The West Highland Way

Hi all

I am in Fort William. Yesterday I tried to update the blog in Kinlochleven, but something went wrong and I wasted 3 hours of work. Luckily I could save the writing in a word file and do the update today, and all I have to do is adding the pics.

After leaving the Internet cafe in Glasgow I went to a nice pub where they had beers from all around the world. Then had my sandwich and headed for the hostel to have the last one.

On the next day, and after breakfast I began walking towards Melngavie through the North West of Glasgow. I was a bit concerned, as i was expecting to find the same antisocial behaviour as around Motherwell, drunks and so. But everything went well, and actually the west end of Glasgow was not so bad. I bumped into a bagpipe band in the park close to the botanic. They were practising (for the festival in Edinburgh I thought). I think they were Americans... or maybe from Cornwall...

Milngavie is a nice village and the place where the West Highland Way (WHW) begins.

From there the path gets into an easy walking wood, always climbing slightly. Once out of the forest and at the top of a not very high ridge, I descended towards a wide valley, before reaching the south end of Loch Lommond the next day.

A very nice, and very sensible footy nut form Milngavie. Viva Espana!!!

From there I could see the first hills of the Highlands. The weather was being good and got quite a lot of sunshine... for Scotland. I walked in the flat valley below where i met Butt, a young Belgian soldier walking the WHW. We walked together until the camping in Gartness, just outside Drymen. He crashed in his tent, and I walked to the pub in Drymen.

First Highlands hills.

The weather was changing, and became really windy. The pub in Drymen, the Clachan, is the oldest licenced one, from 1734. There I wrote my diary and I was quickly kidnapped by Mac, and met Ian, a 74 years old guy (in the picture) that really looked much younger. The waiter, who had been working in Madrid, and the other guy in the picture, were extremely nice and got a few free "water of life". Pleasure!

On the next day it was pissing down with rain. I waited until it stopped and packed everything. It was good that the camp site had a shed were you could stay dry while eating.

Dry shelter

I passed through Drymen to buy some food and i continued to walk towards Balmaha, in the south east end of Loch Lommond. It was raining a bit, but I did not need to put the poncho on.

First sight of Loch Lommond.

From Balhama, it continued raining, but not too strongly. The WHW runs just on the east edge of the Loch. From there you have access to the Bonnie Bonnie Banks, or little pebble beaches where Rob Roy used to have barbeque's, and swim with his English pals a few centuries ago.

From the path you can see the small islands in the Loch and the distant west shore. The light was very bad, and it was hard to find good shots. I began taking underexposed pics, and i think they have a nice moody atmosphere.

The bonnie banks

I stayed in Rowerdannan youth hostel. There were lots of Spaniards (not as many as Germans, they are everywhere in the WHW) in the hostel, and I met Michael (Barcelona), Yuyu and Ana (also from Barcelona) and Gaizka (San Sebastian). We had a few drinks in the nearby pub. I also met Thomas from Denmark and his girlfriend Lewan.

The Spanish community.

On the next day I walked alone towards Inverarnan and Beinglas camp site. Thomas and Lewan walked the same way and at the same time but at a different pace, as Lewan had a problem with her ankle. The path continued on the edge of the loch, with similar scenery and similar light conditions.

Many waterfalls from the hills around Ben Lommond.

There were countless streams coming from the slopes surrounding Ben Lommond. I stopped for a break and food in a hotel by the water, from where you could take ferries. The west shore of the lake began to come closer and closer. A bit later, and at the same time as a French couple I arrived to a clear where there were five red deers (I thinks they were red deers...?)

Eating and resting.

The smaller and younger ones disappear quickly as the humans came into the clear, but the older one stayed. The French woman, kindly gave me a hand to change to the long lens, I could make some pictures. It was not as exciting as that other time near Bristol because the deer was not shy at all, and i could get within ten metres of her (I thought it was a female) in good light. I thought that she was old enough to be used to humans. Despite the proximity with the animal, I did not get any very good picture.

A very brave deer.

From there it was just a short walk to Beinglas campsite. There I met with Michael and Thomas and Lewan, and went for a drink in the Drover's Inn, a 300 years old pub with all sort of stuffed animals on its wall (even a shark), and claymores, and armors...

