Bluebells and blossom near Chesham & Little Missenden

Date: Sunday 22nd April 2012
Route: Chesham Circular via Little Missenden and Hyde Heath
Distance: 9 miles

If there was a theme to today's walk, it was mainly things beginning with a "b" - bluebells, in the woods, baby rabbits scampering about on one particular section of the path, blossom on the trees and baby lambs in the fields along the route - definitely a "spring has sprung" walk.

This walk is taken from the Chilterns & Thames Valley Pathfinder Guide and starts and ends in the pretty town of Chesham. Although there are rolling hills and a picturesque valley (the bizarrely named Herberts Hole), this isn't really a fantastic walk - the scenery is often blighted by power lines and pylons, the path is very overgrown in places, there are a lot of similar-looking fields to tramp through and the last mile is alongside a busy road. I would definitely avoid this route in the summer, as I suspect that the nettles will be even more grown up by then.

It's not all bad, however - the first section is easy walking through a lovely valley and the Red Lion at Little Missenden is a great lunch stop, complete with the River Misbourne and assorted ducks and swans in the back garden (if it's impossible to get a table there is another pub - The Crown - in Little Missenden further along the route of the walk).

I would rate this walk as a 5 out of 10 walk - am glad to have done it but I won't be rushing to do it again, especially when there are so many other fantastic walks in the area. 

Mallaig Circular Walk

Date: Wednesday, 11 April

Distance: 2-3 miles

Route: Around Mallaig

Not really on a par with our walking on the West Highland Way, but we couldn’t resist taking the train over the “Harry Potter viaduct” at Glenfinnan on the Fort William to Mallaig line, and whilst we were in Mallaig it seemed wrong to not at least have a small wander around. As you can see, it was a beautiful day.

There are a number of walks around Mallaig, which are detailed on a board by the quay-side. Mallaig is the stopping-off point for ferries to the islands of Eigg, Rum and Skye, and there are great views across to the islands from the Circular Walk, which starts on some steps from the car park and follows a clear path over the hillside, then back along the shore (with picnic benches en route).

Things we learned along the (West Highland) Way

If you’re thinking of walking the West Highland Way, here are a few random things we discovered during the course of our trip…

1. It’s not as hard as we feared it might be.

When you’re used to hill-walking and the uneven paths of the Lake District, the Dales or even the Chilterns, it is slightly disconcerting to discover that so much of the WHW is on old military roads and wide tracks and that there are only a limited number of steep sections – which make for relatively easy walking. This also means that…

2. It’s a very companionable walk.

Not only can you walk side-by-side with other walkers, you will also meet a lot of different people walking the same route, staying in the same places and drinking in the same bars. And…

3. There’s always someone older, slower or less fit than you on the Way.

If they can walk 95 miles, so can you! The only way I would be mistaken for Julia Bradbury was if she was 10 years older, 3 stones heavier and had a slightly dodgy knee – and yet I did it. And so did a dog wearing a Three Peaks coat (which had also walked the Coast to Coast, annoyingly).

4. 95 miles is enough of a challenge, you don’t necessarily need to make it more difficult.

Just because assorted Dutch, German and French adolescents seem to want to complete the walk into the shortest possible time, whilst carrying the biggest backpacks imaginable, this is by no means compulsory – after all, you are supposed to be enjoying yourself. We met people who hated the Inversnaid to Beinglas Farm section of the walk, because they were already exhausted by the time they started it – yet we remember it as one of the best sections of the walk.

5. It’s OK to use a baggage transfer service.

There’s nothing wrong with getting to the end of a day’s walking and finding your bag full of clean, dry clothes. Likewise, camping is not compulsory!

6. It’s very difficult to get lost.

The West Highland Way is probably one of the best signposted and most obvious paths we’ve ever walked on – and the maps in the Trailblazer Guide make it even easier to see where you are and how much longer you have to walk that day.

