West Highland Way 'Singing in the Rain'

[L-Hiking]

We had been looking forward to our trip to the highlands and the WHW for nearly a year and hoping that the typical Scottish weather would stay average. We were expecting some rain (obviously) however I think we got more than our fair share. Soaked to the skin 5 days out of the 7.

So I am unable to provide much in the way of photographs on this post and was relying on my imagination of what I could have seen if not for the rain and clag. So thanks to WalkHighlands for all those fantastic reports and pictures, at least I knew what should have been in my close vacinity.

I set my GPS at the start in Milngavie and by the finish at Fort William my wife and I had assended over 14000 feet over the distance of 95 miles or so.

Any way the first day was fine and I was able to take a few pictures on our way to Drymen and the traditional one was taken by the Tourist Information employee at the start.

The following day we left Drymen for Rowardenan under very bleak skys and it was not long before the heavens opened, conditions were pretty bad coming down from Conic hill and I did witness two people fall mainly due to the conditions, however the man made staircase slopes away from you as you desend and is a hazzard when wet.

Carol 'Singing in the Rain' at the base of Conic Hill

This picture shows the amount of water flowing down the footpath or stream)

After a welcome cup of coffee and warm soup at the inn at Balmaha along with other drenched soles it was along the shores of Loch Lomond we went. I have lived by the sea most of my life and the loch looked more like the North Sea in a Northerly gale

Loch Lomond...or the North Sea?

Carol Do you think she is still singing?

Our third day was again grey skies and down pour, not much singing today

Day 4, we got a wonderful day for our walk to Tyndrum the birds were singing the sky was blue, just wonderful. Arrived at Tyndrum at around 3.30, oh boy I was looking forward to a pint! Yikes no beer in the pub some problem with the licence so I enjoyed a nice glass of cola in the sunshine

The Crianlarich hills from St Fillans Chapel

Day 5 we were looking forward to this our longest stretch from Tyndrum to Kingshouse and after a night of heavy rain we woke to grey skies but NO RAIN However by the time we had climbed out of Tyndrum again we had our waterproofs on.

Beinn Dorain in the rain!

Ba Bridge Still Smiling??

Who's the wise guy?

Awoke next morning after a night of heavy rain to be greeted with more heavy rain, however at least I had a warm bed and shower which is more than what some campers had. We were hopeful that we would get a glimpse of The Ben at the top of the 'Devils Staircase' as the weather was clearing and we were still smiling.

Definitely Smiling

No view of the Ben but we did get a glimpse of the mamores, this was another bad day for scenery and photographs. However whilst having dinner in the hotel wat the head of the loch the clouds broke and I was able to get a nice picture of the Pap of Glencoe

Beautiful view of the Pap of Glencoe

Kinlochleven our last day and again it was raining after what seemed a very long walk in awful weather we reached our destination at Ft William and yes Carol is smiling.

Smiling 'Cos we did it

[skuk007]

Congratulations Real shame about the rain but at least I hope it kept the midges away.
Nice shot of the Pap.

[starseeker54]

question.
can anyone give me information on two related topics..

1)is the route from fort william back to glasgow on the whw well sign posed?

2)apart from the obvious,what pitfalls are there doing the whw in early december?

many thanks,


tom..

[L-Hiking]

question.
can anyone give me information on two related topics..

1)is the route from fort william back to glasgow on the whw well sign posed?

2)apart from the obvious,what pitfalls are there doing the whw in early december?

many thanks,


tom..

Hi Tom

1.The WHW is well sign posted all the way with waymarker posts, the top of the posts have the scottish nationa trail mark inlaid at the top..you cant miss em!!

2. The most obvious pitfall is the lack of light during the day in December and of course worsening weather conditions. You will also find that many of the B and Bs on the way are closed during this time of year.

Hope this helps

[Jock McJock]

Well done to you both, pity about the weather. I'll get to this one day

[taylor94]

Im planning on doing the WHW next year around May

[starseeker54]

many thanks "luvhiking,
the weather will be wet and managable,good kit will see that off.i intend to wild camp the whole way,so just need to restock now and again..love the solitude up there.

[L-Hiking]

For anyone who hasn't tyravelled the WHW I would reccomend you complete it. The weather was poor during my trip but the satisfaction and the experience is wonderful. We met so many people of different natioalities and all were pleasant and passionate about their trip. As a lowlander and not able to venture to the Highlands as much as I like, just been close to all those magnificent mountains is extremely satisfying. If given the opportunity to repeat the experience in the same weather, I would not hesitate. So Just Do It Not backwards tho the drag out of Kinlochleven is steep and the best views would be behind you

[starseeker54]

im off to walk the west highland way on the 12th of november in 6-7 days.
is access to drinkable water fairly frequent?

tom..