A Last Hike to Fort William

We left Kinlochleven early in the morning because we knew we had a long day of hiking ahead of us. As expected, the weather had turned, and we ended up putting on rain coats and rain pants at many different times during the day. 

Once we took off and crossed the river, we started our climb up on the other side of the river.

At this point, we really started encountering the dreaded Scottish midges (nasty little biting insects). Here is a photo of us batting the midges away from our eyes, nose and throat - and this was after we had totally sprayed ourselves with a "midge repellent." 

This hiker had the right piece of equipment. 

Luckily for us, once we got higher up, the midges weren't as bad.

The scenery, even with the gray drizzly skies, was beautiful. 

It's hard to capture the colors in a photo, but the colors of the meadows were various shades of greens, purples and rust. 

The last stage of the West Highland Trail is 15 miles, so we had to keep ourselves on pace if we wanted to reach Fort William by dinner time.

At several points in the hike, the rain came down steadily. At other points, we would once again shed our rain gear until the next shower moved through. 

By the end of the afternoon, we had to just keep pushing ourselves. Finally, we descended into Fort William and reached the "end of our hike" at about 5:30 pm. 

We then had to walk another mile to our evening accommodation. When it was all said and done, we put in a lot of steps for the day!

The next morning, we enjoyed a final breakfast together at the B&B before taking the train back to Glasgow where we parted ways for some separate travel plans back to Minneapolis. 

At our breakfast, we wished Greg a Happy 70th Birthday! Our time in Scotland, concluding with completing part of the West Highland Way, was a great capstone to his 60s!

In fact, we got a kick out of this particular sign we saw several times in Scotland and just had to take a photo under it :-)

We've had a wonderful time learning a lot in Scotland as well as exploring the beautiful meadows, lochs, and glens. We are thankful for our friends and look forward to more adventures in the upcoming decade!

Kingshouse to Kinlochleven

When we left the Kingshouse Hotel this morning, we had a wonderful view of Buachaille Etive Mòr mountain with its distinct pyramidical shape. It is probably the most photographed mountain in Scotland and has been in many movies including Bravehart and the 2012 James Bond movie Skyfall.

Of course, we all had to get some photos with this beautiful mountain in the background. 

From there the West Highland Way continues in the direction of Glencoe. The Valley of Glencoe, with its tall rugged mountains is one of the most beautiful places in Scotland.

But Glencoe is also known for the infamous Massacre of Glencoe that took place in 1692. One night, in the middle of a harsh winter, a regiment under the command of Robert Campbell showed up at the home of the Chief of the MacDonald clan of Glencoe. Honoring the Highland tradition of hospitality to any travelers, the MacDonalds invited the regiment into their homes and offered them food for 12 days. But then an order arrived for Campbell from the English monarch to "put all to sword under 70." That night many of the MacDonalds, including the clan chief, were murdered in their own homes. The MacDonalds who escaped into the woods died of exposure after their homes were burned to the ground. To this day, the old

Chachaig Inn in Glencoe bears the sign in its door, "No Campbells!"

We knew that today's hike included a tough uphill portion called the Devil's Staircase. The climb got its name by soldiers who were part of a road building program in the 1750s. Carrying construction materials up the very steep stretch was very unpopular, thus the soldiers called it the Devil's Staircase. 

We were also really glad when we reached the top of the Devil's Staircase. We took a break to eat some food and take in the views. The stone cairns at the top mark the highest point of the entire West Highland Way. 

From the high point, the path starts to descend gently on a rugged path.

Eventually, we were able to see the waters of the Blackwater Reservoir, the longest dam in the Highlands. It was built in 1909 by 3,000 itinerant laborers who lived in a camp up on the moor. The project included the construction of the dam and the pipelines towards Kinlochleven.

Kinlochleven had an aluminum works in the early 1900's that employed 800 people. Although the aluminum works closed in 2000, the hydro-electric plant was converted into a general purpose power station. 

Today, Kinlochleven relies on tourism and mountain sports such as trail running, mountain biking, and hiking on the West Highland Way.

We stayed at the Highland Getaway Inn and had a delicious dinner after another

long day of hiking. 

We've been so lucky with warm, sunny weather. Tomorrow is our last day of hiking and the forecast is for rain - so we will finally get the more typical Scotland weather as part of our experience. 

Our Second Day of Hiking

We left the Bridge of Orchy Hotel ready for our second day of hiking. 

Shortly after crossing the bridge, we saw a bunch of people "wild camping." In Scotland, it is permissible to camp anywhere, even on private land - it is called wild camping. This is because of the belief that the land of Scotland actually belongs to everyone.

Today, our hike took us across the Rannoch Moor, a vast wilderness of heather and bog encircled by mountains. It is the largest, uninhabited area in Britain. Rannoch Moor was a filming location for Outlander and the Harry Potter movie. 

We hiked for about 12.5 miles and we had lots of sun!

Taking a "wee rest" in the heather.

We finally reached the Kingshouse Hotel! There has been a inn on the location since the 17th century and it is believed to have one of the oldest licensed pubs in Scotland. It was built to service travelers heading across the Rannoch Moor. It is called "the Kingshouse" because troops of King George III used it as a barracks during the subjugation of the Higlands, following the Jacobite Rising of 1745. The Kingshouse Hotel was renovated in 2019, and hikers, climbers, and tourists have replaced the soldiers, pedlars, and drovers as its main clients. 

We finished our day with a lovely dinner looking out on the Rannoch Moor and surrounding mountains. We are all tired but happy that our hike went well today!