Overseas Walk: The West Highland Way - One to be cherished and enjoyed slowly
The West Highland Way in Scotland, 150 km, is one I have walked twice, once in spring and again in winter. To my delight I discovered some of Scotland’s most beautiful scenery along its length.
The “Way”, as it is called, has history and grandeur surrounding you at every turn. Some of its history is powerful and horrifying whilst others benign and captivating.
It was first conceived by the Glaswegian Tom Hunter in 1974 and officially completed and designated as a Scottish “Long-distance Path” in 1980. It’s a mixture of drover’s tracks, old military roads and coaching roads and edges along loch shores, through oak and pine forests, over rugged mountains and traverses heather-clad moorlands.
An estimated 80,000 people walk it every year with 15,000 of them completing it in one go. It begins just outside Glasgow, at Milngavie (pronounced “Mulguy”) and finishes at Fort William, in the Highlands, 8 or 9 days later.
In June 2010 the Way was co-designated as part of the great “The International Appalachian Trail (IAT)”. Evidence has suggested that the Appalachian Mountains, on the west coast of North America, and some mountains in Western Europe and North Africa were all linked 250 million years ago as part of a super continent.
They eventually drifted to where they are today but sections of the former mountain ranges still remain. The Way became the first part of the IAT in Europe.
From Milngavie the track meanders through urban areas and across farmland and breaks out into more appealing scenery later.
The first tantalising glimpses of Loch Lomond can be seen through breaks in
tall, yellow-flowering gorse lining the path and the mighty Ben Lomond and smaller Conic Hill sitting on its shores.
Drymen at the “foot” of the loch is the first stop for the night. The local Clachan Inn claims to be the oldest registered pub in Scotland, 1734, with connections to the family of Rob Roy.
After a 6km walk through Garadhban Forest the next day a junction is reached and decision to be made. A choice of a highland route to the top of Conic Hill or, during the lambing period, an alternative lower level bypass route.
Balmaha, a small village sitting on the shore of the loch, is a good place to stop and rest and the last place to shop for a while. A wooden pier, thrusting through reeds and out into the loch’s grey waters, offers a place to sit and relax.
The trail now alternates between the loch-shore and a minor road. Oak woods press right down to the loch edge and a sandy beach where you walk on washed-up dried leaves and pine needles.
Rowardennan Youth Hostel is the next night’s stop. Built in the mid-19th century as a shooting lodge this hostel is perched on the edge of the loch itselfThe wind occasionally floats the hum of traffic across the loch here from the road running along the opposite shores. Now you slowly begin to realise a sense a remoteness, which is pleasant.
Deep in thought and quietly enjoying the serenity of woods you pierce the trees and the Inversnaid Hotel looms, incongruously, in front of you.
A large, wooden jetty thrusts itself into the loch from which tourists pour
from ferries and into the hotel for morning teas. Thankfully this is the last place where “civilisation” can assault the senses as you hurry past to meld once more into the embrace of the trees.
Rob Roy’s cave, romanticised by the novelist and playwright Sir Walter Scott, is a hidden gash in tumbled rocks along the Way. It is said that he used it to hide out during the period he was a cattle-rustler.
It is also believed that Robert the Bruce sheltered here after his defeat at the battle of Dail Righ in 1306.
The “Doune Bothy” is a damp, musty shelter, smelling of wood smoke that sits on a small hill with views of Loch Lomond. Here you can rest if the weather becomes inclement.
The “The Drovers Inn” at Inverarnan is not to be missed. Stepping inside is like a step back in time and a comforting “blanket” of history, warmth and nostalgia soothingly wraps itself around you.
A hearty meal and a well-earned pint of ale is had before moving off to Crianlarich for the night.
Crianlarich is a busy town and has been a major crossroads since mediaeval times for north and westbound travellers. Two military roads have met here in the village since the 1750’s, reached after following the River Falloch through gorges, passed rapids, small cascades and peaty pools.
Bridge of Orchy, via the village
of Tyndrum is an easy walk through woods, along grassy slopes and amongst heather. The remains of St Fillan’s Chapel can be seen along the Way. Dating back to the 10th century it was raised to the status of a Priory by Robert the Bruce in 1318.