Hola Fernando. Dedicada.

Yuyu, Gaizka and Ana were there too, and we had a good time trying the local whiskeys and beers. We met Stuart, a German guy that had travelled all around the world and worked in the pub.

I liked the place so I decided to stay for a couple of days. And so did Michael. Tomas and Lewan stayed for an extra one. The next day, Friday, Michael and myself went to the Fallock Falls, where we where planning to maybe have a swim. the weather was not bad, but not good enough for the bloody cold water of the stream.

Stuart

Back in the campsite, we had a short siesta and met in the pub with Thomas and Lewan for dinner. I had my first haggis ( a big one) and a nice desert. Then we listened to some live Celtic music; nice but we were expecting a bit less boring. Stuart sang, quite successfully I would say. Others in the crowd sang as well, not so nice, as this woman who introduced me to all his family... by showing me his pictures in her compact digital camera.... weird.

Michael checking maps.

Back to the campsite we saw an amazing sky with lots of stars; the milky way was visible too. I tried to do some pictures, but failed.

A few days ago I told you how I organised my tent, and good it is. On top of that, and after having seen lots of them on my walk, I can say that it is the coolest and most advanced one. In terms of the interior, have a look below and you will be able to see part of the bedroom as well as the photography studio, the kitchen and wardrove. Out of sight are the office, the living room,.... and the spare room for guests...

The bathroom?.... don't be ridiculous, this is just a small tent!!

My place is your place...

The next day, Saturday, was a rainy one. I had breakfast in the campsite kitchen, and for a few hours read a couple of articles in the Nat. Geographic mag. that someone had forgotten on the table about Moscow and meteorites. I enjoyed it.

Just around midday Michael and I headed towards Ardlui, just a couple of miles away to see the local Highland games. On the way we saw Thomas and Lewan that joined us. The games took place by the shore of the Loch Lommond in a caravan park. There was a canopy with drinks and another one with bbq.

First it was the kids games, and Welly throw for women. and then it came the Scottish giants games. There was that one where you try to turn a massive trunck tree, then shot putt, and then throwing a weight hunging from a chain as high as possible. And rope pulling.

The athletes warmed up with beer whiskey and meat rolls. Ardlui won in the end, but everybody had fun. Thomas and Lewan left soon. Michael and I were welcome in the canopy for the party. Whiskey and beer flowed. Michael really enjoyed the evening; so much that could not resist to try the cold waters of the lake.... naked.

From there we were invited for an amazing dinner, and then party in the Ardlui hotel. we met lots of people. The number, and the whiskey, makes difficult to remember all of you names (my apologies).

I should say, that everybody was extremely nice and we were treated like one more of the group of friends. Special mention to the owner of the place, his wife and family. Also, Michael and I were invited somewhere to sleep after we left the hotel, at 5 am.

Back in the camping, partly recovered from the last night drinking, and continued the WHW on my own; Michael had problems with his leg and decided to take a train. We might meet later on.

Thomas and Lewan

The path continued to run by the A82. I went into a beautiful forest by West of Crianlarich. I think I liked it because it was not so dense as other connifer forests I have seen before, and the path was winding on an up and down terrain.

The weather was quite bad, very wet. I met a german couple that had ponchos to keep themsleves dry. But this ones were much better than mine: they were like a big rucksack cover with a raincoat attached to it. I will try to get one when I get to Fort William.

It was good to get to the camping. The guy in the reception was very nice and talked about british accents and cricket. The field was really wet, but at least the campsite had a small kitchen where you could eat comfortably.

In the kitchen I met a german guy that had just bought a Nikon D300. I had the chance to take a couple of pictures with it, and it was like a machine form the future...It'll be mine... some day.

Having dinner

From Tyndrum, and continuing the WHW the following days, there would not be many places to buy food and other stuff, so I went to the local shop to buy some food. And stayed in the pub for a few drinks and diary update.

On monday, while having breakfast, I met Ian. A highschool teacher from Manchester. We walked together the first 15 Km of the day. Interesting conversations about education, and other things.

Ian with Beinn Dorain behind him. The first Munro (Scottish mountains higher than 3000 feet, 914 m.) I see in my walk.