7. Hope for the best but plan for the worst.

You’re definitely going to need a decent pair of walking boots, waterproof trousers and jacket, a hat, some gloves, a compass, a whistle, a torch etc. If half this stuff stays in your bag the whole way round and never sees the light of day, fantastic. If you’d prefer to be the French student who got lost in the dark and was trying to use her mobile phone as a torch when the rescue people picked her up in the early hours, that is of course another option.

8. It’s probably best to think of it as fuel rather than food.

This is how you justify the cooked breakfast plus porridge plus snacks plus hearty meals plus beer – after all, you’re burning off plenty of calories walking! Oh, and whilst you might turn your nose up at the idea of a cheese and baked bean pasty, let me assure you that when you’re sitting on Rannoch Moor in the rain, it is a mightily tasty experience.

9.  You don’t really “get away from it all”.

You’re never too far away from the A82 – and if there is an emergency en route, there are enough people walking the Way for help to be close at hand. But you do end up in remote locations, far enough away from satellite TV, mobile signals and the internet to switch off and enjoy the fresh air and scenery.

10. The mountains never look as impressive on your photos as they do in real life.

(Either that or we need to buy a better camera).

Finally, as soon as you reach the end, you’ll want to plan your next long distance walk. 100% guaranteed.

West Highland Way: Day 10

Date: Tuesday, 10 April

Route: Kinlochleven to Fort William

Distance: 14 miles

Accommodation: Guisachan Guest House, Fort William

We’ve done it – yaayy! 95 miles from Glasgow to Fort William, up and down hills, along valleys and amongst some of the most beautiful and dramatic scenery in the UK.

But, also… we’ve done it – noooooooo! What are we going to do tomorrow?! We both really want to keep walking now (and the Great Glen Way does seem very appealing).

Today definitely wins the spectacular prize – a fantastic section of the walk with some jaw-dropping scenery.

We woke up in the Highland Getaway in Kinlochleven to see the hilltops dusted in snow, after a night in the most comfortable bed encountered on the whole Way, with little noise outside apart from the tumbling water of the river outside the window.

Once you are out of Kinlochleven there is a steady climb up the hillside to contend with – luckily this isn’t as gruelling as The Devil’s Staircase and there are plenty of fantastic views, both back over Kinlochleven, where you can see the aluminium works pipes that the path accompanied yesterday, as well as along the narrow Loch Linhe, which is very fjord-like at this point, so you have lots of excuses to stop and take photos (and a breather).

The bulk of the walk follows the reasonably easy military road across open moorland, with towering snow-capped peaks on either side, looking almost Himalayan at times. As per usual, the mountains look breathtakingly impressive in real life and absolutely tiny and lost against the grey sky through the camera lens – you’ll either need to trust me or walk this bit yourself to get a true sense of the scale of this section.

After lots of exposed path, with the river away to your left, you finally start to get into patches of woodland, however, in common with earlier sections of the walk, there is lots of evidence (none too easy on the eye) of forest clearance, with the stumps of felled trees giving the hillsides a desolate feel. On the plus side, of course, this probably exposes views that were hitherto hidden and is putting money into the local economy.

Whatever your views on forestry, the first time you see Ben Nevis up ahead, the only feasible reaction is “wow”! Flanked by two white peaks, it is even more imposing than the mountains  encountered so far – and the views off to the left are pretty lovely too (it may have helped that the sun came out for us at this point – during the walk we had spring sunshine, wintry cold and April showers to contend with).

Eating a packed lunch while sitting on a dry stone wall might not sound that spectacular, but when you have amazing mountains to the right and left and a green hillside ahead, it definitely takes a lot of beating.

The next section of the walk is through more woodland – spookily dark pine plantations, with a rock-strewn floor, carpeted with pine needles and unfeasibly bright green moss, clover and ferns. Suddenly the path enters a cleared forest and it’s all about Ben Nevis again, which looms up ahead, its top shrouded in cloud.

