West Highland Way 1993

Walking the West Highland Way 7th-13th  July 1993

  1. Glasgow to Balmaha (26 mile) Set off from the youth hostel in the centre of Glasgow for the official start of the West Highland Way at a place called Milngavie, this literally took me hours to find and wasnt helped by the fact the locals pronounce it totally different to the way its spelt (something like Mul-guy !)
  2. Balmaha to Rowardennan (7 miles) Only a short distance today but tried to do an ascent of Ben Lomond as well, only got halfway up though due to rain and a ferocious wind. Stopped the night at Rowardennan youth hostel.
  3. Rowardennan to Crianlarich (19 miles) I found this a tough stage especially along the shores of Loch Lomond scrambling up and down over rocks and tree roots. Called into Inverarnan for a pint at the Drovers Inn and a warm next to the roaring log fire and a chance to dry out a little from the frequent showers before continuing on to Crianlarich youth hostel.
  4. Crianlarich to Bridge of Orchy (12 miles) Found this quite a boring stage especially in the cold , wet and windy weather, it was quite flat and followed the West Highland Railway line quite a lot. Stopped at the bunkhouse next to the Bridge of Orchy Hotel and watched the Tour de France on Tv on the night time.
  5. Bridge of Orchy to Kinlochleven (20 miles) Weather remained cold dull and showery on morning as i made my way to the Kingshouse Hotel and called in for a pot of tea. The weather improved greatly and so did the views as i made my way up “The Devils Staircase” and dropped down to Kinlochleven, was a little big shocked when i realised my lodge for the night was 700 feet up a hillside next to a hotel. Think it was called Mamore Lodge.
  6. Kinlochleven to Fort William (14 miles) Took the high road to rejoin the WHW and continued an easy walk into Fort William with several forest sections, Stopped the night at Glen Nevis youth hostel.
  7. Ben Nevis  Up the Ben via the normal tourist route starting from the youth Hostel in Glen Nevis as far as the Half-way Lochan then leaving the normal route and dropping down to cross the Stream (Allt a Mhuilinn) and climbing up to the summit of Carn Mor Dearg with great views of the north face of The Ben. From this top its an easy scramble along the tremendous Carn Mor Dearg Arete and up onto the summit of Ben Nevis, followed by a descent of the normal tourist path.