West Highland Way 2010
June 1st 2010 - Day 8: Kinlochleven to Fort William (15 miles)
The day dawned grey, and the weather forecast printed out at the B&B predicted rain, so we just accepted matters and the waterproofs went on at the start of the day. Breakfast was not particularly remarkable so we finished up quickly and tried to get out of Kinlochleven earlier than our usual 10am departure time. We wanted to arrive in Fort William before 5pm so we would be in time to catch a bus up to Arisaig where we were staying for a few days after the walk. This would be a stretch given it’s a 15 mile day. We didn’t manage our get away, we stopped to talk with Darcy and Julia who we spotted having breakfast in a cafe and we hadn’t seen them since Bridge of Orchy. We figured we would see them later on the path, so we didn’t say our goodbyes.
We quickly completed the climb out of Kinlochleven, chased the entire ascent by swarms of midges. It was humid, and the slope is tree-covered for most of the climb, making it prime midge territory. We were only free of them once the breeze at the top blew them away. While it was supposed to be a more difficult climb than the Devil’s Staircase I can’t say I remember it being so. I did take a few stops to look back down on the town when clearings in the trees permitted. It was a pretty view to admire – Kinlochleven in miniature, clustered around the head of the Loch.
Kinlochleven in miniature
There were some misty low clouds at the top of the hill and the greyness kept all the views closed to us. The path followed the low contours of the hills through a glen and as we put miles between us and Kinlochleven, you felt as if Kinlochleven was a barely remembered interruption to the wilderness. The abandoned farmhouses we passed were nothing more than stone ghosts, relics of a time when these hills were populated with more than sheep, now serving as benches and toilets for those walking through.
Walking in the low clouds
Looking at the map, we were anticipating a fair amount of walking in the woods, only to discover that most of the first forested section indicated on the map had been cleared. Recently cleared wooded areas never looks good, it served as a rather jarring reminder that though we might feel isolated, we were quickly approaching Fort William.
At a notice board, where the path meets the road, we saw the first crack of blue sky after being rained on for an hour or so. Two walkers, an older gentleman and a younger woman, who had shared our B&B the night before, came up behind us and announced that the path was in a dreadful state and that they were going to take the road into Fort William. We didn’t think there was anything wrong with the condition of the path. It probably had more to do with the fact that the distance listed to Fort William was less by road than by path, but it baffled us why you would get this far and not finish the route the proper way?
Lunch was nothing more than a chocolate bar and some peanuts eaten quickly sitting on some stumps next to a gurgling brook under the protective boughs of a few trees. It was still raining, and my feet were killing me, and I was really ready for a day when I did not have to force my aching and blistered feet into my boots.
We finally did enter some woodland, with Ben Nevis emerging from the misty cloud ahead. Unfortunately low clouds hid the summit from view, but the sight of it let me know we were almost done and kept me going as I was running on empty. Exiting the wood onto a wide gravel road right underneath Ben Nevis we followed its twists and turns down into the glen.
Decent into Glen Nevis, with Ben Nevis hiding in the clouds
We were kept company at this point with a German couple we had been seeing off and on since Rannoch Moor and with the lady with blue gaiters who suddenly appeared out of nowhere – we hadn’t seen her since she took that wrong turn on day one!
Reaching the road, we knew the end was near, but we stopped at the visitor centre to refresh a bit. Then all that remained was the short road-side walk to the roundabout on the edge of Fort William that was the end of the trail. Arriving at the sign that marks the end of the West Highland Way just after the German couple, we took their photo and they took ours.
We did it!
As we had pushed ourselves rather hard, we had finished the walk in plenty of time to make the bus to Arisaig. We collected our bags from the drop off point, and met up with Susan and her friend Alison who had come to celebrate the end of the walk with us. We then hopped on the bus heading for a few well-deserved days of relaxation on the beautiful west coast of Scotland.