The EAST Highland Way - Carrot Soup for the Soul

[Paul Webster]

Great stuff Janet, got me thinking we should be covering it

[walk aboot]

[Klaasloopt]

What an entertaining read! No hills, just describing what you spot, and keeping the running gag about soup and trousers running.

[mountainstar]

Just back, so sorry for not replying sooner.
Great read and I must say you took a lot more pictures than me, I only took 2 on the first 5 days! one of Loch Ness...sadly no monster and one of of the floating pub at Laggen Lochs, definitely no great sunsets to be seen, so you never missed much there, and you win hands down with the rainbow shot. Took loads on my last day, but that's only because I went via Carn Mor Dearg & Ben Nevis.
It was great keeping in touch with each other as we plodded on on our respected LD walks, and we did have some great banter, but it was very worrying when the WMV incident was taking place, hopefully the texts helped ease your worries a little.
One text later in the week I remember that amused me, went something like this....
Me/ I'm walking from Spean Bridge to the the north face car park, then over CMD (Carn Mor Dearg) & Ben Nevis.
You/ Yep, that's the way I went
Me/ yes being chased by WVM
There were lots more like that

The last headlines we saw as we left the Highlands in the Local paper was "Soup selling sales man in White Van arrested for wearing a pink bra!"
This could have been followed by "Mountainstar has cup of tea in the Clachaig!"
Thanks for not mentioning that last detail, could have been a bit embarrassing, if you had not mentioned the fact that it was a Sunday, and the bar could not serve alcohol when we were there.

[walk aboot]

Bra wearing WVM, too funny, Alan

Thanks very much to you and Ele for the lift to Fort William, and the fantastic text banter along the Way (s)

Now you're going to spoil it and post lots and lots of gorgeous sunsets in your Outer Henrides trip report, aren't you grrr?!

[walk aboot]

What an entertaining read! No hills, just describing what you spot, and keeping the running gag about soup and trousers running.

Thanks Klaasloopt

[mountainstar]

Now you're going to spoil it and post lots and lots of gorgeous sunsets in your Outer Henrides trip report, aren't you grrr?!

Here's one for now, the TR will take ages .....

[walk aboot]

Nice photo, mind

[sootiecraig]

Hi Walkaboot!

Thanks for your report, myself and a friend are setting off on the EHW in a couple weeks and was wondering if i could pick your brains?

As we`re planning to wild camp the whole thing ( followed by the speyside way afterwards) we will need to find fresh water along the way. Did you take this route or did you fill up in the mornings for the day? Usually quite happy drinking from mountain streams but as we`ll be a bit lower down i think we`ll have to boil, purify etc.

Also, any wild camp spots you could reccomend that you spotted along the way would be much appreciated, along with any other info you think might help?!

Thanks in advance!

[walk aboot]

Hi sootiecraig,

That's great you're doing the EHW in a couple of weeks, you and your friend will love it .

I was staying in B&Bs/hostels/hotels for the duration of my walk so I just carried a bought bottle of water/juice each day. You won't find sourcing drinkable water a problem either; there are plenty of natural sources along the way, and apart from the Tulloch to Laggan stretch, there are places you can pop into to buy refreshments, visit the toilets to fill up bottles at the sink, etc. at each stage.

The good thing about the EHW is that it's not busy and you really will be spoiled for choice with regards to wild camping spots, I liked the area around Fersit best (the lochan). There are a few other gorgeous spots I can recommend, such as the Falls of Pattack and somewhere near the white sand beach at the top of Loch Laggan, but I'm not sure if you can camp near the beach bit or not. Apparently the owners of the private house (massive, more like a castle) along there are not happy with the EHW walkers passing through, shoo-ing away photo-takers, putting up signs to divert walkers from walking past their grounds, etc.

There are a couple of bothies you can use if it rains heavily. There may be a couple more slighly off-route.

Apparently the EHW route path at the Nevis Range is closed at the moment for trees-chopping (re-opens 7th October), so you can either just walk along the main road to Spean Bridge, or follow the Great Glen Way Fort William - Spean Bridge route instead.

If you visit the EHW website or their Facebook page then you can chat to other walkers who have recently completed it, as well as the author himself, Kevin Langan.

Hope this helps .

Janet

[walk aboot]

Okay, just had a look through my EHW photos to remind myself of wild camping spots to recommend...

- Glen Spean is lovely, great for wild camping, route follows a river r.e. water supplies. If it rains heavily you can take a slight detour over the bridge at Monessie gorge and either pop into the last hotel for miles and miles for a drink and a dry-out, or book into a nearby bunkhouse (good place, stayed there recently, cheap too).

- An Dubh Lochan near Fersit - just a lovely wee spot for wild camping, before the walk takes you through Corrour Forest towards Lochs Moy and Laggan.

- I know a couple of folk have wild camped at Moy Bridge, don't know about that myself, again slightly off route.

- Falls of Pattack.

- Glen Banchor is another terrific glen. It has a stalkers' bothy for shelter if need be, again route follows a river. The second part of this glen is likely to be sodden in October (very, very boggy with a few river crossings over boulders), but the first part leading to the bothy will most likely be dry with suitable spots for camping.

[sootiecraig]

Hi Janet

Thanks a lot for the great info, sure it will come in very handy! Less than a week to go now and excitement is building! Thats a relief about the water sources, i thought that would be our biggest problem apart from the weather. Looking like Glen Banchor is impassable just now due to the recent rain, fingers crossed it stays dry for the next week or so, or it could be a detour. Hopefully not though, looks like that`s one of the highlights of the walk.

Thanks again for pointing me in the direction of the facebook group, loads of up to date info about the route on there, very handy. I`m sure we`ll come up against some obstacles ourselves too, all part of the fun!

May make the EHW my first walk report, keep your eyes peeled!

Thanks again,

Craig

[walk aboot]

I'll hold you to that (first trip report) and look forward to reading it

[mhuze]

Hi there WA. I have just recently joined the walk highlands forum and this is my first posting. Did the EHW over the past 4 days using bunkhouses at each stage at £17 per night therefore it was very economical. 1st stage Fort William to Tulloch. 2nd stage Tulloch to Laggan. 3rd stage Laggan to Kingussie. Final stage Kingussie to Aviemore. Weather wasnt too kind to us but nothing could take away from the scenery which was astounding in many spots. Absolutely loved the solitude too.

[walk aboot]

Hi mhuze

Glad to hear you enjoyed doing the EHW despite the weather, and over four days too .

There aren't a lot of trip reports on the EHW in this Walk Highlands section at the moment, so I'm sure others would like to read your account of the LDP if you feel like putting one together - the more trip reports the merrier, provides more info. for other walkers (and even more photos of a great walk to browse through and be jealous of whilst they are sitting at their desks during week day business hours ).

Out of interest, did you manage to walk through Glen Banchor? (Heard on the EHW Facebook page that walkers are being advised to use an alternative route at the moment due to recent heavy rain - not being able to cross the river, etc.).