The final climb of the walk gives you a variety of views of Britain’s tallest mountain, plus the peaks to either side of it, then it’s an easy descent along a forestry road to the valley bottom, the Glen Nevis Visitor Centre and the final stretch of pavement into Fort William.

 
Very sad that our walk is at an end – but what a way to finish it. It seems to be very straightforward to get a bus from Fort William to Kinlochleven and walk back, so even if you don’t have the time or energy to do the whole West Highland Way, this section on its own could be a (challenging but beautiful) option.

West Highland Way: Day 9

Date: Easter Monday, 9 April

Route: Kings House to Kinlochleven

Distance: 9 miles

Accommodation: Highland Getaway, Kinlochleven

With heavy rain forecast and “The Devil’s Staircase”, the steepest climb on the whole walk, ahead of us, there was some trepidation as we set off along the West Highland Way, leaving behind the slightly worn-at-the-edges but character-filled and superbly located Kings House Hotel with its Climbers’ Bar and friendly staff. If you get the chance, check out the photo of the cigar-chomping craggy mountaineer on top of one of the lofty peaks in the bar – it’s a classic.

Luckily, even though we experienced both rain and snow on the 9½ mile walk, this section boasts some of the most spectacular scenery of the whole walk, which more than compensated for the grey skies. The walk begins alongside the hotel, following a track through the valley, with towering mountains ahead and on either side. Every now and again, breaks in the cloud revealed the snowy mountain-tops, before they melted back into the mist.

After a section alongside the A82, the path became a little more difficult, partly because of the volume of water running down the hill from the previous night’s rainfall, but mainly due to the steep climb up to the hilltop. The name for this section is “The Devil’s Staircase”, which makes it sound immeasurably worse than it is – there are definitely a few heart-pounding moments but the final ascent is pretty gradual and once you are at the top there are stunning views in all directions (cloud permitting).

The rest of the walk is pretty much downhill all the way, again with beautiful views out over the imposing mountains, with a loch visible over to the right, before the path joins up with the track leading down from the aluminium works and heads into the village of Kinlochleven, continuing along the river.

Kinlochleven has a Co-op, a few pubs, a climbing wall and the Aluminium Story Visitor Centre, so it feels like a teeming metropolis after the remote locations of the past two nights.

 
This was a challenging but massively rewarding section of the path, which I would be keen to walk again on a clear day.

West Highland Way: Day 8

Date: Easter Sunday, 8 April

Route: Inveroran to Kings House

Distance: 10 miles

Accommodation: Kings House Hotel, Kings House

The main themes of this section of the walk are beautiful bleakness, miles of empty moorland, imposing mountains and (today, at least) grey cloud, followed by drizzle, followed by light rain, followed by heavy rain.

Despite the general dampness (which was nowhere near as bad as forecast at the start of the walk), this was still a highlight of the West Highland Way (so far), crossing one of the most remote areas of countryside in Britain, with ever-changing views of hillsides, lochans and moorland, before ending up at the ever-impressive mountains of Glen Coe.

We were also fuelled by specially-cooked Quorn sausages and a free Creme Egg from the hotel, an unexpected Easter bonus that was gratefully received.

The path is another companionable road-width track, sometimes like a farm track and at other times cobbled, courtesy of Thomas Telford, who took on the task of improving the military roads that had fallen into disrepair and improving them for the cattle drovers of the early 19^th century.

Although there is plenty of ascent and descent , the road is comfortable to walk on and the climbs are gradual so it’s easy to cover a lot of ground in a short space of time. There aren’t a whole lot of obvious landmarks on the route (as you would probably expect from an area that is uninhabited for 50 square miles!) but there are a few tree plantations, bridges, rivers and streams along the way, as well as a succession of hills, many of which were sadly hidden below a blanket of clouds as we walked along.

We also encountered a very nonchalant grouse, which didn’t seem to have any issues with being photographed from reasonably close quarters and merely hopped off the rock it was resting on, rather than flying off in a flurry, when it tired of the attention.

