Their story, in their words….
Day One: We started off day one early from the train to Milngavie and began bright eyed and bushy tailed. We enjoyed the surroundings in hot and sunny weather, although this made the walking harder. A few Hills along the way were tiring, but we arrived at the campsite by Drymen early and in a satisfied mood.
Day Two: A long rest meant we started off later on this day, although in equally good spirits. A slight detour from a wrong turn in the forest did not dampen these, and pushed on through Balmaha, encouraged by the sun, and slightly fatigued by its heat.
Day Three: This day was the longest of all and was made tricky by the sweltering heat and a slightly more irregular path on the banks of Loch Lomond, which we felt amazed by the beauty of. Initially we made swift progress, however the midday sun struck us had and slowed us right down. Extremely tired, we stopped for a long lunch break at Inversnaid. We then began the push for our campsite at Ben Glas. This slog was one of the most straining parts of the trip, and we arrived late in the evening after lots of breaks and sweat and tears and so on. However, we pushed through, and were rewarded by showers and a meal. Unfortunately, the campsite that we stayed in was terrorised by swarms of midges, so we put up our tents as quickly as possible and were glad to be safe inside. We felt exhausted and grim after the long days walk, followed by the severe midges.
Day Four: Relieved to have put the worst behind us, we set off determined, and topped up on supplies. The views along the valley were astounding but the weather was overcast and threatening, but luckily didn’t amount to any rain. A wrong turn took us to Crianlarich, which meant that the end of the day was dominated by an emergency push to Tyndrum, where we were glad to make use of a Cabin and felt very tired and relieved for reaching.
Day Five: This day was largely uneventful. It continued to be overcast, and the path wasn’t of particular difficulty, although it was lengthy. This was the first day of Wild Camping, which we felt excited for.
Day Six: Due to worries about Ticks and such, we packed up promptly and made for the Kingshouse. However, one of our number was unable to avoid a tick, and there was a careful but slightly traumatic removal. Kateryna was somewhat of a tick magnet, taking on five during the course of the rest of the trip, when the rest of us took on none. Having pushed to Kingshouse, we took a long break, and prepared ourselves for the Devils staircase. Although by no means easy, we were sufficiently hardened by the previous days of walking, and it proved to be less challenging than anticipated. We camped past the top of the Staircase. We were happy to have passed this given the severity of its name, and looked forward to Kinnochleven, which we could just see parts of in the distance.
Day Seven: The descent to Kinochleven was a nice change from all the uphill, and we celebrated to have moved on past the devil’s staircase by having Chips and Coke. We were excited as we anticipated the final approach to Fort William. We also restocked on supplies. The walk up from Kinochleven however was surprisingly difficult. But when the path levelled out, we traversed the majority of Lairig Mor, camping in sight of Ben Nevis. A nice bit of sun at the end of this day was pleasant.
Day Eight: A Brief push over a Hill, and we were rewarded by a lovely view of Fort William in the distance. We enjoyed the descent and arrived in Fort William with an afternoon, which we happily spent touristing. We felt overjoyed to have completed the walk, because we had been able to handle its various challenges.
In General: Although at several points we were dispirited by the length and challenges of the walk, the beautiful scenery was uplifting, and the satisfaction of completing our objectives each day despite the tricky points made for happy evenings. Having completed the walk, we felt much more confidant in ourselves, happy with the way we had managed things like food and camping, especially in the wild. We felt proud of the distance we had travelled, and how we’d overcome challenges like the Devil’s Staircase, the 16 miles along Loch Lomond, and the walk up from Kinnochleven to Lairig More, all of which were particularly difficult parts of the walk. The walk was amassive character building experience, as we had to manage ourselves and walk for much longer than any of us had ever walked. This has naturally improved our self-management skills in general, and this achievement has made us more confidant when taking on task of similar difficulty.
