West Highland Way Archives - Page 2 of 2

13 Oct

West Highland Way – Day 2 – Photo Guide and Review

Day Two- Drymen to Rowardennan – 12 Miles

After a noisy night in Drymen, I woke up and ate my first delicious Scottish breakfast. It was quite tasty but boy did I feel like shit afterwords. Way too much food and there weren’t nearly enough carbs in it for my taste. I felt sluggish for the first hour or so from it on the walk until all the grease settled. On later days, I would add a bowl of Scottish porridge to the mix and that was a nice carb heavy dish that gave me way more energy for the day. On this second day, I was just getting in the groove and I didn’t know any better

My first full Scottish breakfast

I hit the road and made my way out of Drymen and got back on the trail where I left off the day before. The first stretch was really quiet and I ran into a few locals on the trail who I stopped and chatted with for a few moments. The people were super friendly and it made for a pleasurable way to start the day.

Lumber

Trail through the forests

The early miles of this section takes one through some lumber forests which are still in use. Parts are still growing and other areas are totally barren where a harvest was taken. All the while you start to climb a bit higher and soon you get to some nice views of Loch Lomond and what lies ahead on the adventure.

I kept pressing forward and off in the distance I got my first views of Conic Hill. This is the first real climb of the trail and it isn’t nearly as bad as it may look. Up until then I had been spoiled by pretty easy walking. Now it was time to just suck it up and drive up this bad boy. It was a nice change and I welcomed the ability to get my blood flowing and work off all the food I ate at breakfast.

Conic Hill

When you climb Conic Hill, be sure that when you get to the top reaches of the trail that you climb up to the actual summit. It will only take another 2 minutes and it is totally worth it. It’s an awesome view and you can tell all your facebook friends that you summited a mountain. Congratulations! I ate my lunch up on the top too and soaked in the views.

Conic Hill trail

The walk down Conic Hill was great. As I got lower down the slopes, I entered into an old forest. It has some really awesome tall pines with their canopy well above your head and ferns covering the ground below. It is really charming and it is like nothing else on the trail. Enjoy it while you are there because you won’t get to see anything else like it.

After the forest, you will arrive in the small town of Balmaha which sits right on Loch Lomond. This is a big launching off point for boats and many are docked there. There were some cafes in town but I didn’t linger there to check them out. It would be a great place to stop for lunch if you didn’t pack anything along with you. Its also the first time you are really close to the water and it seemed pretty charming.

The next stretch of the trail, all the way to Rowardennan, will take you along the banks of Loch Lomond and up and down the work of ancient glaciers that deposited their harvest. It was very pleasurable once you get off the roads, but again, just like day 1, there is more walking on the road than I would have liked. Once again, I am removed from quiet trails and I am thrust back into civilization. My ears didn’t like it and my feet were never happy on the asphalt.

A trail just outside Balmaha

Speaking of civilization, this was by far the most crowded day of the hike. There are a lot of visitors to Loch Lomond and they hike the same trails as the West Highland Way. I’m not a big fan of walking with a bunch of people so this day was a bit disappointing from that perspective. It wasn’t unmanageable but it definitely would have been a lot more enjoyable if people weren’t talking loudly and they were a bit more considerate of faster walkers behind them.

A nice beach on Loch Lomond

After several miles through the forest, I easily reached the Rowardennan Youth Hostel where I was staying for the night. I could have kept going and I wish that I would have as day three was a bit on the long side. Regardless, the hostel was nice and I would recommend it to others. I had a private room and unlike hostels in Germany, the beds were made and I didn’t have to bother with anything.

After a shower, I made my way back to the Rowardennan Hotel for dinner and a few pints. The food was OK, nothing special, and a bit pricy since they had the only food for sale other than the hostel in the area. There is a great patio out back where you can get some nice views of the Loch while you eat and enjoy your pints.

Rowardennan Youth Hostel

After dinner I ventured back in the dark with my head lamp, or torch if you are from Scotland. Midway back I shut it off and was greeted with a clear, star soaked sky which was breathtaking. Being an urban dweller in the US all my life, you don’t get to see a clear night sky like this as because of all the light pollution. I was super lucky to have gotten such a clear night and it is a moment I won’t forget.

After enjoying the universe, I made my way to my room and got ready for my longest day of hiking that laid before me. I would be up early to get breakfast as soon as it was offered and get out on the trail as quick as I could.

Pros:

– A wide variety of scenery.
– The slightly more challenging walk provided a greater sense of accomplishment than the previous day.
– The top of Conic Hill is a great place to eat lunch and enjoy the scenery.
– The geology along Loch Lomond is fascinating.

Cons:

– The most crowded day of the hike.
– A bit too much walking on concrete.
– A lot of road noise the last half of the hike.

West Highland Way – Photo Guide and Review by Day

Milngavie – Drymen – 12 miles
Drymen – Rowardennan – 15 miles
Rowardennan – Crainlarich – 20 miles
Crainlarich – Inveroran – 15 miles
Inveroran – Kinlochleven – 19 miles
Kinlochleven – Fort William – 16 miles

08 Oct

West Highland Way – Day 1 – Photo Guide and Review

Simple Beginnings

The West Highland Way starts out very humbly in the small village of Milgavie. As I arrived in town around 8 AM on the train from Glasgow, I felt as if I had stepped into the little town from the movie Hot Fuzz. There isn’t a whole lot to see and I don’t really know if I would call it charming or not.