Although the Rannoch Moor section of the walk is exposed, it was disappointing to near the end of it, seeing the A82 down below. As it was starting to rain more heavily, we followed the path down and round the hillside and took a slight diversion to the Glen Coe Visitor Centre, a great place to grab tea and soup and sit out the worst of the weather (in kinder climates, it would have been possible to take the ski-lift to the mountain-top but once glance at the family that had ventured this in the pouring rain confirmed that this really wouldn’t have been a great plan for us!).

 
The final half hour of the walk combined some of the worst (wettest and windiest) weather with some of the best (looming mountain) scenery. After crossing the A82 we wandered down the hillside to the Kings House Hotel, in a perfect location near the pyramid-shaped Buachaille Etive Mor (mountain) and with deer grazing in the garden. A good end to a great walking day.

West Highland Way: Day 7

Date: Saturday 7 April

Route: Tyndrum to Inveroran

Distance: 10 miles

Accommodation: Inveroran Hotel, Inveroran

Another “not one of the highlights” stretch of the West Highland Way, but another interesting day’s walking nonetheless, mainly on military roads built by the English to crush the Jacobite (pro-Stuart) rebellions, crossing one last hillside to end up at the beautifully situated Inveroran Hotel by the side of Loch Tulla.

Once past the relentlessly tourist-friendly (and therefore quite sniffily reviewed by guide-books) Green Welly Stop, the road soon leaves Tyndrum and turns into a metalled track, which is easy to walk two abreast (although you may need to keep an ear out for stealthy mountain bikers behind you).

The A82 is still visible, though soon at a distance, as this section runs closer to the railway line, which you cross a couple of times. The shelter of the early loch-side sections of the walk is pretty much missing from now onwards - luckily we only have a bit of light rain to contend with and no need to break out the serious waterproof gear (yet).

This section is really all about being out in the middle of a wide open space, amongst imposing hills and mountains. The ease of the path makes it difficult to slow down (once again we find ourselves at our accommodation way too early to check in – luckily it has a Walker’s Bar, complete with illustration of the whole Way, cartoon midges etc., in which to while away some time, though if you forgot to buy a newspaper in Tyndrum you could find yourself distressingly crossword-free).

The first notable landmark (not counting the various hills whose summits are wreathed in cloud and the occasional bridge/ stile/ gate etc.) is the railway station at Bridge of Orchy, a long white single storey building with a roof that was obviously designed to cope with more than the occasional downpour.

Once past the Bridge of Orchy Hotel and over the bridge that gives the hamlet its name, it’s back uphill and into virtually the only sheltered section of the walk, through a conifer plantation. The gradual climb is rewarded by a great view by a cairn on the hilltop, looking down on Loch Tulla and across various hilltops and the moorland we will be tackling the next day (having seen photographs of this in bright sunshine, when there isn’t so much cloud obscuring the hilltops, I suspect it gets a lot more spectacular than we have experienced).

Then, all too soon, we’re back down the hill and at the Inveroran Hotel (not that the welcome isn’t warm – it has some of the friendliest staff anywhere along the Way). Again, it feels as though we could have gone further today; strangely looking forward to the most exposed section of the walk, between Rannoch Moor and the mountains around Coire Bà (although possibly not the forecast heavy downpours – it looks as though that wet-weather gear may finally earn its keep).

West Highland Way: Day 6

Date: Good Friday, 6 April

Route: Inverarnan to Tyndrum

Distance: 12 miles

Accommodation: Glengarry Guest House, Tyndrum

If you were to do the “West Highland Way Highlights” walk you would miss out the stretch between Inverarnan and Tyndrum. Whilst I can see that this isn’t necessarily the most “away from it all” stretch of walking – it passes close to electricity pylons, train lines and both under and over the busy A82 road, which you can hear for quite a lot of the walk – it is still a good walk, with wide-ranging views of distant Bens, lots of riverside and woodland sections and a great walking surface, some of which is an old military road.

