Walkhighlands

Well done!! 30k, My son and I started the whw at the begining of June sadly he hurt his knee and we had to pull out half way, ( the old man was fine ) . We had 19k packs which were a pain but you could pick them up lol, like you, I have dropped the wieght as much as i can , down to 14 to 15k .I got a new pack, Lowe Alpine 45+10 which I can get everything in but, I need a much smaller , (when packed) sleeping mat. Good luck take care

Lowe Alpine 45+10 which I can get everything in but, I need a much smaller , (when packed) sleeping mat. Good luck take care
LowAlpine has a good reputation. I have a zor 'nemo'mat weighes less than 300g measures 3.5 inches by 8 inches expensive but super kit. I also have a go lite pinnacle rucksack around 900g. in all my equipment weighs around 9k now not counting food. The food im working on. i think i can get 10 days of food for around 6k . last effort on whw food only lasted around 7 days and very sparce..... same weight. Hope your sons knee is ok not so good if hurt as its a vital joint. kind regards

No wonder you found the last day took a little longer than expected. Kinlochleven to Fort William is 16 miles, 17 if you include the trek to the 'new' finish. There is a lot to be said for bag-carrying services.

Well done that man.It sounded pretty tough with all that weight.The soup sounded amazing.

Well done , really enjoyed the read . Me and the wife have done a number of LDWs and we have always carried our gear ( though at times sorely tempted to use bag carrying service). Normally carry between 15 to 20 K and the first few hours always seem the hardest , after a couple of days often forget it's on my back , I guess it's a case of use it or lose it plus it keeps me fit ( who am I fooling). In my 60's now and off to walk the Pennine way , must see if I can cut the weight down ( my wife , when she's emptying our bags at the end of a walk always questions me on why I need to take things that we never use , I just shrug my shoulders and say the usual " you never know when they might come in handy" , but of course they never do ) . Anyway always enjoy reading about LDWs we've done ourselves , great memories. Thanks for the report.

.........................off to repack............................My rucksack for this week just has water/waterproofs(trousers and coat)/compeed, day food.
But I've managed to fill my holiday suitcase with tent/bag/foam mat/breakfast and day food for me and dog (pubs or shops for tea or supanoodles!!), Kettle, tea/milk-UHT, boots, walking shoes (for the flatter/road bits), towel, flip flops for evening, too many clothes, socks, underwear, bikini-sun is forecast, and I don't walk through hottest part of day, also know where the decent streams are, he-he!
Girly toiletries, sun lotion, 2 types of bug repel, Avon skin so soft, sloe gin for night caps, various gadgets, 2 headlights, tent light, kindle-bought specially, spare phone, charger for all.

It still only comes in at 24kg-most of which will be Sherpa-ed

Hi, sounds amazing! I am new to the idea of back packing or long distance walking, having had arthritis plus other health problems since a teenager I have spent past 20 years in and out of wheelchair but my health at present is ok, who knows for how long, just making most of it when I can. I have climbed Snowdon and Ben Nevis amongst others (slowly,very slowly) anyway I am now researching the west highland way.For the past 3 years I have spent 5 weeks during summer camping and touring, Lakes, Snowdonia , The Highlands and Skye with my retired dad, teenage daughter and our 2 dogs. This year I want to have a few practise long walks with wild camps over summer and try the WHW maybe October. Where did you find your campsites? did you have to book?I am not sure how far I can make it each day over varied terrain and carrying all our gear. I have bought a book and am pouring over this wonderful site plus others and trying to get as prepared as possible. In terms of areas we love the Cape Wrath trail looks amazing but not something for an inexperienced walker/back packer to attempt! Good luck with your future treks, like you said you never know until you try.

Really enjoyed reading this, thank you for posting it. We set off on April 7th and, although we're camping every night, we ARE going to use a baggage transfer service!