It’s All in the Name – Part I

If you are a long distance hiker, thru hiker, avid hiker, watch hiking movies or shows, read hiking books, etc you may have noticed the concept of a ‘trail name’. Simply put, it is the nick name the trail gifts you. Usually calling out a quirk of your personality, a habit you have, a thing you do, a skill you excel at, how someone would remember you or describe you, or maybe just cause it rhymes with your name.

My crew on the West Highland Way was a mix of amazing ladies I have hiked with before many a time and had already been bestowed with a trail name and a mix of trail name newbies – and of course us seasoned hikers took the time to watch and listen and judge (kindly of course) what trail name the hills of Scotland would magically illuminate for the trail nameless! And then made a big deal one night at the pub of letting them know. As you do!

For this post, let’s recap the trail names already put out by the universe before the trip…

Doctor Boots

That’s me, I am Doctor Boots on the trail. Why? Well I like to call anything I do to adjust a sock, a pole, a boot, add a bandaid or Oreo my ripped bread and torn cheese .. surgery. Elevates the profile of said activity a little, you know?! And I am notoriously in dire straits when it comes to footwear and feet care. Refusing to give up my most fave hiking boots until they were 20 years old and literally leaving bits of rubber behind me on the trail (aka blowing a tire), most usually sporting at least 5 blister bandaids, constantly riddle with small tweaks and rocks in my foot ware (snake in my boot), a foot injury from a a soccer game weeks before leaving on a trip, and at least one toe nail I am encouraging to ‘please stick with me little buddy, just until we finish the trail’, are just a few Boots examples.

Early Bear

Shar, known as Early Bear. Why? Shar is one of those hikers that is so excited to hike the next day that she would leave that night, would live minutes after finished today’s hike, would just not stop at all. She is always suggesting a start time just a little earlier than everyone else – the sooner on the trail the sooner in our happy place! The ‘Bear’ is not grumpy bear it’s happy, bouncy, slightly clumsy, easy to laugh at herself kind of bear vibes! There was a video on Instagram (here) that went around not too long ago where a family filmed a brown bear running to, then leaping onto a kids swing in their backyard – this bear was in heaven, swinging and smiling and cuddling the swing next to him. That is the equivalent vibe of our Early Bear to the trail! No joke!

Commander Butter

Rosa aka Commander Butter. Why? Rosa is on top of all the things! She has her eye on the weather, the trail terrain and elevation, where we are going, what is along the way, and what is at our destination. Reading the books, watching the YouTube videos, monitoring the trail chats and apps. She is super observant, and always has a quiet, loving, gentle watchful eye on how everyone is doing in the troop. Combine this with her smooth hiking skills – they are smooth like butter – and you get Commander Butter. The terrain is the terrain, the rain is the rain, the sunshine is the sunshine, the death defying drop on the cliff side is only another amazing trail feature, she just keeps gliding along .. smooth like butter.

Impossible Turtle

Cheryl is our Impossible Turtle. What seems impossibly hard, confusing, treacherous, torrential, tormenting, or just annoying – does not stop this gal! Impossible Turtle does a reset in her mind, adds a ear bud with tunes, chews a candy for joy, reorganizes a pack pocket, or adds or removes a layer, and she is off and up the hill or over the river or down the mountain, done. Impossible to possible! She is a force! The turtle honors Cheryl’s sometimes slow starts to getting the day going, ending a break, packing up – but don’t wait for her! She will get herself organized in no time, and be on the trail behind you before you know it and btw passing you at mock chicken on the very next down hill. Trust me, I eat a healthy dose of Impossible Turtle dust every hike! Do you remember the hare and the tortoise fable?!

Spicy Hobbit

Niki, aka Spicy Hobbit. Oh goodness spicy may not even be enough spice descriptions for this Hobbit – think 5 alarm ghost pepper and you are on the right track. Niki is our resident quick witted, sarcastic, make you laugh, make you shake your head, ‘that’s what she said’ comedian. Funny as all heck and with enough spice that sometimes you hope the next picnic table didn’t hear! Her spicy sense of humour combined with trouble making tendencies, craving for adventure, and love of food and often (think breakfast and late breakfast and 11-sies and lunch and late lunch and 2-sies) has all kinds of Merry and Pippin hobbit vibes!

Next post, I will introduce you to the trail names we bestowed on the amazing lassies that joined our merry band on this most grand adventure, the West Highland Way.

(oh gosh I talk about a Hobbit in one paragraph and now I can’t stop with the Lord of the Rings vibe! It’s an addiction, sorry. I promise I will get that under control before the It’s All in a Name – Part II)

Brande

West Highland Way, Kingshouse to Kinlochleven

Day 7 of 8 on the West Highland Way wrapped up both in pouring rain and in sunshine…

We started today’s 14.5km trek from the beautiful Kingshouse Hotel in Glen Coe, after our 745am breakfast.

Today we had the infamous Devil’s Staircase as our first hurdle on the trail and everyone was keen to hit this highest point of the West Highland Way at 550m before the rain started. We made quick work of the meal so we could get boots on trail asap. By 815 am most of us were out the door!

