one foot in front of the other, feeling burdened by the weight on my back more than ever before. Once I got over the summit, there were grassy mountains encircling me and I was awestruck by the natural beauty of the landscape. I tried to take many photos to show my friends and family back home, but none of the photos did the views any justice. The rest of the day was pretty easy going because it was mostly downhill as I dropped from the mountains into the valley where the village of Kinlochleven sits. I quickly found that Kinlochleven was overrun by midges and wasps that made being outside unpleasant, so I holed up in pub until it was time to check in at the Kinlochmore B&B.
Day 8 - Kinlochleven to Fort William
Distance: 25.2km
Time: 5.5 Hours
Accommodation: Bank Street Lodge
The owners of the Kinlochmore B&B are the type of people who get mildly offended when you do not finish your entire plate of food, so I had the biggest breakfast of my life and set off waddling down the trail. I did not get far down the road before a van pulled up and the owner of the Kinlochmore B&B handed me the headphones I had forgotten in my room. Over the course of the day, I saw all of the familiar faces: the two ladies from New Zealand, the French girl, the two Swiss girls, and the group of Americans. I was glad to have the opportunity to say goodbye to everyone I had met along the way. The hiking got progressively less enjoyable as they day went on. The first part of the trail was a rocky path in the mountains, then it turned to gravel logging road, and it finished as paved path beside the road. Near the end of day, it began to rain and I thought that seemed like the fitting way to finish the WHW. When I saw the monument marking the end of the WHW, I started to tear up a little bit because I was overcome by a medley of emotions about this epic journey being over. The ending did feel somewhat anticlimactic, but I'm not sure what I had been expecting, as if there was going to be a cheering squad waiting for me.
Summary
I would highly recommend the West Highland Way! This trail is perfect for beginner hikers looking to get into long distance hiking because you are able to have a roof over your head each night, which means the load on your back is significantly lighter than if you were having to carry all sorts of camping equipment. What I really liked about this trail is the noticeable change in scenery that occurs as you travel from south to north, as having different terrain each day kept the hiking from feeling monotonous. My enjoyment of the hike was definitely dampened by the blisters that I had on my feet since day 2, as I was often limping and in substantial pain at the end of each day. The best part of this trip was definitely all the lovely people that I met along the way.