Day 0, The Ben

As Ben Nevis had eluded us last year after we completed the West Highland Way (poor weather), we decided to have bash at it again. The morning was bright but conditions were set to be poorer at the top, so we went prepared for this. With a good pack up, waterproofs and lots of sweeties, we headed out and up after breakfast from our pitch at Glen Nevis campsite.

The whole walk route is pretty unexciting – just climb and climb – and it’s not a route that I’d do again, I really fancy a go at the CMD route which looks more interesting, but the ‘half way loch’ which isn’t half way was good to see, and there were some lovely views back down into the glen.

Unfortunately, from about half way up the clouds came in and the temperature started to drop. By the time we hit the snow, we were well wrapped up against the cold. We had eaten our lunch a little lower down, sheltering behind a rock, so when we summited, it was ‘photos and go’ because the wind was absolutely howling! We think it was around minus 5 at the top.

The climb down is relentless on your quads and knees, and the campsite pub was a welcome sight! I’d love to do this mountain again, preferably on a clear day (the day before and several days after were beautiful of course!), but for now I’m happy it’s ‘in the bag’!

Day 1, Fort William to Gairlochy

It started a bit damp but turned into a truly glorious day! Setting off on somewhat weary legs after the previous day’s exertion, we wound our way to Corpach Lock to get a key for the Trailblazer sites. On the way, we passed the ongoing works to improve the shore line, with a fantastic new cycle lane being constructed at the water’s edge. Chatted with a lovely local who was very enthusiastic about it!
Key in pocket, we ascended Neptune Staircase, a remarkable engineering feat by Telford, comprising a flight of locks to bring boats down from the Caledonian canal to sea level. (Note – if you are going to collect a key, the office is not always manned so you may have a short delay.)It’s a fascinating piece of engineering and worth pausing to watch for a while.
After ice cream (delicious, pistachio for me, choc hazelnut for him) we made our way along the canal. It was very pretty, with gorse and broom in full bloom, lots of tiny little flowers in the grass, and the occasional kayak. Also, very quiet, we met a trio of Americans, and two fundraisers,Spencer, who was running LeJoG for Mind – inspirational, and a nice chap called Chris who was walking for ovarian cancer, but that was it – a real difference to the busy West Highland Way.
We passed over two aquaducts that carried the canal over other waterways, and stopped at Moy Bridge, a hand operated swing bridge, before making our way to Gairloch locks, our venue for the night.
Scottish Waterways have done an amazing thing along the GGW. The Trailblazer sites allow walkers, kayakers and cyclists to use canal facilities (toilets, showers, water, access to a laundry) in return for the loan of a key at £10. And these are also designated informal campsite areas. We had a super pitch by the lock, and walked to the edge of Loch Lochy where I went for a very cold paddle – it was just too chilly for me to swim!
Then it was a quick meal and head down for the night as we were shattered! The midges were out in force, but thankfully not biting yet, just making a real nuisance of themselves. A late arriving group of kayakers, sounded to be having a terrible time with them so I’m glad we were tucked up early!

Day 2: Gairlochy Locks to Laggan Locks

Today’s walk was along Loch Lochy (yes, I know!) to Laggan. We’d slept pretty well so after a quick breakfast overlooking the lock and the loch, we headed off.
The sun was shining and the route was gently undulating. We had hoped maybe to grab a snack at Clunes, but there’s nothing there, so we continued to meander in and out of the trees, enjoying spectacular views of Lochy and it’s surrounds, until we happened upon a Trailblazer spot on the shores. Our legs didn’t particularly like the walk down to it, but it was worth the effort. I think it’s fair to say that this was the worst our legs felt all walk, and it was definitely the impact of our mountaineering before the start. Anyway, a wooden hut for inclement weather, a fire pit, benches, and access to the water made for a lovely picnic spot and no doubt a camping spot for others.
We filled our Lifestraw bottle, our new investment for this year which was well worth it, and cooled our feet in the water – it was quite a warm day! Then we cooked up a pasta lunch and dined al fresco overlooking spectacular views.
This Trailblazer is way marked with some cheeky bears, and has a compost toilet which was spotless and very pleasant to use. We bumped into a Dutch man who we never did get the name of, but he’d also been at Gairloch the previous night.

This part of the GGW has a diversion in place due to the creation of a new pumped hydro storage facility. The new path has been well made and has some lovely resting points along it, and lots of info boards, so we had a good experience, altho it is a very flat surface which I find batters your feet more than a trail. The hydro facility will apparently work like a battery, storing potential energy to be released during peak usage. There’s quite a bit of info online if you’re interested.