The path started with some a couple of gentle climbs but largely level, open and wide track for about 3.6km from the hotel to the base of the Devil’s Staircase. The rain looked to be holding off for us and we were thankful!

I actually hadn’t had the chance to hike and chat with Niki (Spicy Hobbit) yet so took full advantage of this mostly level section for some good, deep trail chat when her and I started to pace with each other .. had to get the chats in before I didn’t have the breath to talk her ear off.

Arriving at the base of the Devil’s Staircase you can look over the road back into Glen Coe and get a great photo of this small, white cottage against the dramatic landscape – I remember this same view well from my first time up this climb in 2008. A quick pic and then the climb began.

The Devil’s Staircase is often thought to be the toughest part of the trail but I think the name suggests more than the punch it packs. It does peak out at 550m but you are technically already at about 270m elevation and takes about 45mins.

The path itself is a single, stone, loose rock or sand path that zig zags the Munro face to the top. While this trail design called ‘switchbacks’ is a clear sign to hikers that there is some decent ascent (or descent depending on your direction) ahead, it is much easier to hike than straight up (pr down) shenanigans!

Also, as a hiker terrified of heights – yes, that’s me – I will take switchbacks over a sketchy straight to the top climb any day!

You just keep swimming, just jeep swimming, just keep swimming .. if you get tired on the climb there are some little passing place pullouts for a quick rest, opportunity to be amazed AGAIN by the view, and then back at it. Just keep swimming. I was chasing our day’s pace car Kristi (Ka-chow) and Lori (Goose) up the path – stopping to take pics or film video along the way. If you look closely in the pic above you can just make out Ka-chow and Goose up ahead.

At the top you are rewarded with 360 views. Looking back across the valley and climb you just traversed and a view of the undulating track ahead. We made it up before the rain started.

With only a very light mist was in the air at the top, I had such fun greeting the crew as they came up and over the last stretch of the climb! Encouraging those who wanted to carry on to the rest of the trail ahead – assuring folks us lingering at the too peeps would not be far behind! A little too chilly up there to hang out for too long today but I did have to wait for Shar (Early Bear) and Nikki who decided to quickly bag the adjacent Munro top, Bien Bheag at 616m for kicks.If you zoom in you can see there wee little bodies at the top!

Once everyone was up, we were on our way down the other side for a fantastic afternoon of undulating forest path. The rain hit pretty hard a couple of times but with the biggest climb of the day behind us it wasn’t too much bother. Most electing to just wear a rain jacket and forgo the rain pants with such a short distance (less than 10km) to finish.

Unfortunately the day ended with a long, steep forest gravel road down into Kinlochleven. You were still largely in the forest so it was pretty all around but the grade of the decline was very ouch on any sore joints or feet. The image below is a photo looking back up the road to show the grade – and it does not do justice to the angle we were trudging. My knee hated every step of this part of the trail today!

But no worries, despite the pouring rain and sore bodies from that decline section, we all showed up smiling at the Trailrace Inn that greets walker’s as they enter Kinlochleven at about 130pm for an end of day pint and some lunch at their pub. Walkers were arriving in drive’s after us and soon the place was fabulously busy.

By the time we left the pub the rain stopped and we headed to the Edencoille Guest House – we had almost every room in the place for our overnight in Kinlochleven. Most of us electing for an afternoon of sunshine on their front deck before dinner. Amazing!

The stats of the day:

• Trail: West Highland Way, Scotland
• Day: 7/8 Finished!
• To/From: Kingshouse/Kinlochleven
• Start/Finish time: 8:15/1:30pm
• Distance: 14.5km (14.9km Hiiker)
• Steps: 25,736
• Terrain: single track to, over and down from the Devil’s Staircase. The a wide gravel road decent into Kinlochleven
• Breaky: full Scottish breakfast
• Lunch n Snacks: baby croissant sandwich, Mac and cheese
• Dinner: cottage pie
• Pints: 3
• Tonight’s home: Edencoille Guest House
• Mood: smiling
• Body: feeling great.. except on the gravel road decent, a knee killer!
• Highlights: the views, wow just wow
• Lowlights: the gravel road
• People of interest: the Scots guy who ran the Balcony Bar and Inn like a well oiled machine
• Spontaneous dancing: nope
• Deep thoughts: empty ziplocks, a silk liner and laundry soap are necessary in a long distance hike

Next up is the finish line, Day 8 from Kinlochleven to Fort William!

Brande

West Highland Way, Kinlochleven to Fort William

Finish line! That’s a wrap – our merry crew of West Highland Way walkers rambled into Fort William on Friday and sat down next to the guy with sore feet to celebrate our success!

And a special treat, our last day on the trail post is thanks to Shar (Early Bear) …

The morning started with a bittersweet (yet delicious) breakfast. Each of us filled with excitement for the finish line we have all worked so hard for and the sorrow of this amazing adventure coming to end.

Greeted with showers as we left the B&B and made our way through Kinchlochleven to rejoin the trail only to be faced with a steep climb up and into a beautiful trail winding through a glen so green and generously speckled with heather.