Ian is a young fit guy, but was having some problems with his right knee ligament. He was in pain for some part of our walk together, specially when going up hill. He stayed in Inveroran, and i continued to walk towards the Black Mountain area.

I stopped to have a can of rice pudding and some water and fitted the long lense in my camera- the place where I was walking looked like those pictures with Stags on them. I could not see anything apart from small birds, and I was feeling that I was missing some scenic pics that needed the wide angle lense. The weather was still very cloudy, but the few clears in the distance and the changing light made good pictures.

From the slopes that go down the hill to King's House I could see the East entrance of Glen Coe, a very nice valley that I plan to visit in the next few days. King's House was just a hotel, and there was not camping. When i approached the place some midges began to be a pain, which was strange because they normally don't come to you if you are moving. There were thousands of them next to the building. I started pitching the tent on a small field a few metres form the river, and it was a nightmare. Thousands became millions. A woman saw scene from the nearby pub (me waving and pitching the tent at the same time) and came to lend a head net. She run back indoors.

From the bridge by Beinglas campsite

I had my dinner, in the tent, and saw how the bloody midges were finding their way inside. Luckily the bastards were not coming for me, and stayed on the "walls" of the tent. It was easy to kill them, KILL THEM ALL!!!!, just with a wave of my hand. I came out of my tent to see with horror, that the millions had become billions, and my tent was surrounded. I waved my hands and went through a dense cloud of them, so dense that I could feel hundreds of them crashing against my arms. I run towards the pub.

Inside, there were no midges, just people. Had some desert and a few beers and a couple of violinists came in. They had something to drink and played some nice celtic music that really fot woth the scenery outside. When I left the pub the midges where gone, home, or the midges pub, or hopefully to the midges hell!!!

The next day i got up quite early. I began walking towards the entrance of Glen Coe. It was cloudy although there were bigger clears in the sky. Just before me a rainbow formed very quickly. it was like the Glen Coe gate. It also disappeared fast.

Before entering Glen Coe, I turned right up the hill following the WHW. From there, I could see one or two of the "Three Sisters", a group of hills by the A82 that I photographed from the Late Peakers van when we did the 3 Peaks Challenge.

Leven valley

Yesterday i just walked 3 hours. The walk down to the Leven valley was easy, and sunnier than the other side of the valley. I saw some fighters passing very close.

Kinlochleven looked like a new built village, with a modern climbing centre (Paco, you would have loved the place: in and outdoors climbing wall, ice wall, and sauna!), and new school with a sport centre. I stayed in Blackwater hostel by a powerstation that uses the waters coming from the hills. The place was cheap, £13 a night en-suite, but it was even cheaper fro me: free. The banner was making its job! And talking about the banner, I think it is about to die: it is not firm any more, and looks like a wet paper. I'll try to find a printing place in Fort William to print a new one. When leaving the hostel for the daily drinks I met Michael that had managed to sort out his leg problems. We had a few drinks in the climbing centre bar.

Blue sky in Kinlochleven

Today I began walking at 8 am. I really wanted to get early to Fort William and update the blog. I follow the WHW up the hill first and though a wide valley later. Coming outside the valley there was the option of leaving the WHW and continue in a more direct route to Fort William on a country. I chose the quick option and form the road I could see Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Britain.

Ben Nevis summit crowned by some clouds.

It was a pleasure to get to the town. It was busy, and I think I have mentioned before how much i like seeing lots of people after I few days in "the wild". I had something to eat and came straight forward to the internet cafe.

Me in Fort William High Street

I will stay in Glen Nevis youth hostel for a week. As you know, I will be meeting Jeremi, Karen, Lyndon, Dan and Dyeison on the 22nd friday to walk the Knoydart peninsula. We'll meet in Invergarry, which one or two days walk form here, so i have 7 spare days (hard life this one of mine...) to basically do nothing: read newspapers, go for a swim and the gym, maybe hire a bike and visit Glen Coe, Highland games tomorrow...Sounds good!!!!

I will update the blog before leaving for Invergarry, and let you know if I have a fantastic or just a very good week at Fort William.

That is all for now. All the best.

Carlos