Our final descent brought us to Laggan Locks, where we stopped for a pint at the Eagle Barge Inn. It became apparent that if we wanted to eat, we needed to do so there and then as they get very busy for bar meals. The meals were very simple (fryer/micro style) but the scampi was plentiful, Rick scoffed his sausages, and the chips were mega!! There’s a lovely outside seating area, or you can sit in the Barge, or on top of it. If you want to eat something off the main menu, which looked very good, you need to order the day before.
We bumped into the American group again, which was fun, and met a dog called Mayonnaise, definitely the walk’s winner of the ‘best name’ award. It was nice to swap a few stories and experiences, always a highlight of these sorts of walks.
Then on to the Great Glen Hostel. This was a super place to stop, incredibly welcoming, and very good facilities for hikers, bikers and paddlers. They do actually serve meals, which wasn’t clear from their website, so we could have eaten there if needed. There’s a kitchen if you want to self cater too.
We spent the evening chatting with two chaps who installed deer fencing, which was very interesting and informative, before turning in for an early-ish night in our bunk beds.

Day 3: Laggan via Invergarry link to Fort Augustus

After a great night’s sleep at the Great Glen Hostel we rejoined the GGW, which meandered through a woods and then along the A82 briefly to cross the water. The path then climbed up alongside Loch Oich before coming down in to Invergarry.
As we rounded the corner we spotted the very inviting looking Invergarry Hotel and the rucksack of our Dutch friend, so we went in and enjoyed a superb coffee with shortbread for me and choc brownie for him.
So glad we did! The climb out of Invergarry was really quite steep; that bit of sugar and caffeine gave us just the push we needed. We then undulated along until descending at Cullochy Lock and the Bridge of Oich.
My feet were feeling a little sore by this point; we had a bit of lunch by the lock and took our boots off to let our feet have a few minutes recovery. Mine needed a bit of attention, I’d developed a blister on one little toe that was quite sore. The next stretch was not going to help this at all!
The path follows the canal path in to Fort Augustus. It’s a bit of a motorway for walkers, flat and hard. The disadvantage of this is that you tend to motor on a bit, and that’s tough on your feet. By the time we got to FA, I knew we wouldn’t be walking any further that day!
One highlight on this section was Kytra Locks. We paused here for a little while, chatting with the lock keeper and watching the local wildlife. Kytra Trailblazer is definitely open, by the way.
The locks here are on a trial with a new digital opening system. Whilst we were there a huge yacht came through, and Rick was offered the opportunity to operate the gates, which he loved of course!
Once in FA, we had to decide where we were to stay. I’d half a plan to wild camp but my feet said otherwise, so we decided to head to InverCollie campsite. First call though was the pub, a couple of excellent pints of the local cask ale in the sunshine, a hearty dinner, and then we went off for the bus.
A word of warning – Citylink busses do not seem that interested in their actual timetable. Our bus was 40 minutes late, and the bus back the next day wasn’t much more punctual!

The campsite was very welcoming, and has a super charging facility where you can plug in your electricals , which was fab for us. Really nice bathroom facilities and a good picnic/ outside cooking area too.

Day 4: FA to Invermoriston – and beyond

Another very late Citylink bus back to FA this morning. It’s a request stop from the campsite, so you have to be ready to flag the bus down.

The morning began with a climb, up and up on the high path. As we climbed, we were treated to glimpses of fantastic vistas – loch and canal, simply stunning! We saw more as the path opened on to moorland and we wound our way along with the added bonus of a hen harrier display above us! What a treat!
Our descent into Invermoriston was rewarded by the picturesque falls (and not so pretty St Columbs Well!), but we decided that really, it was a bit too early to call it a day. Instead, we had a good lunch at the very friendly hotel (can recommend the soup and sandwich combo!), filled up our flasks with hot water, stocked up at the community shop (very helpful and cheerful), and took the initially steep and tough climb up – it mellows later into something more undulating, but the ‘ups’ are short and sharp in places!
Tonight would be our first true ‘wild camp’. We had a rough idea of what time we wanted to be camped for, and we knew we wanted all the big climbs behind us, so we passed the fabulous Viewpoint sculpture, continued past a couple of fairly obvious spots in the trees, and carried on to the highest point at 450 metres (around 7k in). Coming down, we found a beautiful stone bench, almost like a love seat in style, but rejected the area as too high and exposed, but it wasn’t far after where the low and high routes converge that we found a little grassy area over looking the loch and set up for the night.
Our site was well chosen, we had a peaceful evening, a spectacular view, not too many midges, and stayed warm! For those looking in the future, there really are quite a few options if you are wishing to cut the trip up differently. We had a few concerns about how short some of the days were and how long the last two are, so it was good to be able to adjust our plan accordingly.

Day 5: Wild camp to Drumnadrochit

Its only a short walk into Drum from here, which enabled is to buy a few bits and pieces for the last push (there’s a Co-op), send some postcards and then tuck in to a super meal at the Loch Ness Inn. The food and cask ales here were both excellent. There looks to be a few options for dining here though so a good place to stop.