As the trail wandered through this lush valley, we danced over many small creek crossing, passed through the shadows of the surrounding monroes, coming across ruins of an old farm and cottage.

Shortly after passing the tall lone pine on the hillside, the trail leads you into a conifer plantation and onto a single undulating forest trail where we were welcomed by a herd of grazing sheep.

It was shortly into this part of the trail that hints of the great Ben Nevis whispered in our ears and teased our sight.

A steep ascent up and onto a forest road lead is down and into the Nevis Valley as we inched towards the finish line in Fort Williams’s Gordon’s square.

Although the surrounding was intensely stunning as Ben Nevis dramatically comes into full view, the last of the trail leaving the wilderness behind us was underwhelming.

With a short journey leading us through a small forested recreation area and onto a tarmac sidewalk where we pushed hard to get past and into Fort William.

The treck from this point on was a bit torturous – pavement is not a welcomed trail surface after journeying through the amazing landscape of the past 7.5days.

Passing the original end marker and onto High Street was pretty exciting for those whom have not visited Fort William previous to this adventure! And exciting for Brande (Doctor Boots) as this was the only finish line that existed her first completing the Way in 2008.

As we made our way to the end of the Way all our group gathered to cheer each walker as they got the man with sore feet on the bench waiting for us!

We hit the Black Isle Bar (pictured behind us above) for a celebration pint. There was even a toast from our resident Newfoundlanders, or as some on the trail may know them as as Impossible Turtle and Twisted Lobster or more recently C&C Walking Factory. All rights reserved, copyright, etc.

A Toast to the WHW

Devil’s staircase couldn’t break us
the paths before did take us
through glens of thistle and heather.
We crossed them all together
today, we ended the way in style
and celebrate every mile.
So cheers to the fast and furious,
here’s to the last and curious
to the keeners and in-betweeners
Slàinte Mhath and long may your big jib draw

What an amazing journey. How can something that feels so many days, so many kilometers, so many blisters, so many trail hurdles away come to an end so very fast? Already there is talk of what trail is on the books for our 2025 reunion!

Brande’s stats of the day …

• Trail: West Highland Way, Scotland
• Day: 8/8 Trail Complete
• To/From: Kinlochleven/Fort William
• Start/Finish time: 9:30/5:20pm
• Distance: 23km (25.4km Hiiker)
• Steps: 37,493
• Terrain: single track up and up out of Kinlochleven, wide track through the Glen, into single track through forest and finally gravel road down to tarmac in Fort William
• Breaky: full Scottish breakfast (scones were warm! mmmm)
• Lunch n Snacks: baby bacon sandwich, cheese, jerky, candy, orange juice
• Dinner: Grog & Gruel Chili Dog
• Pints: 4
• Tonight’s home: Stobahn Guest House
• Mood: smiling, maybe even happy tears
• Body: feeling really good, the hips are all that made themselves know yesterday – need to make sure I am not changing my stride for this brace
• Highlights: the second half of the day on single forest track, amazing scenery with some hard work – my favorite
• Lowlights: gravel road down to tarmac
• People of interest: the little 6yr old girl walking the entire Way with her family without a care in the world
• Spontaneous dancing: nope
• Deep thoughts: there may be a reason trail and trial have the same letters (trial, an experience to test quality and value)

Now off the prep for the East Highland Way that starts for 2 of us on Sunday July 16!

Shar

West Highland Way, Orchy to Kingshouse

That’s a wrap on Day 6 of 8 on our West Highland Way adventure! What a fantastic day. l love how after a few days into a day after day walking adventure – the trail distances start getting easier and easier. We knocked off 20km in 5 hours when a similar distance days ago was taking the group 10!

We started with a lovely breakfast together, most having a full Scottish or at least something warm/cooked. As folks were ready to go (carry forward bag left in reception, packed lunch tucked away in a rucksack) they started out across the historic Bridge of Orchy.

The path started with a pretty good uphill climb up and up on a single track through forest and then clear cut forest to amazing views.

From there we dropped back down to walk along a tarmac road for about 30mins – where we passed the most energetic and interesting shop owner at the Inveroran Hotel. He was standing outside congratulating us on hitting the 100km mark and suggesting ice cream to celebrate. Everyone who passed had a little bit of a different but still wholly excited experience. Sounds like Cheryl and Charmaine even had the pleasure of hearing play guitar and sing with inside the shop grabbing something.

On the tarmac, we passed a few farms and field. You may get a chance to see some local cows on some of our group’s Instagram accounts – they were next to the fence and so cute. Shortly, we made a quick turn and we’re back in or among the forest to start our very long trek on the Drover’s road where we experienced the life of cattle of old.

Drover’s roads existed (with many still around today and often part of the National trail system) for farmers in the good ole days to drive / walk their cattle to market. There was usually an Inn or hut for the Drover himself to shelter in at night along the route. We saw many of these as ruins but some are still around as Inns, bothies or private homes. We had the chance to have dinner at one, aptly names the Drover’s Inn, a couple days ago.