Bridge of Orchy (pronounced “Brig Orchy”) is a small hamlet on the main north/south road.
A large hotel dating back to 1751 and a place to stop for the night. The stone bridge itself was built by Government forces as part of programme for building military roads for the pacification of the Highland Clans.
Beyond is the ridge of Mam Carraigh with superb views of Loch Tulla to the north east. Skirting this loch on its southern shores the route heads north and across Rannoch Moor, a vast wilderness of heather and bog. An unforgettable stage of the Way and in good weather stark but beautiful, but if the weather turns foul it can be exposed and very forbidding.
The paths are good and you are dwarfed by monolithic mountains to the west and north that make you feel very insignificant.
Even their strange names strike unease, Stob a’Choire Odhair (945 m); Clach Leathad (1099 m) and Meall a’Bhuridh (1108 m). Stob Dearg (1022 m) is the highest and finest peak of Buachaille Etive Mor, one of the most famous and photographed sights of the Highlands.
Across Rannoch Moor, and in the distance, the tantalising sight of the Kings House Hotel at the foot of Beinn a’Chrulaiste (857 m) is a pleasing “carrot” drawing you in. Here a good night’s sleep awaits and more importantly a few jars of ale and a fine meal at the “Walkers bar. There is a bunkhouse nearby for those who prefer it.
Glen Coe stretches away to the west where in 1692 the infamous “Massacre of Glencoe” occurred. Clan MacDonald were billeting about 120 men of Earl of Argyll’s Regiment of Foot, under the command of Captain Robert Campbell, and were received in the hospitable tradition of the Highlands.
Later, thirty-eight McDonalds were killed by these guests on the grounds that they had not been prompt in pledging allegiance to the new monarchs, William and Mary. Another forty women and children died of exposure after their homes were burned.
Following an old military road con-
touring the steep slopes of the Beinn a’Chrulaiste mountain, the “Devils’ Staircase” is approached. The trail rises here and snakes between the mountains of Stob Mhic Mhartuin and Beinn Bheag. Kinlochleven is reached and a final nights’ stop before journey’s end at Fort William.
Kinlochleven lies at the eastern end of the fjord-like Loch Leven. An aluminium smelter was built here in the early 1900’s, powered by a hydroelectric scheme situated in the mountains above. The village was the first in the world to have every house connected to electricity, coining the phrase “The Electric Village”.
A steep climb rises out of Kinlochleven onto an old military road through the Lairigmor, the “great pass”.
The path moves away from you in a seemingly unending trail winding its way into the distance. A shady pine forest breaks the walk half way along before it opens out again with views of Ben Nevis.
It is Great Britain’s highest mountain and very popular with around 100,000 ascents every year. The cliffs on the north face are the highest in Scotland and a haven for climbers and mountaineers, particularly for ice-climbers in winter.
The summit, a collapsed volcano, has ruins of an observatory that was manned from 1883 to 1904.
Finally, passing into a large pine forest, you enter Glen Nevis. Amongst these trees rare red squirrels or startled deer can be seen occasionally.
After the solitude of the forest, you unexpectedly break out onto the busy streets of Fort William.
It is a town of around 10,000 inhabitants and rests on the shores of Loch Linnhe. It is a major centre for hillwalking and climbing being close to Ben Nevis and many Munro mountains (Mountains over 987 m – 3,000 ft.)
For those who wish to continue walking the 126 km “Great Glen Way” beckons here. Opened in 2002 it journeys west to east, from the Irish Sea to the North Sea, along the Great Glen.
This is a large geological fault, long and straight, running east for 100 km to the city of Inverness.
There are three lochs along its length, Loch Lochy, Loch Oich and the famed Loch Ness. In the early nineteenth century these lochs were joined together by the Scottish engineer Thomas Telford to form a transport route for large shipping, the Caledonian Canal. One third of the entire length are man-made.
The West Highland Way is one to be cherished and enjoyed slowly. It offers such diverse scenery and interesting history. It should be sipped like a fine wine!