The mad sculptures are in a front garden between Lewiston and Drum, you walk past them and I’m sure many people must photograph this chap’s front garden!

Day 6: The Big One – Drum to Inverness

The day everyone dreads and looks forward to – you’re excited for completion, but nervous about the distance of 20 miles. We headed out of the site a bit later than we’d hoped, and it’s quite a walk through and out of Drum. Then we started climbing, up and up through the pine forests. We kept passing and being passed by a group of chaps we’d seen in the pub the night before, and our Dutch friend who we’d seen most days. Its fair to say most of us were finding the ascent pretty challenging! We weren’t helped by the fact that it had been c- c -c- cold the night before so we really hadn’t had enough sleep either.
There was a super viewpoint in the woods back across the Loch and Urquart castle – a good place to stop and catch your breath and re-fuel too! Lots of bird song in our ears and even a little mouse came out to entertain us.
At the half way point we decided we’d risk the Abriachan Eco Cafe – there are as many terrible reports as there are great ones – and we had a delicious lunch. It’s easy to see how people could be offended though, it really is a strange set up! You order through a Heras fence with a chap who will only tell you that they servce a light Highland lunch, that they’ve done it 365 days a year for 25 years, and you can have vegan, veggie or meat as your option. He just repeats this every time you ask for details! However, some other people who were known to him arrived whilst we were eating and they had bacon butties, so go figure!!

If you’re interested, the lunch is a vegetable broth, oat cakes, crackers, a small chopped mixed salad with olives, several hunks of cheese, and on the meat version, salami. Followed by the famous lemon cake (enormous slice!) and includes a drink – a pint (!) of freshly squeezed orange for me, a large cafetière of Columbian coffee for him. Oh, and the odd chap will go to great lengths to explain that eveything you consume is from the farm…!!!

It’s £20 each and we think value for money was good given that we took quite a bit of our food away with us because we couldn’t eat it all. There was a very charming lady that took payment (his wife, perhaps?) and she offered paper bags if we needed them for this purpose, so I guess it’s quite common.

The last 10 miles now were slow to tick off. The views after Abriachan were spectacular across the Sutherlands and Cairngorms, although we were concerned by what looked like smoke in the distance. We found out later that there were serious wild fires off the Affric Kintail Way, very sad news, but not surprising given the amount of camp fires we had seen that really didn’t look too safe.

As we walked out to the moorland we kept our eyes and ears alert for the sight or sound of Black Grouse, but it wasn’t to be (again!)The sight of the Beauly Firth gave us a little lift, and I stopped to finish the last of my monster lemon cake – we knew Inverness was approaching.
Eventually we were walking thru houses and buildings, then onto the lovely Ness Islands. Our feet were really aching and a pint was well overdue! We hobbled the last mile to the finishing point and celebrated with a very, very well earned pint! It was a tough day – but we did it! And no waterproofs were needed this year, I am delighted to report!

The techie stuff…

Whenever we look for gear, it’s always reviewed for soloists, which doesn’t always translate well to couples. So here’s a bit about what we use:

Camping is in a Robens Starlight tent, which is just about big enough, and pretty light at around 2kg. We bought it second hand on FB. It doesn’t have a great deal of a porch though, and last year that was problematic because it rained all the way, so I chucked in an adventure tarp to help us out this year; of course, we only used it once!

We carry a pan and lid from an old TriAng set, with a separate foldable burner. Jetboil is geared for one, so again, not ideal for us. Also, we don’t take the purpose-made dehydrated food – we have Cup a soups, Mug Shot pastas, choc bars, and single serve porridge pots which we decant into small zip locks to use each day, nice and easy because they don’t require milk. We have hot choc single serve packets for the evening. We often eat out at some point in the day, and I pick up crisps and apples as we go along. We have TailWind to add to our water for electrolytes when needed.

Sleeping wise, we are still building our kit. Our single season sleeping bags aren’t up to the job, altho they’re super light, so we bought liners this year, which certainly helped, and upgraded our sleep mats to Neo Air X Therm which were incredible! New bags will be essential for next year though.

Packs are Decathlon, with their self fitting design and have been excellent so far; poles are Mountain Warehouse (used for two long distance walks and several ultras now, so far so good); waterproofs from MW too and very good, pack up easily (mine is a mac in a pac type, very cheap) and we have some Decathlon over mittens which are just a waterproof shell and do a great job at keeping the wind off at altitude.

Finally, Walking boots – Salomon for him, and Hanweg Bunion boots for me, a hefty investment this year and so far, worth it as my feet are usually terrible due to the severity of my bunions. I made the mistake of using a liner toe sock the first couple of days, but binned them off when I realised that they were just adding heat in a boot that was designed to let me splay my toes better anyway.