The actual Drover’s road itself reminds me of a cobblestone concept – rocks of all shapes and sizes across the road way pressed into the dirt to create a ‘road’ that unfortunately is pretty rough under foot. Good luck finding a flat spot to step. You really need to pay attention to each step or risk an ankle roll. We had almost 10km of this surface but the weather was great, not to much for incline or declines, and we had lots of rivers and bridges and the view to keep us entertained.

We had mostly great weather – some threat of rain but it settled itself into mist only and then back to sunshine – making for a great opportunity to take some photos and have a nice long break!

As we got closer to the end of the day, you could really see the view start to change – we were coming across Rannoch Moor with its beautiful expanse of open moorland (heather, grasses, some wild flowers and very very soggy soil without a tree anywhere for the eye to see) and then finally up and up over the shoulder of Bien Chaorach (a small Munro) and we had views of Glen Coe. Wow!

It was not too long from here where we could spot the Glen Coe Ski Resort in the distance and not too much farther the Kingshouse Hotel.

I was really excited to stay at this Hotel again. When I stayed in 2008 it was an oasis in the middle of nowhere after a pretty lonely day on the trail. I literally saw not a soul when I did this section back in 2008 – today we saw 50 people I bet including like full families! I also heard they had put in 12+million pounds to upgrade the place too.

The hotel did not disappoint – what a great place to stay! We met for drinks in the bar, our group growing as folks finished their day. A few took naps and/or met in the hikers bar (a little more our style aka less fancy) for some Quirkle and a pint before our dinner reservation and a much deserved good night’s sleep.

The stats:

• Trail: West Highland Way, Scotland
• Day: 6/8 Finished!
• To/From: Bridge of Orchy / Kingshouse
• Start/Finish time: 8:30/2:30pm
• Distance: 20km (19.8km Hiiker)
• Steps: 27,290
• Terrain: single track up and up and up to start then down into wide track but like old cobble stone street – hard under foot ,
• Breaky: full Scottish breakfast
• Lunch n Snacks: half a chicken sandwich, gummy sharks, chips
• Dinner: venison pie
• Pints: 3
• Tonight’s home: Kingshouse Hotel
• Mood: smiling
• Body: feeling great
• Highlights: chatting and walking w sis
• Lowlights: spot of rain
• People of interest: n/a
• Spontaneous dancing: nope
• Deep thoughts: in future build a natural rest day into long distance hikes so you can get to know a place

Next up, 14.5km Kingshouse to Kinlochleven .. which includes the stretch of trail called the Devil’s Staircase!

Brande

West Highland Way, Tyndrum to Orchy Bridge

Day 5 of 8 on the West Highland Way for our crew was a fantastic, sunny, social doddle!

The 10.5km walk from the town of Tyndrum to the Bridge of Orchy on wide track was almost like a rest day for the body and feet after some of the doozy days we have had already and those planned ahead. The weather was fabulous, adding to the joy!

Our merry band started out from the Green Welly shop at 10am. No need to rush with such a short distance so why not have a little lay in that morning!

The Green Welly shop is featured in guidebooks, blogs, YouTube videos and more by WHW walker’s as an oasis. It boasts a restaurant, service station and store, gift shop, liquor store, laundry and well kitted outdoor shop. We took advantage of most. Almost all of us picked up something from the outdoor shop – I blew out a pair of socks already so replaced those. I used the laundry machines for me and my roomies. All of us popped into the shop for snack refills for the next couple of days (there are no stores for the next 3 day on trail).

Myself, Shar, Cheryl and Rosa all accidentally stopped into that liquor store which had Arran Gold, a liqueur you can only get from the Isle of Arran. We fell in love with this liqueur when we did the Arran Way in 2018 and have been searching for it since! So yes, we all added a 750ml bottle to our packs lol.

Off we go, starting just around the corner from the Green Welly onto a minor road for a short distance then after a hard left onto wide track (think old, gravel road with no gravel left) which would be under our feet all the 10.5km to Bridge of Orchy.

Despite it only being about a 3hr walk, we could not resist a short break on a neat bridge with the sun shining. The view of the bridge side was of the rail track and we all had some Stand by Me comments of course.

At one point even the OG, the original crew, the brain child of ‘lets invites amazing women on a long distance walk with us in a breath taking country’ idea .. which resulted in this path and this crew today!

After our short break, we kept on walking – same track but maybe beside someone different this time. I love my quiet time on the trail but sometimes, when the track allows for u to walk 2 by each, good trail conversation is the best – even sometimes some trail therapy!

The tail end of the walk included an awesome tunnel under the rail line. And, if you have not noticed, tunnels require a photo!

Just before 1pm we rambled up the Bridge of Orchy Hotel – where we would have lunch, dinner, sleep and set out from tomorrow. We were not inside for 10mins before the skies opened up and it poured big time!

We enjoyed a great afternoon with pints, soups, scones with cream and jam, and more. Then a little quiet time in our rooms or chilling on the little deck at the back of each of our rooms. We were all in a row on the bottom floor so it was like being in a dorm!

At 6pm we met in Nikki and Deb’s room where Shar introduced everyone to a taste of the Arran Gold on ice – a resounding YUMMY from everyone. So amazingly delicious!

