A Bit of Background

We’ve been meaning to walk the West Highland Way for years. Probably the most popular long distance walk in Great Britain, it runs for 95 miles (152 km) from Milngavie in the central lowlands just north-east of Glasgow, to Fort William in the Highlands, through the spectacular scenery of Loch Lomond, Rannoch Moor and Glencoe. Every October we visit the Isle of Mull: many’s the time we’ve seen walkers on the WHW as we’ve driven through Crianlarich, Tyndrum and Glencoe in the Scottish Highlands and thought we should do the same some day.

Last October we decided we would definitely walk The Way in Spring 2009. Then our friends Gerry and Linda Bindless told us they were doing the same thing, so I hatched a cunning plan – we would set off a day later, catch them up at Kings House in Glencoe and do the final two days together. We spent some time looking at the maps and guide books and booked our accommodation, mainly in B&Bs.

We decided May was the best month – the Scottish weather is often at its very best, there’s plenty of daylight, and the midges are still fast asleep. When I planned the Wainwright Challenge I had to be as sure as possible that I would be finished before 9 May, and with the reasonably good weather we had there were fortunately no problems with timing. I even had a week to spare between the two walks!

Val had hurt her knee gardening during the previous autumn and it had taken a long time to heal. Worried that it might still be delicate, we used the services of a luggage transfer firm for the first time ever, although I wouldn’t say we’ve finally consigned back-packing to history. But for the WHW we would have the luxury of light packs every day.

Train tickets were booked a month in advance – to and from Clitheroe Station, so there were no worries about car parking. Our only challenge would be getting the two miles from home to Clitheroe Station with our heavy packs. So on Saturday 9 May we were finally packed and ready to go…


Photos: 1. Loch Lomond; 2. The impressive War Memorial at Rowardennan; 3. Ben Laoigh (Ben Lui) near Tyndrum; 4. Sron na Creise from Kings House.