walkhighlands

GGW - 3 Days (July '22)

Date walked: 17/07/2022

Time taken: 3 days

Distance: 117km

Ascent: 2260m

Hello all,

Want to leave this mostly as a reference for anyone else who looks to do the Great Glen Way and is aiming for a similar timeline etc as I couldn't quite find a written record that answered some of the questions I had. I just finished the Great Glen Way from Fort William to Inverness in 3 days.

Day 1: Fort William - Kytra Lock Trailblazers Campsite.

The longest day in terms of pure distance at 52km or 32 miles, but also the easiest because it was relatively flat for most of it walking along the canals. The day totalled 360m in elevation and the majority of that came once you passed Gairlochy, then you start to ascend the side of the hill at Loch Lochy. Push on through it and eventually you start to come back down the hills to come out at Laggan Locks. When you get to Laggan Locks you will find a toilet and shower building before crossing the canal, there is a free fresh water tap at this building for you to refill. From here you've pretty much done any hill climbing for the day and you spend the rest of the time walking parallel to the canal, so nice and flat. It's worth noting that for the most part, you are walking on paved and gravel roads, occasionally breaking into trail when you are down by the water of Loch Lochy.

I camped at Kytra Lock where there is a small section made available for wild campers, in retrospect however, I wish I had pushed on to Fort August, and took some of the distance out of the following day.

Day 2: Kytra Lock Trailblazers Campsite - Drumnadrochit.

This for me was the toughest day, 38.5 km or 23.5 miles but with 1200m of elevation this was a slog. The total amount of elevation might not sound like anything crazy but it's very short and very steep climbs and really take a toll. Starting the day off from Kytra, I passed through Fort Augustus early in the morning, I had a brief search for a fresh water tap and couldn't seem to find one anywhere, eventually I just bought some water from the petrol station and refilled from it.

Immediately out of Fort Augustus you start to scale 300m worth of hills to get to Invermoriston, where you go right back down to go right back up :lol: if the first ascent doesn't get you, the second one will, where you do another 150m to get near the top of Meall na Sroine. The climb is very short but very steep, if you're doing this in summer I really suggest you make sure you have enough water on you, because there is nothing once you're up there. After this it's a nice downhill 10km to Drummy, one warning though is you follow a lot of hard paved back roads and because it's downhill, you can mash your ankles and feet quite easily. I suspect a lot of people get blisters on this stretch.

Day 3: Drumnadrochit - Inverness.

Got my freshwater from the campsite I stayed at on this morning. A nice and light (by comparison) 30 km day or 19 miles. There is a big steep climb out of the Drum through some gorgeous pine forest. After that you can start to feel the walk ending as the scenery turns to commercial forestry and Inverness hills. There was a sign for a freshwater tap some 10km into this but I never actually seen it, I thing it might be near the eco cafe.

Overall, I enjoyed this walk, especially the middle section as its some of the best scenery Scotland has to offer, but the amount of paved road walking and lack of fresh water taps was a little disappointing.

Cheers,
Anndra.

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Anndra25


Activity: Walker

Munros: 2
Corbetts: 2
Fionas: 1
Long Distance routes: West Highland Way    Great Glen Way   



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Statistics

2022

Trips: 1
Distance: 117 km
Ascent: 2260m


Joined: May 17, 2022
Last visited: Aug 10, 2022
Total posts: 1 | Search posts