We had a fabulous dinner at 630pm in the hotel restaurant (the only game in town) and yes I had haggis again. Everyone was ready for winding down at about 9/930pm for a good sleep before we challenge our 20km walk to Kingshouse, a tough but beautiful day on trail.

Brande

West Highland Way, Inverarnan to Tyndrum

Day 4 of our 8 trek of the West Highland Way was yet another fantastic one folks! Mostly easy walking and largely great weather makes days like this one dreamy.

Once again our crew of 12 was split between 2 B&Bs, some were at the Glengarry B&B up the road (which sounds great) and then we had 4 rooms at the Tigh na Fraoch B&B (Heather’s House in Gaelic) which was amazing for our crew! At our respective homes for the night, we woke up to yummy breakfast before catching our transport taxi at 815am back to Inverarnan (Beinglas Campsite). This was the same spot we left the Way yesterday.

We piled out of 2 taxi’s at about 835 and gathered at the Beinglas parking lot to get packs sorted, sun screen on, final blister checks and start our walking / hiking apps! The crew was really excited about the largely level walking today and that we had sunshine!

The last time I was at this campsite it was a little cafe and a small shop and some places to stay. Since 2008 it has grown fabulously and now boasts a big shop, bar and restaurant, cabins and more.

From the Bienglas Campsite, we headed up and back out of civilization again. Largely on wide track or some skinny sections up and over the hills through bracken and trail that had been turned to stream with the recent rain fall. All very easy walking if you kept a close eye on a sure spot for your foot!

After a fantastic morning we all took a lunch break together! I love when people can walk at their own pace, dispersed on the trail and yet we still find each other for breaks! Especially when there are some benches and sunshine.

After lunch we had a steep, long climb up into the forest to follow forest track for a couple of hours. Some was unfortunately clear cut forest but they already have saplings planted to build up the next forest for walkers in future!

After a couple of fun tunnels (one was a sheep run that require some serious crouching), a few bridges and some decent decline sections, we were back on level ground and making our way into town on park paths or moorland paths.

By now it’s raining hard. Most of us thought it would stay to just a classic mist of Scotland but were quick to discover this was a serious deluge and quickly donned the rain gear for the last couple of hours on trail.

We passed some fantastic historic spots on our final kilometers of the trail. An old graveyard with a informative display of what the engravings on the grave stones mean; the ruins of the St Fillan Priory, and the loch where they believe Robert the Bruce’s sword was thrown into and legend suggest it still remains in the lake to this day.

We made it into town later afternoon. Our walking crew for the afternoon (Niki, Deb, Kristi, Lori, Shar and I) made our way to the Tryndrum Hotel for a pint and late lunch / early dinner. We were shortly joined by the rest of the crew as they made their way into town for an end of day pint!

The rain continued to pour down! We braved the quick walk to our B&B and I took my turn doing our laundry (Rosa, mine and Shar’s) while they finished up in the pub or went back for showers. The laundromat machines were outside! Gotta love the Green Welly shop.

It was an early, chill night for most of us. After laundry, a shower, and a chat we all got ready for some downtime and finally some shut eye.

The stats:

• Trail: West Highland Way, Scotland
• Day: 4/8 Finished!
• To/From: Inverarnan / Tyndrum
• Start/Finish time: 8:45am/3:00pm
• Distance: 20km (19.7km Hiiker)
• Steps: 27,598
• Terrain: wide track on open ground or through forest. Easy walking for about 80% of the day mixed with some undulations and a few steep / long ups and downs
• Weather: 19C blue skies in the morning into rain for the end of the day (and it’s still raining)
• Breaky: full Scottish breakfast
• Lunch n Snacks: ham sandwich, half a Kit Kat and a Juice Box
• Dinner: haggis, neeps and tatties
• Pints: 2
• Tonight’s home: Tigh na Fraoch (heather’s house in Gaelic)
• Mood: smiling
• Body: body feels good, dealing with some abrasion from brace
• Highlights: waterfalls and rapids
• Lowlights: laundry
• People of interest: the couple who say just a foot away from where we were having our lunch break in the middle of nowhere then proceeded to make loud phone calls
• Spontaneous dancing: nope
• Deep thoughts: let it flow

Day 5 we would to Bridge of Orchy – stay tuned for details!

Brande

West Highland Way, Rowardennan to Inverarnan

Day 3 of our 8 day West Highland Way trek is in the books and let me tell you it was a doozy! Notoriously the hardest day on the trail and it lived up to its reputation, big style! Ouch!

The day started with a full crew breakfast at the Clansmen Bar (part of the Rowardennan Hotel where we stayed) with all kinds of chat about what to expect on the trail. Words like strenuous and torturous were being read from guide books. Yikes. But hey, nae bother, we got this – let’s get it done!

The crew tacking the trail today headed out at 830am with about 3km warm up before we decided on if we would take the low road (said to be hardest with lots of bouldering) or the high road (said to be the way to go for Loch views) for the first half of the day. In the end we split the uprights so we could get the best of both worlds! Half up and half down.

Myself, Niki and Shar decided on low road and off we set ready for the challenge ahead!