When I was there, almost all of the buildings had chains pulled over their doors and the town was pretty deserted with only a few school kids running by from time to time in what appeared to be Harry Potter costumes. There is a little square that is nice but it’s just traditional small town stuff. Nothing great, nothing bad. Also, not a place to spend a lot of time in.

The grocery store was open and a little bakery was there to get a bite to eat before I set off on the trail. This was when I first learned that bacon isn’t “bacon” in Scotland. It’s more like a piece of ham than what I think of as crispy bacon. It’s pretty boring to be honest and doesn’t have much flavor which explains why they drowned the bacon and sausage sandwich in brown sauce. The sausage was much better and I don’t have any complains about that.

After about 20 – 30 minutes I had seen it all and I was ready to be on my way. I dropped my bags off with the Travel Lite baggage wizards, adjusted my day pack and set off on the West Highland Way.

Simple beginnings

Day One – Milgavie – Drymen – 12 Miles

The first day of the West Highland Way is a piece of cake. Seriously. If the hike from Milgavie to Drymen is tough for you, reconsider even doing the hike. It will not get any easier. It is just spotted with rolling hills and a lot of flat farm land to trek through.

The beginning of the way

Blackberries on the West Highland Way

A small stream through the woods in Milngaive

The beginning of the way was nice though the city park areas of Milgavie and I enjoyed the birds singing from the tree canopy that covers the trail. There is a nice stream that runs along part of the trail and in the fall, blackberry bushes were abundant for the picking (this was the same for the whole trail). It’s all very lush and green and there are ferns everywhere you look. You also get some nice dense forest to look at as the trail snakes its way through the outskirts of town.

The first large trail sign

After you pass the loch, you get to experience your first walking on the Scottish back country roads. Watch your ass and keep to the side of the road as much as you can. There isn’t a lot of room for walkers and the people drive like lunatics in Scotland. Seriously. I was almost taken out by a truck going about 60 mph on a tiny ass road around a corner. They don’t give a shit about hikers and if I had to guess, they probably get sick of them in the summer. Luckily, you don’t have to walk on roads like this after the first day so just get through the death traps as quickly as possible.

The first signs of the Scottish Highlands

The painful memories of almost being ran over on the road left me pretty quickly as I really enjoyed the next segment of the trail through wide open spaces with the hills of the low highlands around you. The landscape stretches out in front of you and you can see a long way north into the surrounding villages. It’s the first real time you are away from traffic and you can get a small glimpse of what is yet to come on the trial. This was my favorite part of my first day and I wish I had spent a bit more time going through it.

The Beech Tree Goat

I’m not a whiskey drinker but I do love beer so I passed on the distillery and made my way to the Beech Tree. I was the only person there and I had myself a nice pint, checked my progress and realized that the hike was already halfway done. I had gotten there in no time so I just chilled outside for a while and read my guide book. The staff at the Beech Tree were really friendly and I would recommend place for a pint. I didn’t eat there so I can’t comment on the food.

I grabbed my pack after my Bellhaven’s Best, visited with the goats on the property and got back on the trail. The trail didn’t get much more exciting as it passed by a water treatment plant and just more farm land. It was a bit more interesting when I got to a little country road with some houses and a bridge across a river. I hung out there for a bit and then made my way down the road…and made my way down the road…and down the road…and down the road…

The trail after leaving the Beech Tree looking south

The remainder of the day was spent wandering along a pretty uninteresting country road with nothing really special to report. It OK visually, I guess, but it isn’t nice to walk on. When I am away from my desk and on vacation, I want to be off the pavement and away from traffic, not walk on miles of roads. This was my least favorite part of the entire hike and I was ready to be done with it. It was too bad that it didn’t end until Drymen. I loved the blackberries along the sides of the road, but they weren’t enough for the day to say that yes, this is a great hike.

Houses along the road/trail

West Highland Way along the road

Cows enjoying a lazy afternoon

So I finished up the day with a little walk up a small hill up a dirt trail before finding the signs to turn into Drymen. It was a nice to be off the road and I felt happy I had reached my destination. I wasn’t tired yet and it was only about 3 or so in the afternoon, but it was nice to be there. I took a left and headed down to the city past houses with large “YES” signs posted on them supporting Scottish independence. It was pretty exciting to be in the country during the referendum and I got lucky with my planning considering I booked my stay in February.

The streets of Drymen

I made it to my B&B, the oldest pub in Scotland, The Clachin Inn, and got settled in. The place was nice and clean, I took a shower, went out for a walk around town to a little lookout spot where I got my first views of Loch Lomond and then decided to settle on a nice dinner at the local grocery store. I imagined that after my first day on the trail I would be starving but it was the exact opposite. I ate a sandwich and some chips and called it good. After my fancy dinner, I headed down to the pub area of the B&B and commenced to have a few pints. It was a tiny pub and it was packed with quite a few locals. Not the best pub ever but it was fun enough.