The walk begins alongside Beinglas Farm on a wide track, on which it is easy to overtake enthusiastic foreign youngsters with unfeasibly large and heavy-looking backpacks. The River Falloch accompanies the path, with occasional patches of rapids. The track climbs and descends steadily, with ever-changing views out over the hillsides, before climbing even further up to the left at a junction with the path to Crianlarich. Roughly half way along the route of the West Highland Way, this section gives you a lovely view across to Ben More and Stob Binnein.

The next section is 2½ miles of conifer plantation – a shady path amid the trees, with a carpet of pine needles and some handy rocks on which to rest and have a picnic lunch.

Once under a railway bridge on the other side of the A82, the Way briefly becomes a tarmac drive between sheep pastures, on the way to the ruins of St Fillan’s Priory, consecrated by Robert the Bruce, passing the river Fillan and the campsite at Strathfillan (with an encouraging advertising strategy: “don’t give up, you can do it, visit our shop in 750m” (!)).

After you have headed back under the road the next section is through Tyndrum Community Woods, which starts out with lovely riverside walking and contains a loch where Robert the Bruce may (or may not) have left his sword, as well as a reminder of the industrial heritage of the area in a clearing previously used for lead smelting, where nothing has grown for the past 150 years.

Once we have stocked up on provisions for the next few (remote) days, we head to our guest house, overlooking the lead smelting area – the friendly owners compensate for this with an offer of home-cooked banana cake as soon as we walk through the door.

 
So, maybe not one of the top 5 walks on the West Highland Way but a really enjoyable day’s walk nonetheless – and only a few raindrops yet again. By this point, we are past the halfway mark, both in terms of time and distance – it all gets wilder and woollier from this point onwards!

West Highland Way: Day 5

Date: Thursday 5 April

Route: Inversnaid to Inverarnan

Distance: 7 miles

Accommodation: Beinglas Farm B&B, Inverarnan

Our final section of walking alongside Loch Lomond was a slightly trickier path than yesterday’s wide forest path but it was perhaps the most consistently lovely stretch of the walk so far, with lots of ups and downs (and an occasional clamber), mainly along the loch shore before finally leaving the northern edge of the loch and heading to Beinglas Farm, just beside the West Highland Way at Inverarnan.

We made the optional detour to “Rob Roy’s Cave”, a gap between boulders where the outlaw may possibly (or quite possibly not) have hidden at some point. Lest anyone should miss this (non-)sight, someone has helpfully painted the word “CAVE” on a neighbouring boulder in white paint. I’m guessing that this may be more for the benefit of boat trips than anyone else – was slightly surprised/ relieved to see that the letters weren’t actually visible from the train on the other side of the loch when we headed back to Glasgow.

In true Scottish fashion, getting to the cave on foot is the kind of gritty challenge that visitors are expected to rise to, if so inclined, nonchalantly risking life, limb and a fall in the loch in the process – if this were in England there would be Health & Safety warnings everywhere and/or a barrier stopping you from getting anywhere near it. Being weedy English types, we were brave enough to get close enough to take a photo, but no closer.

The walk was understandably dominated by views of the loch, seen through trees, through clearings, at different angles, from on high, from the shore and by slightly smelly feral goats, as well as a few ramblers, including ourselves. The photographs we took are probably the most eloquent illustration of how lovely the views are on this section of the walk.

The path finally starts to wrench you away from the vast expanse of water near a sheep-filled green pasture, a good vantage point from which to look back on the miles travelled loch-wide.

Once you have passed the Doune Bothy (basically a large shed/barn-type building, complete with sleeping space, a fire, a dartboard and an incongruous bottle of orange squash), you get to see the most northerly portion of the loch, before heading on and away over hillsides, through a diminishing number of trees, past the Ardlui Ferry and more primrose-strewn verges to Beinglas Farm.

Five days in and still nothing worse than a few rogue snowflakes to contend with – this can’t last, can it?! Oh, and tomorrow’s section is 12 miles long, rather than the 7 miles we’ve completed each day over the past few days. Onwards and upwards!