Hi everyone,
Around the last weekend of May, I will be visiting a friend of mine in Edinburgh. We did the West Highland Way in 2017 and absolutely loved it. We are both not super experienced hikers, but had no issues during the WHW and walk long distances on a regular basis.
When I'm visiting, we would like to hike around Glencoe and wild camp for the first time!
I have heard great stories about Glencoe and Glen Etive, and I feel like we didn't see all there is to see during the WHW. My plan is to go to Bridge of Orchy from Edinburgh - using public transport, this seems to be the destination with the shortest travelling time. From there, we would walk to Glencoe Mountain Resort and spend the night there. The next day, we would like to explore Glencoe / Glen Etive. We have about 4 to 5 days:
Day 1: Bus to Bridge of Orchy, walk to Glencoe Mountain Resort
Day 2: Glencoe / Glen Etive
Day 3: Glencoe / Glen Etive
Day 4: Glencoe / Glen Etive - end of the day we should be back at Glencoe Mountain Resort
Day 5: Glencoe Mountain Resort to Bridge of Orchy, bus back to Edinburgh
What would be the best way of exploring Glencoe / Glen Etive? Should we head for the village of Glencoe, taking us through the valley?
According to Google Maps (bad source maybe, but I don't have a map yet), we could also walk to Dalness, then Invercharnan leading us to Glen Etive. Is the terrain straight forward in terms of finding paths to Glen Etive for example, or would one need strong navigational skills? After Invercharnan, would it be do-able to walk 'into the wild' and just set up camp there?
We have never hiked 'off trail' so to say. Could we just buy a map and head towards Glen Etive with a compass, wandering off into the wild and wild camp?
Thank you all in advance!