Here are some thoughts and highlights:
No midges.
James did very well to plan our trip for before midgie season in Scotland. When I was sitting down in between struggling over the rocks beside Loch Lomond, between Inversnaid and Ardleish, a lady pointed out to me that in a month’s time we wouldn’t have been able to rest without being attacked by midges.
The weather.
James again did extremely by booking our walk for the end of May. It meant that the weather had a chance of being decent, but would not be too hot for me. I suffer badly in the heat so I was hoping that it would be quite cool, and spent the weeks before we set off scrutinising the weather forecast in the hope that the temperature would not be too high!
So were we lucky? For the most part the answer is yes. The temperature was about 13 degrees C during our journey, with a nice breeze to keep us cool. We had two mostly sunny days at the start, four grey but dry days, and two days of heavy rain (on days 4 and 8) For a Scottish eight day walk, I think that’s pretty good.
The walkers.
The trail was fairly quiet; I think that the pandemic has made it slow to get started this year. This was quite pleasant for us because hours could go by without meeting other walkers; I think that it will be very busy in the summer. However we did meet a few people on our travels and there was a real camaraderie between us and our fellow West Highland Way walkers. We met and chatted with some really lovely people, and bonded over our sore feet and our excitement about the journey. Some we only met once, others we came across several times. You could recognise West Highland Way walkers in restaurants in the evenings because many were walking gingerly due to their blisters!
The accommodation.
This trip was my Christmas present, and to make it comfortable and pleasant for us, James had booked via Mac Adventures, who arranged all of our accommodation and transported our luggage from hotel to hotel. They did us proud. Every hotel and b&b was excellent and the receptionists and hosts were friendly and welcoming. I have grown to love the buttery smell of Brodie’s Scottish shortbread, provided in most of our hotel rooms.
The restaurants.
We booked dinner at some splendid restaurants, ranging from hearty home cooking to fine dining. There were definitely some recurring courses on the menus; macaroni cheese, burgers, steaks and, for dessert, the ubiquitous sticky toffee pudding!
The blisters.
Oh my goodness, the blisters! I wore light cotton socks for the journey, because I like my feet to be cool, and that has worked well for walks around our local area during lockdown. I always find that walking socks are too warm for me, even the thinnest ones. However the much longer walks this week have played havoc with my feet. By the end of Day 3, the most difficult day for me, my feet had developed several blisters, and I have been fighting a rearguard action ever since. I have a love / hate relationship with blister plasters because although I definitely needed them, they could feel quite bulky and sometimes the blisters kept swelling up painfully under the plasters. The next time that I go for a long distance walk I’m going to do some research about what walking socks are best for me.
The wildlife.
We saw lots of wildlife including red deer near Bridge of Orchy and at Kinlochleven and feral goats at Ardleish at the top of Loch Lomond. And many sheep with their wee lambs.
We saw golden eagles above Meall a Bhuirdh, lots of goldfinches, bullfinches, pheasants, ducks and a snow bunting. And we heard cuckoos calling every single day!
The train journey home.
When heading back south, the train line joins the West Highland Way at Bridge of Orchy and it was fascinating to look out for the path upon which we had walked only a few days before.
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