The low road was easier than I remember than the last time let me tell you. Lots of fun skinny trails on the edge of the 2m or 30m drop to the Loch, lots of rocks to climb up and over or down, a couple of scrambles, a few bridges and a bunch of stream crossings. All good fun on a dry day with all the time in the world – yahoo us!

The high road crew surprised us by popping down to the beach on the low road where is low-readers would be passing by for a fantastic lunch break! Amazing views and awesome company – yes please. We all had packed lunches from the Hotel the night before so felt like little school kids excited to see what ‘mom packed for us today’. Sadly no chocolate bar but yummy cookies!

After our not so brief beach stop we finished off the morning on more undulating forest track, with some good and steep up and down hills to manage. Nothing horrible, especially as we passed waterfall after waterfall – the pretty stuff helps put the hard work in perspective.

We stopped at Inversnaid Hotel (half way on todays’s 22km trek to enjoy some more of our packed lunches and snacks on the lawn overlooking the Loch again. We could not get enough of this view. Today we would say good bye to Loch Lomond and move into our venture into Glen Coe our mod mountainous are – so we soaked it in!

After lunch (and a quick group photo, of course) we heading out to finish the last of the trek on the shore of the Loch. Now, full disclosure, this is when the trail got real-real.

Do NOT let anyone tell you the ‘low road’ between Rowardennan and Inversnaid is hardest, it’s not easy but it’s a doddle (in my opinion) compared to the next 2+ hours we would be spending horizontal scrambling up and over rocks on the precipice of the Loch! Squeezing between rocks and trees, between rocks and rocks, crossing streams and mud and all kinds of trail fun! Mind you, this was not a day for bad knees and darn it half the time the hinges on my knee brace were just wide enough to get stuck where I needed to precariously put my foot. Growl!

Having said that, it was all very fun and beautiful when if loads of work! We were all smiling but also ready for the chance to just walk on something flat for even a few steps.

On the second last beach of this section of trail we lost two of our crew .. the Newfoundland twins just could not resist the siren call of a large body of cool water on a hot day. We left them to dip in and meet up with us later.

And then there were 5, all keen to see the end of this stone scramble staircase shenanigan so we high tailed it through that last section of the stoney trail – taking one last photo at the end of the Loch to celebrate saying goodby to that particular flavor of trail hell.

From there the trail flattened (a little) under foot and wow the views opened right up to such amazing hills – the pictures just cannot do justice to how majestic it all was!

We made quick-ish work of the last section though bracken (pictured above) and forest track for another 2 hours. We were pacing very fast on this last stint – excited to finally find our way to the Drover’s Inn, today’s finish line.

The Drover’s Inn is a pub and hotel established in 1705 and has all the makings of a haunted stay! The Wi-Fi password even has the word Haunted in it! Rob Roy allegedly stayed here when avoiding arrest (there is a room named Rob Roy). I had the pleasure of staying there when I did the West Highland Way the first time in 2008 – an amazing stay but a little ghostie creepy.

After a quick bite and a quick pint or two, our transport arrived to drive us to our B&Bs in Tyndrum for the night. We deserved showers, feet up and a good sleep after the trail work we put in today. Wow!

The stats:

• Trail: West Highland Way, Scotland
• Day: 3/8 Finished!
• To/From: Rowardennan/Tyndrum
• Start/Finish time: 8:36am/6:11pm
• Distance: 22km (23.8km Hiiker)
• Steps: 30,355
• Terrain: stone steps and bouldering and up and down and crawl and ouch – today is notoriously the toughest day of the Way and it did not disappoint
• Weather: 22C blue skies, a few clouds to start and finish the day but otherwise it was wow!
• Breaky: full Scottish breakfast
• Lunch n Snacks: cheese and pickle sandwich with crisps trail side, naked skittles, cookie, almonds
• Dinner: haggis, neeps and tatties
• Pints: 3
• Tonight’s home: Tigh na Fraoch (heather’s house in Gaelic)
• Mood: smiling
• Body: shaking legs after all that work, and sore arms using my hiking poles to full advantage but good sore not pain
• Highlights: weather was amazing, our hiking crew today was perfection
• Lowlights: tics
• People of interest: the lady in reception at Rowardennan telling ghost stories
• Spontaneous dancing: nope
• Deep thoughts: just keep swimming

Day 4 we walk from Inverarnan (where Drover’s Inn is) to Tyndrum! Stay tuned.

Brande

West Highland Way, Drymen to Rowardennan

That’s day 2 of 8 wrapped up on the West Highland Way, we made it from Drymen to Rowardennan. Today was the big Conic Hill climb day and it lived up to its reputation! The extreme winds didn’t help mind you.

The crew started the day with yummy breakfasts in our respective B&Bs and everyone started their day at their own pace and time and somehow a bunch of us still ended up finding each other along the Way.

Cheryl, Charmaine, Shar and I had a great full Scottish breakfast at the Shandon Guest House at 745am then set out for the day at 830. The wind was crazy (kicked up on the middle of the night) and we wondered if it was going to bring the storms or clear the storms.

