AND THE TRAILS RAN LIKE RIVERS





 Stats-Today we were expecting to do about 14 miles and ended up with 18. We did do one side jaunt of a mile or less, but like every day so far, our mileage as measured by GPS is always longer than the “official” mileage. We walked from Kinlochleven to Fort William, gaining 1925’ and descending 1953’. We are now at 33’ above sea level.

Big day today…..we will finish the West Highland Way!! Our adventure will be half completed. Next we climb Ben Nevis tomorrow. Ben Nevis soars to 4,413’ and is the highest point in Great Britain. Will the top of Ben Nevis is about a thousand feet lower than our house in Colorado, we will be starting at essentially sea level and the elevation gain will be 4,400 feet. And then the next day we take a train and then a ferry to the Isle of Skye where we hike for six days.

Now back to today’s adventure. We leave the accommodation after a big breakfast and step outside to be greeted by midges. On goes the repellent spray and the head nettings. The path is wet as as it rained during the night and is now sprinkling. We begin to climb up narrows paths with running water, standing puddles, and mud. Eventually the path levels off and becomes one of those old military gravel and dirt one lane roads.




Rain jackets are on and off all day but I leave the rain pants on the entire hike. The rains come in randomly spaced waves and last 10-15 minutes each. The midges are gone for now. We are above tree line most of the day. Clouds and rain obscure some of the views but what we can see is beautiful. At times the trail is like a shallow river and we we are constantly hopping over small streams, dodging puddles, and walking in the water. Truly ‘wet feet in Scotland today’. 




Eventually we get our first look at Ben Nevis, a massive mountain soaring above us, the top always covered by clouds. As we descend towards Fort William we re-enter pine forests and pass numerous wildflowers and purple heather. Soon we will be in the town of Fort William where we will rest up a bit for tomorrow’s climb of Big Ben.

              Photos of Ben Nevis in the distance 





But first we have one last rain shower just prior to reaching the official end of the West Highland Trail. Pictures are taken and we head to a nearby brewery for celebratory pints. 





We hiked almost 104 miles over 7 days.



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