Their story, in their words….
Thank you for this amazing opportunity, we will remember it forever. It was the hardest thing either of us had done in our lives; we grew so much from this journey and have learnt much about ourselves and our limits. Our challenge was the West Highland Way Hike in Scotland from Sunday to Saturday, so 6 days of hiking to complete over 100 miles of walking as we added a detour to see some waterfalls.
Before this journey, neither of us understood how long a mile was and looking on the map it all seemed quite feasible as we planned everything. I remember thinking oh this day we only have to do 15 miles, piece of cake and I remember looking at the 26 miles day and thought well it will take around 9hrs of walking but it’ll be fine. But after arriving in Milngavie after the 9hr overnight coach ride and a short train ride from Glasgow, and starting the first day of a mere 12miles, we looked at each other as we were around 7 miles in and I could see the pain in Francis’ eyes and dread as it dawned on us how long this hike was going to be and just how much we had underestimated it. Our shoulders and waists grew tired as we carried our massive bags swelling from the tents, sleeping bags, cooking equipment and a week’s worth of food as well as water and other pieces of gear, each having about 30kg on our backs. We made it eventually and both quickly set up our tent, also deciding to use the bag van carry service between campsites for Francis’ bag so he could carry a much smaller bag and didn’t have to haul all the food around, also making sure that my bag lost a few kilos as I could fit some gear in his bag.
The days were long and camping at the end of each one of the campsites was always quite emotional as waves of happiness rushed through us when we could see where we were sleeping after hours of pain. We managed to keep ourselves well fed, hydrated and healthy, even after burning a lot of rice as we attempted to cook a kilo of it at once and me having to teach poor Francis how to sort out blisters with a safety pin and plasters. The people were so helpful and kind in the campsites and on the trails as everyone you passed would say hi or morning, even the tourists who were mostly German. The trail was beautiful, with all sorts of terrain and mountains, some places had grass as tall as me and I’m over 6 feet tall, some had rocks which you almost had to climb over in your path on the edge of cliff which lead to a loch and at one point we were up almost at the clouds. Everything was just gorgeous and kept us going.
Thursday was the toughest day I’d say, we had a good morning where we passed King Arthurs Lake where his sword is fabled to lie but soon we lost our GPS signal and since there were no signs at this point in the trail, which was highly unusual, we kept going straight hoping for a sign at some point. We went through a gate which had signs that we were in a gold mining area and made our way up a 600m erupted volcano looking mountain with a shoddy path. We collapsed as we neared the top of this steep path and realised that this was not the way. We turned around, morale at an all-time low but I stayed confident and calm as I knew we could make it and Francis powered through, even after his shoe sole started hanging off like a flip flop making that clapping noise as he walked. A kind lady gave us directions and duct tape to fix the shoe. We kept going and realised it was very late and we still had so much to walk as we had walked in a circle all day. Francis threw up and got extremely ill so he had to take the train home as we came to a small town, he was almost like a shell of his former self due to the fatigue and illness making him pale. I had to complete this journey for us; we had come so far and were over half way there, past the hardest and most dangerous parts with cliff side paths. We waited, traded some gear which I may need and I looked at his face one last time, it was over for him and he could finally rest. He didn’t think he could even do day 1 and I saw him pushing himself with a bit of help, sweat covering his forehead and visibly always exhausted. I was proud of my friend even though we parted ways.
I carried on alone and it started getting dark but eventually I made it to the wild camping area where I met a group of German university students doing the same route as me. Luckily I have been studying German for 6 years now so we talked a mixture around the cooking pots. That night the amount of bugs attacking my tent was horrible, I could hear wings and bugs slamming into my tent constantly, shadows crawling all over with the infamous midges swarming my tent as I opened the door to get something. These small flies are everywhere in Scotland and feel like mosquitoes except there are way more of them.
The next campsite was at Blackwater and after hiking the day for 19 miles, I once again set up camp and met the owner radiating with happiness who showed me around and told me about the town, he mentioned that there was a co-op shop and I quickly made my way there. I saw the green building and could not wipe the smile off my face as I saw the fresh food and drinks; I had been eating canned food and protein bars for almost a week at that point. I bought about £15 worth of sweets, cakes and drinks and could not stop smiling at all that evening as I laid waste to the feast of noodles and desserts I had prepared. That was a good night and it was almost over.
Everywhere I had camped and walked, it was so picturesque and it did not feel like Scotland at all; so much so that even though I am not a photo guy, I took hundreds of photos and videos which I’ve sent in. The last day of hiking was amazing, I met some Belgian brothers who were doing the same route and asked me for directions, we walked and talked for hours as we ascended into the clouds and rain started to pelt down. The older brother was a chef and talked about how horrible all the food in Scotland was and how he didn’t have the proper supplies to make his own decent food which I found quite funny. He noticed that I was alone and told him all that had happened and he just said “You’re crazy man” and laughed. Eventually, we finished the hike and happiness flooded over us, the long week was over. We parted ways and I made my way to pick up Francis’ bag from the last collection point so I looked like a donkey as I had a hiking back on both my back and front. The train to Glasgow was spectacular as we sped past all the mountains, lochs and valleys we had walked through. I made it back to London and it is true, a few moments of pain are worth a lifetime of glory and in our case, the 8 hours of walking a day was truly worth it. This was all made possible because of the Mark Evison Foundation and for that I am extremely grateful. I have been inspired to go and do more hikes in the future and test myself further. Thank you.
