WHW Apr 16, Day 5 - Kings House Hotel to Lairigmor (14 miles)

 Day 5
Kings House Hotel to Lairigmor (Via Kinlochleven)
14 odd miles

Awoke to a very frosty morning, i had pitched my tent in just the right spot (unintentionally) the sun was beating down on me and defrosting my tent, others near the trees and bridge (in what looked the best spots) were frozen solid.

after a light breakfast i quickly packed up and took the track along to the foot of the devils staircase, it looked like it was going to be fun...


view back down from high up on the devils staircase, possibly the start of the zip zags?
Quite a few folk passed me going up, but i consoled myself with the fact the majority weren't carrying anything bigger than a day pack, I'm to tight to pay for someone to drive my bags from point to point. I can see how it appeals to a lot of folks who through all sorts of circumstances probably wouldn't do the walk if they couldn't use the transportation options. I like the flexibility of stopping where i want, not where my bags are

sat on top and had a chat with a lad who was training for some mad race, fort william to


over the top of the devils staircase and the long descent to Kinlochleven begins, i really enjoy walking on this type of path


big sky, big views


a steeper section, the path is easily seen winding its way down and around


a view break, Kinlochleven just visible down in the Glen


Gleann Lolairean leading off the bottom left from the Blackwater, just 11 months prior to this picture and while on a cross Scotland Challenge (TGOC) my wife and i were stranded for a night at the mouth of the wee burn you can just make out entering the Loch. 36 hours of rain had swollen the burns into raging torrents, a night in the tent and the next morning the river was no more than a wee burn again.
Although you cant see it in the picture, there's a huge dam hidden behind the wee hill, you can just see the top of one of the towers, beyond the dam is proper back of beyond, civilisation is about two days walk, 4 or 5 for any sort of resupply options

the WHW track eventually joins up with the maintenance road that goes up to the Blackwater dam for the final mile or two into Kinlochleven

probably my most enjoyable day, proper hills and good hill tracks for most of the morning, barely any road and fantastic views.

First stage of the day done (8 or 9 miles), once in the village i headed to a local bar where i enjoyed a long leisurely lunch which was most enjoyable, only 4 miles to go to where i hoped to bivi up so no rush, the majority of folk i spoke to were stopping in the village, so a really early finish for most. before leaving i decided to pay a visit to the COOP for a final resupply 

the climb out of Kinlochleven, (very cheeky) and a look back down to the loch, the pap of glencoe on the horizon.

and back towards the village

further up, a couple of hours earlier i had come down the right hand side of the Glen directly opposite, you can just make out the pipes that run up the glen.

Lairigmor (an old ruin/Sheiling), the glen itself was peace and quiet central and without doubt the best pitch of the trip, i'd only seen two other people since leaving Kinlochleven.

as the sun went down it got rather nippy, down jacket and beanie on while knocking up a boil in the bag culinary delight to end what had been a very satisfying day


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WHW Apr 16, Day 6 - Lairigmor to Fort William (10 miles)

Day 6 

Lairigmor to Fort William
10 miles

Scotland in April + a bit of altitude and a shaded glen sets it up nicely for a bloody cold crisp, frosty morning

But, waking up in the Scottish hills is unbeatable

looking back up the Glen towards Kinlochleven, the sun is finally starting to poke over the hills

and things are starting to defrost, the route out is straight down and around the corner, hidden to the right

The walk out of the glen was a bit longer than i realised TBH, i was glad i hadn't stopped in Kinlochleven yesterday as that would have added another 3 or 4 miles onto the final days walking today. 

After leaving the glen, there's quite a bit of up and down bits, the majority through the track meanders through felled forrestry, eventually you leave the landrover track and move onto a very pleasant narrow trail, for the last few miles. 

On cresting a wee rise Ben Nevis appears, this was as good a place as any for my first and only stop of the day, it was very pleasant sitting in the sun with a bottle of water and a snickers bar.

After 20 minutes chilling it was bergan back on for the next mile or two of gradual  decent through mature forrestry .

steeper than they look, it amused me that the handrail is on the "safe" side, the open side has a wee drop down to a burn. This is pretty near the bottom of the wee glen. All that remains is an easy shortish but final climb of the WHW.

After the wee climb the trail joins another forestry/logging track above Glen Nevis, looking across to the Ben you can see the traffic build up on the "tourist path" to the top.

it's downhill all the way from here for the WHW though, I thought it was quite a long drag down to the Nevis centre, (worse coming up i imagine) but I was suffering a wee bit of a dodgy belly and couldn't make up my mind wether to stick or twist, my stomach suddenly decided to twist and a very rapid journey off trail and into the trees ensued.

 On reaching the Glen floor the final few miles are completed on tarmack along side roads that get steadily busier the closer you get to trails end. The end of the WHW was a bit of a disappointment for me, after coming down from the hills, your left with a 2 or 3 mile walk into town, alongside what becomes a very busy road, i passed the old finish, but couldn't be bothered walking to the official/corporate finish at the other end of town and only walked as far as the train/bus station.

Theres a nice cafe above an outdoor shop opposite the bus/train station, i met my lift there, had a huge tasty burger and pint or two of Guinness before heading through to Aviemore for a well deserved night out.

Overall the walk along the WHW was ok, the last 2 1/2 days were really enjoyable, great scenery and mostly away from roads/civilisation. I wouldn't want to do the Glasgow to Loch Lomond to Tyndrum bits again, mind you the way it's going with the loch Lomond park authorities I expect walkers to be banned soon if they don't buy a #LLTNPA 'r' Ace T shirt and camp where they're told (at a premium price of course).

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