The day stared with about a Km of road walking and then quickly turned to forest track which was just amazing. A couple of Km into the forest track we were so excited to come upon Kristi and Lori, creating our fantastic crew for the day!

You can see in the background here the infamous Conic Hill, a 371m – our destination from this path! The walking was fantastic through the forest and then moorland paths – the views amazing!

Once we hit the Conic Hill approach, the path got real! So well groomed but it was definitely up and up and up across sand and small rocks with large boulders to step up and reduce erosion. The wind was in our favour pushing us up the hill – thank you!

Once at the trail top, a few of the crew took the additional 5-10mins to the very top of the hill for the 360 views! After a bit of time feeling such gratitude to be standing looking over Loch Lomond with the sun shining on us – we started our way down. The wind continues to blow hard, a couple times I had to lean into the hill – felt like I was gonna blow away.

The way down took me what felt like forever with this knee – I felt really good about myself when kids were running past me in sandals. Great confidence boost! lol

Just after coming down from the Hill, we had a short forest walk and then we arrived in Balmaha, a great little Loch side town, where we had lunch at Oak Tree Inn.

After a great lunch, toasties and pints, we were back on the Way to tackle the 11km to our home for the night, Rowardennan Hotel. The path was forest track or right along the Loch. Other than the clegs (horseflies), midgies and black flies it was a fantastic walk. The up hills were frequent and much tougher than usual thanks to the Conic Hill burn from earlier but wow what an amazing section of the trail!

We arrived at the Hotel at about 5pm, already talking about ghosts seeing the place was established in 1696, and showed up for a nice dinner and rehash of the trail all together!

Brande

West Highland Way, Milngavie to Drymen

An exciting first day on the West Highland Way for our merry band of 12 Canadian rock star ladies. Most of which who have never done a long distance hike before! West Highland Way was my very first long distance back in 2008 and I am so exited to do it again with this crew. I bet it also won’t be their last. I can see the long distance bug building already!

We started the day at 8am dropping our carry forward bags (all the stuff we don’t need for the actual day of hiking) with Travel Lite. This company will drop our bags off in Drymen, our destination, at our respective B&Bs.

From there the crew had breakfast together at the hotel restaurant – many trying a Scottish breakfast for the first time. Not the best one I have had by far but does give you a good idea on what is available (but yummier) on the trail ahead. Mmm black pudding.

We made our way from there to the start of the trail, the obelisk near the center of town (pictured above) and after a photo montage and setting up our various and preferred hiker apps, etc we were on our way at about 945am.

The path quickly turns from city to park path and after just a couple of kms we had our first excitement – a little detour to the Mugdock Castle Ruins. About 2kms out and back off the trail, and of course with a large hill (castles are always on high ground) but totally worth it!

Back down from the castle and on the Way again, we started to all find our individual pace and the groups that matched to establish the day’s hiking mini-crews. All of us were heading to the Beech Tree Inn or Turn up the Beet cafe’s in Dumgoyne just over half way so would see each other again there are or at dinner tonight. Walking your own pace is really important on these hikes – the body will thank you for it everyday!

Quite a few of us made the quick detour to the Glengoyne Distillery just before Drumgoyne. An easy detour on a nice day – involves maybe a 300m walk across a sheep field. We tried a 12yr old and an 18yr old whisky and both were equally disgusting to me but other visitors seemed to be enjoying it. Ha ha

From there it was just a few mins walk to Beech Tree Inn for our delicious lunch toasties and maybe a pint 😉 before heading back on trail. We were at 11km already and had only 8km or so to go before reaching tonight’s destination in Drymen. No problem!

Much of the last few kilometers of the day were on tarmac minor roads which makes the dogs bark a little (feet hurt) but allows for a nice pace and good conversations. Nikki, Shar, Mama Debster and I (my walking crew this afternoon) were having some pretty awesome laughs as we rambled on. We loved the one little community (self proclaimed the Shire) that set up a bunch of signs here and there playing on The Hobbit theme!

We rolled into our town for the night, Drymen, at about 545pm and clocked at 23km ready for a quick shower and change before dinner.

Most of the crew is staying at Kip in the Kirk B&B a converted church hall, the Hillview B&B of the Shandon Farmhouse B&B (about a kilometer out of town). We are at the Shandon and the hike up and out of town was totally worth it – what an amazing place!

For dinner we had 630pm reservations at The Clachan, on of the oldest bars establish in 1796 and wow was it amazing! The building had all the fun touches of being very old giving it a great ambience and the menu was amazing. Who needs to think about calories after walking that far? Not us!

We had a nice dinner on the restaurant side, then a few of us popped over to the bar side for a final night cap before making our way to our respective homes for bed. All of us pretty excited to get the feet up!

Here are the stats:

• Trail: West Highland Way, Scotland
• Day: 1/8 Finished!
• To/From: Milngavie/Drymen
• Start/Finish time: 9:35am/5:40pm
• Distance: 19km + Detour trail (24.5 Hiiker)
• Steps: 31.009
• Terrain: mostly flat some steep inclines largely path or rail bed some road walking
• Weather: 21C overcast not rain
• Breaky: Full Scottish Breakfast
• Lunch n Snacks: cheese n ham toastie with chips and a pint
• Dinner: carbonara
• Pints: 4
• Tonight’s home: Shannon Farmhouse
• Mood: smiling
• Body: feeling good, blisters from knee brace and heat rash
• Highlights: Mugdock Castle detour
• Lowlights: road walking
• People of interest: the old Scotsman Patrick Murray sitting outside the castle telling stories
• Spontaneous dancing: not today
• Deep thoughts: I have one pace when walking, is this me in life too?