The Clachan Inn

I slept well that night in the Clachin Inn until about 2 AM when, what sounded like all the guests staying there all decided to make a bathroom run. When people are moving around in that place at night, its loud. Really loud. No joke, I sleep really heavily and I was woken up super easy in this place. It’s nice, but you hear all the doors shut, the locks click into place and toilet the toilets flushing.

Summary – Day One

So, the day was done, I felt accomplished and I was ready for day two. I enjoyed the hike for the most part, more for being in Scotland and away from work than from the actual scenery that I was wandering through. I was ready for more adventure and I hoped that day two would give me the outdoor experience I had been hoping for when I left for the hike. Time would tell…

Pros:

– Finishing the first stretch of a long distance hike is very rewarding.
– The quiet walk with birds through the woods outside Milngavie were very nice.
– Free blackberries!
– The first half of the hike is very nice and scenic.
– A pub and distillery at the half way mark of the day.

Cons:

– The trails are too close to civilization with a lot of traffic noise almost everywhere.
– Too many miles spent walking on roads.
– Too much pasture land and little variety on the second half of the day.
– Thin walls and people with small bladders staying at the same B&B.

West Highland Way – Photo Guide and Review by Day

04 Oct

West Highland Way – Photo Guide and Review

This September I took a trip to Scotland and while I was there I hiked the 96 mile West Highland Way. It is the “premier” hiking trail of Scotland and runs from the small town of Milngavie (pronounced mull – guy) to Fort William and covers a wide range of environments from rolling farmland to the Scottish highlands.

Before I left, I looked around online for information about the trail and I found that a lot of the stuff out there about it that was pretty lackluster to be honest. I found it hard to plan my trip based on my personal level of fitness from other peoples reviews or guides. Some people would say things that parts of the trail were hard or easy, without giving a background of their own level of fitness or the types of environments that they typically hiked in.

Cows enjoying the view of the first “hills” of the West Highland Way

That said, I want to start this guide by detailing my personal background with hiking and my fitness level prior to walking the trail. I’m a 34 year old male and I am in pretty good shape. I run regularly, about 10-15 miles a week, and I do some hiking on the weekends. I live in Colorado and I spend a good amount of time climbing around on trails that have quite a bit of elevation change, sometimes over very short distances.

To me, a “hard” hike would be one that gains about 2,000 – 3,000 feet of elevation over a distance of say, 3 or so miles. I would say an “easy” hike is one that is relatively flat and goes up and down in elevations of a couple of hundred feet each time, but only a couple of times over the course of the hike. Then, obviously, “moderate” would fall in the middle of those two.

So, where does the West Highland Way fall on the difficulty scale? I would say it is somewhere in a “low-moderate” category. It’s not hard by any stretch, but its also not a cakewalk the whole way either. Some days are easier than others and some days are harder than they should be because of the types of “trail” you are walking on. I was never completely tired and worn out on the trail but there were times when the going was a bit slower than it should have been a couple of days because of sore feet.

Here is what my itinerary looked like with links to go straight to a certain day’s review:

Day 1: Milngavie – Drymen – 12 miles
Day 2: Drymen – Rowardennan – 15 miles
Day 3: Rowardennan – Crainlarich – 20 miles
Day 4: Crainlarich – Inveroran – 15 miles
Day 5: Inveroran – Kinlochleven – 19 miles
Day 6: Kinlochleven – Fort William – 16 miles

The average duration for the people I talked to seemed to be anywhere from 5-7 days to complete the hike, with some people even doing it over 8 or an unthinkable 9 days. The six days I did it in was not a breakneck pace and I had enough time to take a lot of photos and enjoy some breaks along with way to enjoy a pint. Any more than 6 days though and I would have been really bored. Really, really bored.

There isn’t a lot to see in the places you stop along the way. All the little villages with lodging are very small and since you won’t have any transport, its not easy to go out and explore around the area. Plus the surrounding landscape isn’t much different than what you just spent the day walking through.

The beginnings of the old military roads…

I used the baggage carrier service Travel Lite to carry my bags on the trail and I was glad that I did. After lugging my crap around Edinburgh, Stirling and Glasgow for a week before I did the long walk, just getting rid of my big rucksack felt like a vacation in itself. These guys are like magicians.

You meet them just under the big “West Highland Way” arch that marks the start of the trail, give them your bags and you never see them again. Your bag however, seems to warp between locations and end up right where you need it. It’s the single best money that I spent on the trip and I would use these baggage wizards again any day.

Here is their website if you are interested in booking with them:

http://travel-lite-uk.com/

For my guide to the West Highland Way, I will be breaking the post into several parts to document each of the different segments that I did, complete with photos from the trail that I haven’t found anywhere else online. This was another problem I had with the online guides before I left. They had maps and a couple of photos, but they never really showed you what the trail actually looked like. This could be a pretty big determining factor for people with limited vacation time or funds so I wanted to give people an accurate view of what they were getting themselves into.