West Highland Way - Day 1

Over Easter I went hiking on part of the West Highland Way (one of the more famous trails in Scotland). The whole length spans 95 miles (152 km) from Milngavie, just north of Glasgow, to Fort William. I took 3 days and did the part of the trail from Bridge of Orchy to Fort William. I totally cheated by staying in hotels and having my overnight bag delivered from hotel to hotel (instead of camping and carrying all my gear all the time) and, despite my lack of guilt over cheating, the hike was fantastic! The weather was ridiculously good - 3 days of cloudless skies, calm wind and mild temperatures. I got sun burnt because it just never crossed my mind to take a sun hat or sunscreen and it was the first time in 6 months that I actually wore my sunglasses.

I got a really nice surprise on the night before I started my walk. I stayed in Bridge of Orchy which is a tiny town made up of a couple of houses and the hotel. I had taken the train there straight from work and walked from the train station to the hotel making a racket dragging my wheelie suitcase down a beat-up road wearing dressy work trousers and nice shoes (well, nice for me anyway). It was pretty much the complete opposite of a couple weeks ago when I showed up to the Hilton in Amsterdam wearing creased hiking trousers, trainers and a backpack. I was expecting a run down shabby hotel (because it was out in the middle of nowhere) and then I opened the door to my room and saw one of the nicest hotel rooms I've ever stayed in. So if you're ever in the area, I recommend the Bridge of Orchy Hotel.

My "don't judge a hotel by its surroundings" lesson

My first day's walk was from Bridge of Orchy to Kingshouse (13 miles / 21km). It was really pretty, if not a little monochromatic. After a while, the hills started reminding me of marble pound cake (that's also, coincidentally, when I decided to stop for lunch) and by the end of the day I was craving colours that weren't brown or blue.



First day view

First day view



Mmmm... marble pound cake

The Kingshouse hotel, where the day's walk ended, had no vacancies when I booked my trip so I was given a taxi shuttle into nearby Glen Coe to stay at a different hotel. I had been told by a co-worker (multiple times, increasingly insistently) that I HAD to go to Glen Coe before I left the country and, to give him credit, it was a very beautiful place. It would be nice to stay there for a couple of days and do some more walking.

Glen Coe is just behind the mountain on the left.

I learned, on the first day, that I have quite a competitive streak while hiking. I had stopped for a little break when a couple walked by on the trail. When they passed me, they high fived each other, which I know could have been for any number of reasons but I took it to mean that they were all chuffed about passing me. I passed them later in the day, when they were stopped for lunch, and then we met again at a look out point. I had climbed up and admired the view for a while and then when I went to return to the trail, the couple reached the look out, completely out of breath. I smiled sweetly and said "Hello again!" and then went on my way thinking "High five that, fuckers!". They were staying at the same hotel as me that night and I was even smug enough to notice that I finished my dinner before them at the hotel restaurant (I know, so childish!). In my ever-so-grown-up defence, they started it - I had no problems with any of the people who managed to pass me without high fiving each other. It wasn't until the next day when I had soundly beat them up the Devil's Staircase, that I figured I should probably let it go