Next stop Rowardennan .. just past the challenge of Conic Hill.

Brande

Speyside Way, Grantown-on-Spey to Aviemore

Day 5 of 5 of Speyside Way is complete with our finish line reached in Aviemore, Scotland!

A pleasantly long 26km trek that included a tea break, a lunch break, fantastic trail, amazing scenery, loads of clouds but not a drop of rain – yahoo us! What an epic finish line day.

We started the day from the oh-so-cute Brooklyn Guest House in Grantown-on-Spey and made quick work to back track the couple of blocks to the Way where we would kick off our day on a forest track. Here we filmed our morning video, made some hot-spot compeed fixes on the feet and I did my usual brace strap adjustment process. Walk 20 steps adjust, walk 30 steps adjust, and then onwards and upwards kinda thing. Let’s go!

The first leg of the trek, a nice 9.3km (according to the trail book) took us to Nethy Bridge where we had our sights on a tea and scone with feet up and shoes and socks off. There is nothing better to a hiker than a mid day break followed by dry feet and socks to kick of the next leg.

The trail was easy going through forest and then onto the grassed-over rail track bed and finally some country roads past the Balliefurth Farm. This farm has a little shop in Nethy (where we were headed) but has been featured on menus where we ate in the last couple of days for their beef and chicken and lamb. I may have eaten their yummy friend at the Speyside Hotel the night prior as my Bangers and Mash entree and was a little worried the cows we passed would know. ‘Hey, that lass ate Barry’ was on the tips of their tongues I know it.

We loved that the Farm had a sense of humor with this sign posted at the first gate …

We did not see Fergus sadly, he is quite shy, but imagined hearing him as the steam train went by whistling it’s whistle. Good fun!

Once in Nethy Bridge, we did enjoy that tea and scone, shoes and socks off break and it was amazing. They may have given me too much cream for my scone but who is complaining!? Also what is too much cream?

From Nethy Bridge we were on our way to Boat of Garten, a further 7.7km away through the Abernathy National Nature Reserve. This may be my favorite section of the entire trail. Quiet forest track, well groomed with bird song all around, and we maybe say a half dozen humans! I like trees more than humans lol. I feel so grateful for the chance to hike these hikes and live this life especially when I am on track like this!

At Boat of Garten, after having our sweet (dessert) in Nethy, we grabbed lunch-lunch. A sandwich and small salad with a half pint. We sat outside in mostly sunshine watching hikers and bikers and steam train passengers bustle past the Hotel patio where we hunkered down. We could have stayed all day especially with a sock change and chance to again air out the feet while eating.

From Boat of Garten we were just 9.1km from our finish line in Aviemore. This too proved to be a fantastic section of trail! More forest track, a bridge tunnel or two, and we were walked pretty much along side or in sight of the Strathspey Railway (the historic steam train) almost the whole way.

Knowing we were in reach of the finish line, even if things hurt on the ole body a bit it was nae bother. The conversation was flowing, there may have been some spontaneous singing once or twice, and loads of laughs!

Coming into Aviemore, we headed for our finish for a ‘for the record’ selfie before heading for a celebration pint!

An amazing walk, no bad days to be honest. The usual up and downs, on trail and in our own heads or bodies, but smiles each day and just an overall sense of gratitude to have had a chance to walk the Spey together.

The stats:

• Trail: Speyside Way, Scotland
• Day: 5/5 Finished!
• To/From: Grantown-on-Spey/Aviemore
• Start/Finish time: 9:06am/5:59pm
• Distance: 26.5km trail (28.6km All Trails)
• Steps: 29,020
• Terrain: flat mixed with undulating
• Weather: 14C overcast not rain
• Breaky: Full Scottish Breakfast sans Haggis and Black Pudding
• Lunch n Snacks: tea w scone/cream/jam and a Brie bacon sandwich w salad
• Dinner: noodle soup and a ham/cheese croissant
• Pints: 1
• Tonight’s home: Eriksay B&B and Glamping
• Mood: smiling
• Body: feet are sorest today, crazy heat rash
• Highlights: the options to stop for a break
• Lowlights: nothing open for dinner
• People of interest: the B&B owner from
• Brooklyn Guest House, just an amazing women so clearly in the right business
• Funny bone: learning Rosa sings just as much as me
• Spontaneous dancing: a wee bit
• Deep thoughts: why wait, eat the cake first

Now we will take a couple days to try and get rid of the heat rash on both of my feet and under my knee brace, see if I can get the swelling down on my right foot so both feet again have an arch and just be plain old tourists for a day or two. Did someone say steam train?

See you in a couple of days when we kick off the West Highland Way. All 12 of us!

Brande