Heading Home

There was really quite a short walk today, so we had the longest lie of the week, getting up at about 7:30 a.m. The weather was still pretty grey but it wasn't actually bucketing down, so we set off through the Mamores on a good track. At one point there was an easier route to Fort William, but we kept to the track.

It was when we had only about an hour to go that Hugh and I had exactly the same sensation. We were weary of all this. Talking about it, we reckoned that until that moment, when we were heading down Glen Nevis, the adrenalin had been keeping us going. But the brain decided that now that adrenalin was no longer needed and it was shut off. Boy was that hard!

We ended up at the Fort and met Ronan in the park just as the rain was starting to come on harder again. Off to a restaurant that he had found that, though not allowing Freja inside, had a place out the back where she could get a little shelter. I felt quite guilty, leaving her outside as we ate a hearty lunch. After all, she had stuck by me for these six days, and unless she could sense something, for all she knew it was going to be another six days before we arrived home. In fact, it was just a little more than six hours.

A very wet day

We woke to a very still morning. I knew just what this meant and shouted through to Ronan's tent that I wasn't going to cook anything… it was cereal bars for breakfast without opening the door of the tent or the mosquito netting! Before striking camp, I donned midge hat and gloves, and was fairly safe, but the others were driven just about demented. Oh, the Highland midge, what torment such a little creature can put us through… she and her friends.

We set off and within a quarter of an hour, had stopped to put on full waterproofs. We needed them for the whole day as the weather closed in. The head of Glencoe looked very atmospheric! Up over the Devil's Staircase (which wasn't so bad really) and Kat was very slow because of her knees. There was no way that the others could walk as slowly as she was doing, with the result that they got very cold waiting in the chill wind. Hmmm...

Eventually, we arrived in Kinlochleven and decamped into the bar of the Macdonald Hotel, smuggling Freja in because if you don't ask, you can't be told 'no'. It was soup for everyone and coffee and tea through the afternoon. Freja and the rest of us had just about dried out by the time we set off again at 4:30 pm to put two hours walking under our belt, which would make the next day's walk to Fort William and the 5:35 train just a little less stressful. We found a lovely camp site, though pretty close to the track, and pitched camp just as the rain was beginning to ease.

Bowling Along

This was by far in a way the best day. We started off from Tyndrum in grey mood to match the grey morning, but as we walked, the mist began to clear and there were patches of blue sky. We headed over the path by the road and railway and Ben Dorain's classic concave slope appeared before us. Wow!

Down to Bridge of Orchy, where Ronan and Kat decided that they would take the bus up to the Kingshouse Hotel. Kat was keen to preserve what were left of her knees for finishing her walk into Kinlochleven the next day. Ronan was keen to find an excuse for taking it easy! The four of us who remained headed over the hill to Inveroran, where we had lunch on the grass opposite the hotel, though made use of the hotel for drinks and toilets.

Then it was over the edge of Rannoch Moor and the four of us just bowled along. At one stage the track was wide enough for us to walk four abreast and that we found was the fastest formation. When you are walking in line astern, it is easy to drop back a bit but when you are in line abeam, you do your best to keep the line. Freja was in front, of course, and much happier in this good weather. We stopped at Ba Bridge and dangled our hot feet in the water. This would have been where we would have camped and a glorious spot it would have been, but we had decided to push on to Kingshouse, where Ronan's and Kat's kit was being taken.

So we were ahead of schdule when we arrived, very weary but quite elated and pitched camp just over the river from the hotel. There was a bit of a breeze, so no midges (Kingshouse is renowned for its midges!). And Ronan and I had our first, and what became our only, camp-cooked meal.

Rocks and Roots

Putting on the pack is not as bad today, but maybe that is because I have eaten virtually all the food. The midges are out in force and I am glad I had Freja on the lead or she would have been half way across Loch Lomond chasing the ducks and ducklings that paid a morning visit to the campsite.

The track to the farm where we were to meet Ronan was exceptionally difficult. This had been predicted but the rocks and roots held us up considerably. We met Ronan and my concerns were quick to evaporate when I discovered that he was sending his pack on to Tyndrum by van. I was going to find it difficult to pack up more food, especially as he had seeming;y taken it upon himself to double up on everything I had bought!

In the afternoon, the track was better, though it was late by the time we arrived in Tyndrum. It was a great relief coming down past the rail viaduct to the road but seemed much further after that than I had imagined… but this is the story of the Way! That night we ate in the local chippy, or at least the Explorers did… I ate ooutside with Freja and Ronan kindly joined me.

By Yon Bonnie Banks

We set off early down to the road north of Balmaha and along the shore of Loch Lomond. Just after Cashell Camp Site, it started to drizzle so we stopped to put on waterproofs. We continued up and over the hill, which had changed much since I last walked here. The trees are now quite mature! Down to Rowardennan.

Continuing along the shore and then up the track, it seemed as if our destination, Inversnaid, was getting no closer. Just when I thought that we must be nearly there, there was a map indicating that it was another four kilometres to go. Well, thank goodness the map scale must have been wrong, for we covered the ground in just under half an hour. On to the camp site in the woods, but that night Sarah lsft us, he knee playing up. That's two down and four to go… and I'm talking about Explorers, not days.

One down and five to go

I had been thinking that this day would never come. The week before had been such a relaxation, maybe somehow I would be spared the trial, perhaps it would be called off… But no… today was the first day of the West Highland Way with the Pentland Hills Explorer Unit. We met at Haymarket Station at 7:45 a.m., Freja wearing her own little backpack. Somehow the youngsters' packs looked lighter than mine. Maybe they had taken my adice on reducing the amount of clothing carried to a minimum. I wish I had done this myself. Then again, they had shared out their tents, cooking equipment and food… I was carrying all my own.

We set off and soon I had dropped behind because I had to clear up after Freja. I made haste to catch them up and was just about to follow the Way which went off to the left when I saw the last two of them disappearing ahead. First navigation error… not the last. Lunch was eaten on the lawn of a restaurant (seats only for people who bought drinks from the bar). They make no charge for filling water bottles, but do it grudgingly, even for those who have bought drinks from the bar.

Passing Drymen, Joe decided he couldn't go any further, so I had to accompany him into the village to await his father. They gave me a lift into Balmaha and after waiting for a while, I set off up Conic Hill from the other side. Just as well, because they were all very late and we decided to camp on the hill overlooking the loch… what a glorious sunset.

Passing time

This morning, Freja and I walked up to the broch beyond Totaig. It was 35 years ago that I first came here and in that time, the forest around it has grown and been felled, so the view is not dissimilar from that when I was first here. There were a few showers while we were out but within minutes of our return, the heavens opened.

We took to the water in the afternoon and Freja was much more relaxed than last year, curling up to rest on the deck. She was interested in the seagulls but not in the seal, which I don't think she saw, nor in the porpoises, which I don't think she recognised as creatures.

In the eveneing, after Hugh's canard a l'orange, Hugh and Ilona took to the water again to avoid the midges and Freja and I walked along the shore. What a great view there was back to the Five Sisters.